done

the garden looks like the scenery for a beckett play this morning and the barrenness isn't going to diminish...

i did find one intransigent sunflower out there...and its days are growing shorter...

and at the moment the sunflower has the garden to itself since my purpose in going was to put he asparagus to bed for the winter...there is a bit of green left in it...

however even that is wilting...

so i cut it all back with the lops...snipping the stems off close to the soil surface...not beneath it as i would if harvesting spears...

because i covered the stems with a layer of compost to give the crowns some insulation for winter...like last season i have dispensed with the layer of straw held in place with fabric...the root systems are old and deep enough that they simple plants...they are productive and eat a lot...

i closed my bed down two weeks ago...

the clover, winter wheat, and winter rye i planted in, i believe, late september, as a cover crop/ green manure have taken hold and should be fine...

unfortunately ( but not unexpectedly ) the ones i planted later have failed to prosper...so we will be adding a good deal of compost come spring...having been evicted from the most fertile bed in the garden ( which i had labored on for a number of seasons ) i will need to begin the process all over...which may find a bed of cow peas and vetch there next season to simply rejuvenate the soil...seems warranted...this will probably be my last trip out until next year...no good reason to go until march when the asparagus needs uncovering and the vetch can go in.

second dig ( sort of )

i went out to the community garden this morning to do a second dig on the beds i started last weekend and get going on a few others...it may not look like there's much difference between the first two photos but i turned the bed again and broke up more roots with a warren hoe...it will aerate the soil and loosen it so the bacteria and worms can do a more thorough job of breaking the organic matter down...with no clear indication (yet) of when planting day is i was concerned that there might not be time for the rye in the bed in the second two photos to decompose sufficiently to allow planting...so i pulled it instead...after looking at the roots of a couple of alfalfa plants i decided to leave those plants ( more on that in the next post ) and the clover for a bit longer...the garlic in the sixth photo seems happy to have the clover fertilizing it...the asparagus is about four feet tall and ferning...one of the plants has deployed another spear so it seems all is well there...finally the jerusalem artichokes in my bed seem to be under control and confined to the perimeter...which is where they belong...i plan on letting the stand of winter rye in my bed to mature...it will be a small harvest but i am growing grain at home for a project and it will add to the total i can mill into flour...i presume there will be more form the garden...more as it comes up.

an iuncg update

i met parker! out at the garden this morning to have a look around and talk over plans for the near future ( specifically the unmulchuing of the garlic and asparagus as well as cleaning out some of the beds ) somewhere in the first few weeks of march...work in the garden will have to wait since the update is: still dormant...not much to speak going on out there at the moment...the clover in the top two photos is in an exposed position in that a particular box and won't be recovering until said mid-march at the earliest...the same is true of the alfalfa in the next two...they may look like goners but they are both cold hardy perennials ( both legumes as well...nitrogen setting is a family trait ) and will spring back to life with warmer weather and longer days...at a distance the arborvitae looks all goo but there is some die-back around the base that will need to be pruned next trip out...there has been a snow drought here this el nino winter and as soon as the ground thaws i will be beginning an aggressive watering schedule to insure this goes no further...cold it has been but i still find a hint of chlorophyll in the leaves of the brussels sprout plant in the seventh photo ...and though the cauliflower plant in the eighth has fallen over there is still chlorophyll there too...not that i expect any sort of recovery...but it does indicate that the winter here, despite some cold, has been, overall, mild...dry too...more on unmulching day if not before.

dormancy

there is frost on the winter rye this morning and the recent cold has beaten down the new zealand white clover and the alfalfa to the point you'd think it couldn't recover...but they're just playing possum and with temperatures forecast to be back into the mid forties ( fahrenheit ) by next weekend we may see some late january recovery in them...recover would seem beyond the powers of the brussels sprouts however...they look thoroughly done in ( despite a hint of green in there )and there's nothing unnatural in that...things are looking quiet in the garden this morning...but it's only fifty-seven days to spring and my best surmise is the mulch on the garlic will be off before then and since good friday ( traditional spud planting index ) is five days later i may jump the gun on planting day and put in some cold hardy potato varieties...in other words the new season is closer than the conditions in the garden today may indicate...new growth is not far off.

almost moving day

the one in the second photo may be difficult to see but all four garlic plants i brought in from outside just before christmas have now deployed a second leaf and have begun to look truly like garlic...the time is approaching when they will need to be transplanted to larger quarters...all four will fit in a largish container...light space will be the issue until the yacon plants finish the rhizomes they are working on...then they can be harvested ( with some plants propagated from cuttings )and some needed space opened...so far indoor garlic is a go...the ollala in the fourth photo is showing robust new growth still as are the elmer's blur in the fifth...the huaycu in the sixth still hasn't produced any leaves, however the stem is growing by leaps and bounds so they should be along shortly...in the meantime the shcizo winter has returned to bury ( sort of ) th3e green manures under some snow...so far there has been rather a dearth of winter precipitation here...the palmer drought severity index has us ahead in december...which fell mostly as rain, but flat in january...the new map should be released tomorrow so we'll see...one wonders about water tables come sporing if we're dry now...there is more snow in the forecast but it has been a spotty winter for snowfall.

green

took a run out to the community garden this morning to check on things and, as usual, found some surprises...the alfalfa, and clover that was turned down by the frost last saturday ( the 19th ) was turned back skyward this morning...unseasonably warm temperatures ( a recurring theme recently ) revived the already cold hardy plants and they will be fine..warm temperatures mean more brussels sprout production...small but recognizable...the stalk in the fifth photo which has either been cut or gnawed off has even started new leaf growth from auxiliary buds...things are confused...there is a significant cool down forecast though and i wanted to be sure the garlic mulches were intact...they are an i couldn't see any garlic leaves poking through the straw...not the case in my yard where stubborn garlic continues to defy mulching ( seventh and eighth photos )...so i pulled back the wire mesh, spread some more straw and compost ( using compost as a sort of glue...as it precipitates the compost will break apart and spread to help hold the straw...in spring it will facilitate the breakdown [ you can call it rotting if you like ] of the straw...since i plan to leaves at least some of the straw as a weed suppressant it can break down and help fed the garlic ) and put the wire mash back over the top..for, hopefully, the last time...either that or there will be very early garlic this season.