asparagus et al

asparagus is popping up in the bed in the back yard...a clear sign it was time to head for campus and open the asprargus bed...i actually resigned from the garden at the end of last season, however, since the asparagus is the last remnant of the perennial garden project on campus and, by extension, among the last bits of kathy forgey on campus i volunteered to attend to the asparagus...

so i drove out to campus, opened the bed, ran a weeding hoe across it and dug back a trench along the asparagus row since asparagus is not the strongest of plants in terms of breaking surface and it appreciates some help...i will fill that back in and add more compost as the season goes on to feed the roots...

there was no asparagus to be seen...only the stumps left behind when i cleared the bed last autumn...they will be along soon enough...

happily the alfalfa made it through the winter and is greening up to feed the bees around june or so ...

unhappily, this row of beds were the first constructed eleven years ago and they are basically falling apart...there needs to be a decision about repair or replacement or removal at some point...

back at home this spud i planted at the bottom of a twelve inch deep container under the lights a month ago is now about eight inches above the top and growing...it can move outside next month and we will see what it yields sometime in june or early july...

the teosinte down there is booming along as well...both plants come from seed i found from 2019...still some viability left in it...

both plants have flowered...this one has silks from two ears it is working on...

and this one is focusing on a single ear so far...seeds? we'll see...

there seems to be no escaping spuds anymore

the lawn at the campus garden is making it clear that there has been rain of late...we will see how long that keeps up...

rain or not this asparagus is dying back and it is far too early for that...i am uncertain of what is up here...the spear is not broken so there must be something else at work...the rest seems to be fine...this too we will wait and see about...

the spuds are looking well...

the soil is moist up to the surface...so no watering...

some of the spuds have finished up...so...

there was a harvest...

three plants...two pounds two ounces of tubers...and a few drops to plant...and i left the smallest ones in the bed as volunteers...

an important correspondent to this blog will be pleased at the alfalfa's continuing disdain...

it is still blooming away...

and attracting visitors...

however many of the blooms have gone to seed...

and i do not think all the yellow in the leaves is from overwatering...there are early hints of autumn in the air...

irrespective of what event time is hinting at the alfalfa still stubbornly goes about the business of establishing new stands around the garden...another determined perennial.

spuds, garlic, alfalfa on campus

a pointlessly short shift at work left me out around mid-morning and the campus garden is not much of a detour on the way home so i stopped by and it was just as well i did for reasons we will be getting to in a bit...

my favorite correspondent will be pleased to note the alfalfa is booming along...

and still expressing marked disdain for limits...

the volunteer spuds in my "official" bed are fine...

and there is garlic among them...

the rest of the garlic seems to be working on rooting...this one looks like it broke surface and was broken/bitten off...it will try again...

sixteen of the spuds planted behind the asparagus are up...not quite all...the ones that are up also seem to be doing well..

recent rains have been spotty in coverage and both beds were exceptionally dry so everyone got some water...

the soil was so powdery that my "official" bed was developing erosive sink holes...the alfalfa and asparagus are perennials and so are deeply rooted and not in any specific danger form drying out...however the spuds and garlic are not so this is a cue to make more frequent visits simply to keep an eye on things...the post-work environment will be the garden it seems...

at home, the second of the basement teosinte plants has deployed silks...forlorn attempt i fear...i do not see even an attempt at a flower...still...dna will keep trying...

there is a tinge of color in the tesointe seedlings i planted yesterday...thinking more seedlings will go in tomorrow...

the wheat on the compost pile is looking very green...

and the volunteer rye by the locust tree is giving the wheat green competition...always good to have some grain around...more as it comes up.