two different directions

"unseasonably warm" is what they might call it in the media, and the signals seem mixed but are actually pretty clear...

there are still green ears on the teosinte, however since there have been a couple of hard frosts i am thinking there will be no more viable seed produced...i have harvested around two thousand seeds so not an issue for me...

i did not take it all though...i allowed some ears to ripen and shatter just to see what might happen...

over in the east bed the asparagus is dying back...

while the winter wheat and rye are enjoying the weather...

there is still a green pod on the field peas i left standing when i planted the grain beds...

there were not many pods to begin with, however hopefully the half dozen i found will render enough viable seed to run a small bed in the spring to grow more seed for autumn...

and meanwhile, i had found some sprouted spuds in the basement that were not going to make it much longer so i put them in small pots outside to see what would happen...despite the frosts they have begun to green up in true spud fashion and so will be coming in for the winter under the lights...when the weather dictates, not before...unnatural but necessary.

october seeds

it is mid october and there has been a low that hit freezing a couple of nights ago...and still there are green zea mexicana ears that are tightly wrapped in stems and green husks...

others that have separated and are moving towards maturity...

some have been thoroughly browsed...

and some have opned and shattered...or been harvested...

the teosinte plant in the center of this photo...

has rendered me three hundred and forty-two seeds of various colors and sizes...the darker seeds would seem to have more endosperm ( they sink in the hydrogen peroxide when i break domancy...the lighter ones float ) and germinate more readily than the lighter colored ones ( although about two thirds of the lighter colors germinate as well...at least last time i measured that )...

that three hundred and forty-two includes the the nine seeds i got from the last unshattered ear i could find on the plant today...along with the seeds i have harvested from the other plants i have better than a thousand at the moment with, hopefully, more on the way...some will join last year's in the freezer...some will be kept out to germinate in spring for next season's crop...it has been a fair year for zea out back...

there are seeds coming along on the field peas as well...they seem to have weathered the recent cold alright and the temperatures are forecast to moderate...they may make it yet.

last day of september out back

some things are getting started and some things, like the month, are finishing up...ready or not...the winter wheat and rye both have produced second leaves which is an signal that their root systems are well established enough for them to overwinter if, 1.) the temperatures are not too cold or, 2.) we get sufficient snow ( four inches plus ) to insulate them...we'll see..last year they did fine...the year before both failed...gasrdening, like agriculture, can be iffy...

the field peas i left have ceased blooming, however the pods they have produced are thickening and lengthening...it would be nice to have some viable seed...

while we are talking viable seed, i have harvested several hundred teosinte seeds so far...however, for the first time i can remember in the years i have grown teosinte, something is gnawing on the green ears...which only makes sense if you are going to gnaw, the green ears are soft and sweet and the mature seed is hard as a rock...still, the gardener is not pleased...

half of the garlic i have planted has broken surface...still waiting on the rest...mulched with straw they will be fine all winter...

there is a new round of dryad's saddle growth on the old elm tree by the alley...

and the behemoth maize is still growing growths...unfortuantely...

despite being supported with bamboos and twine one of the giants snapped off at ground level in fairly gusty north winds today...

from ground level to the tip of its flower my tape measure says it was pushing eleven feet...which means the larger one is at least twelve...it had to happen...it was unrealistically tall for its support roots and in the wild would have toppled long ago...i am not pleased...still, these things happen.

equinox + 3

it's autumn and, as you'd suspect, things are slowing down some out back...they have not stopped though...the winter wheat i planted ten days ago is filling in pretty well...looking for a second leaf soon...

even the berries i tossed into the beds on the equinox have begun to surgace germinate...so the first phase of wheat is a success...

an even dozen of the forty odd garlic cloves i planred have broken surface...their allium cousins the walking onions are up in such profusion i could fill a post without showing the same plant twice...i will refrain...

the field peas continue to bloom and are producing pods...the race with the first frost and seed viability is on...we will see...

while we are talking seed, teosinte ears continue to separate from the stems and mature...the tillers on the plants are laying down away from the parent plants to spread seed at a distance and increase the future colony's range...or, at least, that is what they would do in the wild...i am skeptical of the seed's ability to withstand local cold and be viable in the spring so i imagine we will be germinating and planting come april...we will be leaving some seed out her however, just to see what transpires...

the growths erupting from the behemoth maize continue to expand...they are not soft but rather feel as if there is a cob contained in them...it will be of interest to se what the contents might be when the growth stops...

finally, it is the end of september and the jerusalem artichokes are about finished...so i popped one up and grabbed a few tubers from the root ball...an adjunct to lunch perhaps.