not a viticulturist...

...as anyone familiar with last year's grape travesty will be well aware..irregardless, there are grapes in the trees ( vines have spread from the elm tree into the fir tree at the back of the patio as well...lots of trees in the jungle...carbon offsets )...hot and rainy here in hoosierland...the teosinte in the third ( taken july 1 )and fourth photos has grown quite a bit in the last five days...just like maize it thrives in hot and moist weather...there is an ollala potato that has joined the spud bloomfest out there while the mashua in the sixth and the yacon in the seventh photos carry on the parade of tubers...the bottom photo is proof that i am not completely biased against either cereals or plants that reproduce above ground...the spring wheat is about ready to harvest...threshing and winnowing anyone?

recovery II

even under the awning provided by the elm tree at the end of the patio, the grape vines took some hits ( top two photos ) and the leaves in the tree itself weren't spared either ( third photo ) but the tendrils in the fourth photo and the others like them have kept the vines anchored in the tree and they will, hopefully, still be producing fruit...the wild strawberries hugging the ground under the tree seem unscathed while the ripening spring wheat in the sixth photo seems to have come through as well...the last photo is of another broken potato that will simply put out more leaves from the auxiliary buds along the lower stem...things are on the upswing two days later.

rain

not that the teosinte in the basement is out in the rain today, however it is noteworthy because so much has been going on that it took me until today to discover another seed ear at yet another leaf node further down the stem...so six ears on a three foot plant grown completely indoors...not a record for anyone but me...but this is my blog...more stuff outside as the grandfatherly grape vine ( second photo ) out back has returned for another season and is putting out buds ( third and fourth photos )...it will be leafing soon enough...and then blooming...do i hear the buzzing of mason bees? not yet...soon enough though...further back under the locust trees the ramps are coming along nicely so far and seem to be enjoying the gloom and the rain...as i clear out mulch in beds i will be providing them with more leaf litter to help them feel at home....fresh season is moving along...there will be more soon enough.

grapes ( sort of )

there are grapes in the elm tree ( top photo )...and a lot of die back along the vines as well ( second photo )...something ugly is up out there as grapes have been plummeting off the vines and onto the ground while any number remain green and unsoftened...what it is i cannot begin to say but it has hastened what has turned out to be a disappointing grape harvest...around a tenth of last year's abundant haul...so...was it the harsh winter? the on again/off again wet summer? early coolness in the late summer ( it isn't autumn for another nine days folks )...some disease? i can't find any sign of damage from japanese beetles...they wouldn't leave that much leaf to die back and the green ones are not completely eaten between the veins...this is not a happy moment..but it is a fairly normal one in gardening ( look at the maize/squirrel issues in the community garden...no season is without its setbacks and outright failures...i am resigned to it...i don't have to be happy about it ) and we will doubtlessly carry on...if there's another bitter winter ( maybe yes, maybe no...depends on who you listen to and believe...we will be finding out soon ) it may be the end of the grape tree...that would be sadder still.

grapes

the ample summer rains do not seem to have had a negative impact on the grapes ( although it looks as if it may be a somewhat lighter harvest this year...but that is only judging by eyeballing the tree...we will have to wait until harvest for an official weight ) and the hard little green grapes have begun to soften and turn purple out here in the cascade...i am thinking in about a month i will be snaking a ten foot ladder into the brush under the tree and climbing to harvest as much as i can reach..harvest is gratifying...no matter what the subject.

