maintenance run

took an early run out to campus to weed ( minimal since parker! mulched the beds with straw...thanks parker! ) water and have a look around...it seems that things are in good order...the fall crops of kohlrabi, brussels sprouts, and sugar snap peas ( first three photos ) are all up and running...the cucumbers are finding the trellis and blooming ( fourth and fifth ) and the blue lake bush beans are coming along...there are two new asparagus spears...forty-seven altogether now...the plants are clearly happy in that bed...there are egyptian walking onions ( one anyway in the ninth photo ) and it has begun to "walk"...the aerial bulbs on the stem that has lain down will take root...something akin to a strawberry daughter plant but without the stolon...the weight of the aerial bulbs simply pulls the stem down allowing the bulbs to root and begin a new plant...there are more forming at the top of the plant so i am hoping more plants will be on the way soon...left to their own devices they will provide a bed of onions in a few seasons...the garden looks good today...stop by and have a look.

sunday morning garden run

it rained well yesterday evening so this was pretty much just a check up run out to the community garden this morning just to have a look around..and i found we still have a season going on...the asparagus spear in the top photo is beginning to branch out and, soon enough, will have new growth "ferns" like the ones in the second photo...the cucumber have not given up yet...slowing...but not done while the peppers are still blooming and producing a variety of produce...the cauliflower and brussels sprouts in the seventh photo are on schedule for late september/early october and are looking robust and they don't seem to have bolted in the heat...difficult as it may be to see there is a honey bee on the center potato flower in the eighth photo and as long as the early blue potatoes keep blooming like the one in the ninth photo ( and they will ) there will be potato fruits to ripen and porocess...still stuff going on...still time to visit the garden...always time to express an interest in joining in...it's a little late for that this year but a new season starts in march...time to start planning.

autumn creeps into the garden...

there are still cucumbers coming along ( top photo 0 but they are developing among leaves that have died back...and the leaves on the cucumber plants themselves are looking rather tired ( second photo )...while the bean wall is dong okay ( see the next post )some individual vines have gone by the wayside...whether this is due to natural life cycle or squirrel damage is open to discussion...the lover leaves on the maize plants have been turning yellow and dying back for a few weeks now( in fact that is what the cucumber in the top photo is lying in )...not sure if we are going to leave them as a fall decoration or remove them to make way for fall planting...time for a palaver...

...then agian, there are new blooms too...

despite ( or because of? ) the rain the cucumber wall has irrupted in blooms and that bodes well for production...hope you all like them...there will be many and they will be insistent in their presence...there are already numerous green tomatoes in the cages ( and a few out of them in some rather unexpected places....cherry tomato seeds from last season have hitched a ride to the new garden...they weren't planted purposefully ) and there are multiple blooms on the plants...they too will be producing well into autumn...i see fresh salads...the jerusalem artichokes are on the very verge of a blooming explosion of yellow that is not because of the stress of too much water ( they have shrugged the water off...i don't call the relentless lightly )...sometime in the next week helianthus will come to the garden in full flower.

early july

things are progressing..."it's moving along" is what one of our neighbors said this morning as he walked his dog...and he is surely correct...the jerusalem artichoke in the top photo will be flowering soon...so will the others...the cucumber wall is coming along well...filling in the trellis...we are still waiting on blooms...blooms and faded blooms leading to fruition of purpose are what we have on the squash today...and the bottom photo proves we can grow cherry tomatoes...produce is just around the corner...this month will see some harvesting.

storm survivors

the three sisters' bed wasn't the only one to suffer some damage...maize across the garden blew over...even the redoubtable jerusalem artichokes, natives that they are, have a bit of a list to them today ( third photo )...cucumbers? didn't budge...we will be alright.

last day of spring in the iuncg

just some random stuff around the garden this last afternoon of spring: top to bottom, cucmbers plant already producing a second vine, the relentless jerusalem artichokes cohabiting with potatoes, turnips,and wheat, the tomatoes blooming, and the aforementioned wheat with its long awns.

same vine...different day

yesterday's cucumber vine has found the pole i placed next to it yesterday ( and i did recall the spiral direction correctly ) and has begun its climb to flowering and production...there are more on the way as the next two photos show so i grabbed a couple of more poles out of my truck to continue the construction of the trellis...poles and jute twine will be an effective support for the cucumber walls ( there are twenty-seven cucumber plants up at last count...there will be multiple walls...and a bonanza of cukes ) that are sure to come..we will have both slicing and pickling size succulents coming in another month or so...hope you are all fond of them.

vine

there are an abundance of cucumber plants in the community garden and they are moving along with their season...the largest of the plants has begun to vine...a sure sign of many more to come form the twenty-seven plants out there...i have been preparing for this eventuality and brought the first pole of the first trellis out of the back of my truck...i placed close enough to the plant to let the vine touch ( if memory serves me correctly the vines spiral up in a counter-clockwise direction so i placed it tot he left of the vine...if i am mistaken it will be simple enough to move ) so it knows the support is there..i expect to see it wrapped around the pole tomorrow...as an addendum, you can see the emerging awns on the seed head of the black tip wheat plant in the photo...just another cereal grain in the garden, symbolic and decorative.