from beans to seed pods

while i was waiting for parker i did some nosing around the garden and among the still producing pole bean plants i found some beans that had ceased being beans and become seed pods...i am rapidly becoming something of a seed saver ( the russets we dug this evening were grown form seed that was produced in my yard last season and there is another seed potato project under way this autumn ) so i picked about twenty pods that were dry and brittle...ready to shatter...and found at least as many nearly finished in the process...the autumn foliage is increasing and it will be time to start turning under plants and planting green manures and cover crops very soon...there will also be time for collecting more seed form the garden to make ourselves more local...there is method to this madness.

maize and adaptability

at times i ramble on about native food plants and adapting to local conditions and overcoming, at least to some degree, an unrealistic and , in my view, dangerous dependence on industrial agriculture and processed food....part of doing that is understanding predators in your particular area...cynthia, for instance, has issues with deer in her backyard garden and sustains crop losses to them...in the community garden our biggest issue is squirrels ( so far...we have been spared insect infestation to date...that does not mean we are immune, despite the geraniums )...squirrels, like humans, seem to have marked food preferences when it come to the concentrated vegetables in the garden...they will eat cucumbers while they seem to have a marked aversion to tomatoes...maize, of whatever variety, is high on the list of their preferred foods however and we had enough going on to attract a good deal of unwanted attention...frankly it has been something of a disaster and if we decide to grow maize again we will have to take steps to cover it with netting to avoid more carnage...an alternative, and one i have pursued in my yard this season, is to avoid growing crops critters adore...i have a squirrel issue in my yard as well so i planted tomatoes and peppers ( another crop they seem to avoid ) and beans ( the beans in the community garden are unscathed by predation so far ) as well as spinach and peas...additionally i planted a variety of root crops which is another type of produce the squirrels have little interest in ( raccoons and mice are another story...but they are conspicuous in their absence in my yard )...turnips, radishes, beets, potatoes, and jerusalem artichokes have all done well this season and they came through whole...so as fall finds its way to the garden we need to think about next season...i have no aversion to the extra work involved in protecting a maize crop next year and we can find the resources without much trouble...there is something to be said for lightening the burden however and adapting crop selection to the prevalent predators may go a good way towards that....that said the maize did a fine job of serving as a trellis for the pole beans and the stalks will make a fair decoration for autumn...sad to lose the crop...but the effort was not a waste...particularly if we take a lesson...there is better news form the garden which you'll see as you read on to the next post.

beans!

the bean plants in the bean and cucumber wall are producing...but no one seems to be harvesting...why i wonder? admittedly the beans in the wall are shrouded by foliage but they're easy enough to find...and the beans on the maize are in the open...no mistaking that...two things at work here...if you don't harvest the beans the plants stop producing...to keep them going you have to pick them..do that and they will produce until the first hard frost...second, when they get too big the beans become "woody" and a chore to eat...get them young a sit were...these are really good beans folks...i picked some of the larger ones, boiled them, and tossed them in some butter and that was a fine dinner...this is no time to be shy...step up...say what you want...take what you may need...there will be more beans if you do.

blooms, near blooms, vines, and a season ending

we have squash blooming in the community garden and we have been thinning the blooms on the vines so we get bigger, rather than more, squash...good news for the squash fans...the jerusalem artichokes are beginning to bud and will be in bloom this coming month...a display of yellow blooms because they're sunflowers...another pole bean has found the maize in the three sisters' bed...looking to see blooms there soon as well...and the last photo is of a german butterball potato plant whose leaves are curling up at the top and dying back at the bottom...a sure sign that the season is drawing to a close for these spuds ...the garlic will be done soon as well...could we have some garlic spud from the garden? who's up for that?