timing III

the jerusalem artichokes in my yard are blooming...but not nearly to the extent that the ones in the community garden are..not really even close...i can look at this a few different ways...1) the climate in my yard is lacking something the blooms want...the beds in my yard and the community garden are both oriented on an east/west axis that allows maximum sunlight over the course of a day...the are , i think, receiving nearly identical amounts of water...the watering schedules are on alternate days and rainfall can disrupt that...but the amounts of irrigation and natural rainfall are fairly close...temperature doesn't vary that much over a matter of six miles...and i fortified both beds with ample compost before planting...then again, 2) i could say the plants in my yard are putting more energy into setting tubers than the ones in the community garden that are blooming to beat the band...or, 3) the stand in my yard has had some fresh tubers planted in it but it is a much older stand than the first year growth in the garden...the bed's population is somewhat more dense in my yard and that may be the reason that fits best...a bit more competition in a mature colony that is reaching an equilibrium brought on by size constraints...the tale will be told at harvest when data is compared...the grape tree is developing apace and hasn't had to be irrigated this week...i am curious to see what sort of harvest this year brings here as well...since its accidental discovery last fall the grape tree has been the focus of some research and i find that grapes were, when first domesticated, allowed to vine in olive trees and that the idea of growing them on stakes in a vineyard was a much later development in their domestication..a connection to , if not neolithic then classical, agriculturalists..the last photo is of the ubiquitous pairing of jerusalem artichokes and lamb's quarters...where i grow sunchokes i inevitably find the other...both edible..both native...both welcome in my back yard despite farmers calling them "weeds"

timing II

the jerusalem artichokes in my back yard are coming alive with blooms...a bit later than the ones in the community garden...but well within the usual window of late july or early august...these are about a foot taller than the ones on campus and have put more energy into verticality than blooms...so far...the real test will be when harvest rolls around...then we can take some measure of micro-climate differences over a six mile distance and its impact ( if any ) on productivity...the sunchokes aren't the only thing moving along out there...the grapes in the elm tree are beginning to change color...in a couple of months there will be yet another harvest...and crawling around in the brush behind the concord cascade i see bunches of grapes.

concord cascade

as i was harvesting wheat and rye on the south side of the house i noticed that the poke weed has begun to expand its territory when i saw the blooms...i waded through the raspberry thorns to examine the scope of the imperial expansion when i stumbled on a massive collection grape vines cascading down the south side of the elm tree at the end pf the patio and sending tendrils into the spruce that is just to the west of the elm..there are many many more bunches of grapes in this vine and it will be a challenge to harvest them in about two months' time...poke weed will be weeded and raspberries burnt ( if necessary ) to allow access to the fruit...stay tuned for the rest of the story and a quantification of the harvest.

concord cascade photo op

suddenly there are a lot more grapes and the harvest has been somewhat complicated...there is no free lunch in nature is there?

grape tree and pod corn

wandering around the back yard in a gentle rain ( another .13 of an inch...4.07 this month according to the back yard weather station ) and having a look around...yes those are grape leaves in the elm tree and they are sheltering nascent grapes...i am still somewhat agog at the work that plant has done over the last few decades to colonize the tree...looking forward to another harvest in september...fern's pod corn is in the community garden and it's in my yard and doing just fine in both places...we will see about squirrels ( and the newly found raccoon living in a tree in the yard ) later...bottom photo is one of four stands of th e elentless jerusalem artichokes out there...this is the "official" one in that it was intended...two of the others are simply a failure to eradicate and the fourth is the "natural rainfall only" as opposed to "water as needed" harvest result experiment...it's alive out there and that's what keeps me interested.

covert backyard

some of the plant population out in my back yard is being far more discrete than some other denizens of that suburban jungle...some of the grape vines hanging in the elm tree at the end of what passes for a patio are in full leaf now and this particular cluster is hiding the fact that the vine is preparing to flower...i see a bunch of grapes in the making and i see some sort of preserves, jelly, sauce, or juice...depending on my mood in the autumn...it was jelly last year ( and no coach i haven't forgotten your request for a refill ) and may be again in september...time will tell...the asparagus plant hiding out in the shadow of the red pontiacs is back for a second season...sprouted from seed i naturalized in the fall of 2012 ( in the midst of all the issues from the fire i was till planting...it was still my yard ) it seems to be doing well and is actually as tall as the potato plants...obviously it has the sun it needs and will be there after the spuds are harvested...doubtlessly there is more hiding out back there ...it is why i am always surprised...and, in general, pleasantly...the garden ( such as it is...more like patches of human intervention in an overgrown yard ) is good...stay tuned.