august thirty-first

it is the last day of august and things are moving along out back and in the mobile garden...the carolina horse nettle is blooming away and more buds are forming so i have hopes of fruits before frost ( and a look at why it is called "nettle" )...

spud row shows definite signs of finishing up...

the concord grapes in the catalpa tree are ripening...harvest very soon...

peppers are maturing...

there are definite seeds afoot in the ears on the zea mays mexicana...

and the largest plant in the row has two tillers that have keeled over in true zea fashion to spread seed away from the parent plant...we will be letting these go unharvested over the autumn and will see if, perhaps, they will germinate in spring...expectations are low here ( mine anyway )...doesn't mean we won't have a look at what happens...even if it isn't much...

aerial bulbs that have "walked" from the egyptian walking onions have begun to sprout...rooting in for winter...

out in the truck bed the new york import i planted a few days ago is doing well and has begun the significant step of producing a new leaf...there may be a berry truck yet...

and the bush bean back there is continuing to produce as well...another bean had sprouted from a blossom...the all natural truck bed lives on...

the bees are busy as well as they prepare for the winter...

and here's one of the girls putting the final touches on another tube of leaf cutter bee cocoons in the bee house...

and showing us why they are called leaf cutters...then full tubes...bess next season...nest up...a trip to campus tomorrow.

hot, dry climate change markers

it was already warm when i got to the garden this morning after work...about ten thirty...and the beds were dry so i spent the first hour or so soaking them...after which i had a look around...

the asparagus is in full summer dress and continues to throw up the occasional spear...which indicates it is doing well...all we need now is "berries"...

out west in my bed the alfalfa seems to have definitely overcome its spring malaise...there are new blooms on the plants...

even the grumpy pepper is showing clear signs of getting on with a season...

the corn row is coming along...

the largest of the maize plants has tillered like a good heirloom should...

which is also what the maize ancestor zea mays mexicana down at the other end of the bed has done...it has flowered and swll and is producing more flowers on the tillers...no sign of silks yet...they cannot be far off...

there were no spuds ready to dig today...these three will be done son enough though...next week perhaps will see more harvest...

it is warm today...but there is nothing unusual about heat in indiana in july...it would not be seen as odd or abnormal, unlike the european heat wave of the past week...it's what happens...the non-native guest seems unfazed by it...in fact it is thriving in the beds and in the lawn despite obvious attempts to eradicated it...its basking in the heat is not the issue...its over-wintering is...i have taken a couple of more home...and while we are on the subject of home...

there is an abundance of dragonflies in my yard again this year which i find pleasing and which is providing some interesting photos...however the big insect news for me this week has been the emergence of several lines of evidence showing the presence of leaf cutter bees out there...

first the bee house has ( next to the clay plugged tubs i would surmise to be the doings either wasps or miserable earwigs ) two tubes plugged with leaves...a clear sign of leaf cutter nesting...and...

i saw and managed to photograph one of the girls hard at work...which has been a relief...it is late...but not too late.

a tramp around the yard

it's july and these things are back...

and this is what they have done to some of my grape leaves...so i mixed four tablespoons of neem oil in a gallon of water and sprayed the leaves and will do so until i don't see any more of these things...

happily there is better news in the bean department...the bush beans i have grown from seed have begun to produce and i planted another batch this past week...

the hungarian hot peppers have recovered from their angry, wet start and are producing as well...

the bush bean in my truck bed is blooming...

the ramps are going to seed...

the teocintli has begun to tiller and throw out support roots...

the rye is done...but it has rained some in the past few days and more is forecast...so i will wait for a few dry days before the harvest...besides i am still threshing and winnowing the winter wheat...

and my yard is full of dragonflies.