backyard conditions

out back the corn in a bucket ( first photo ) is producing ( second )...however not nearly as robustly as its industrial cousins...it is providing a habitat for the praying mantis in the third photo so it is functional...the seedless grapes ( fourth and fifth ) have found the trellis and have firmly attached themselves with tendrils ( sixth through eighth )...no amount of cajoling or insistence on my part could get them to do this...they acted on their own...human intervention in the lives of plants has it limits..at least they did not spurn the trellis...simply adapted it to their purposes in their own good time...the walking onions have "walked " ( ninth ) and the aerial bulbs are looking for the soil ( tenth )...hoping for a self planted crop of onions next season...finally the ramp seed are beginning to mature with a quickening pace ( eleventh )...i harvested twenty-one more today ( twelfth )...some i will plant...some i will share...some i will freeze for future use.

seeds

wandering around the back yard i can see we are definitely headed for autumn...i see a nascent ear in the corn in a bucket ( first photo )...which is one sign...the nasturtiums are blooming away as is their wont ( second 0 and producing seeds ( third on the left along with ramp seeds and potato fruits...more on that in a second here )...the first ramp seeds are in ( fourth ) you can compare their seed structures with the onion ( fifth )...the sixth photo is onion seed on the left and ramp seed on the right...not a perfect match but close...there are potato fruits on the vine ( seventh ) however i found four on the ground ( eighth ) and brought them in to "soften" in a paper bag ( much like ripening a green tomato...traits run in families )...this started me thinking about the carolina horse nettle fruits i bagged in july and which were pretty soft when i last checked...so i got a couple out ( ninth ) and threw in a potato fruit for scale )( tenth ) and then cut one open ( eleventh )...they strongly resemble cut open potato fruits ( twelfth, a photo from 2015 ) and the seeds are very similar ( horse nettle thirteenth and potato [again from 2015] fourteenth )...they process was, perhaps unremarkably the same, the air reeked of solanine...my hands itched...and those two small fruits produced approximately one hundred and forty seeds...common elements of both fruits..i have more horse nettle fruits and when the potato fruits i have brought in we will be doing a side by side comaprison...give it a few weeks.

bees, flowers, fruits, and seeds

ran into another honeybee ( first photo )out back in the jerusalem artichoke blooms this evening and that led me around the catalpa tree tot he bee house where the bees have filled five tubes in the nesting block ( second )...so there are more pollinators than honeybees at work out there which is pleasing to the gardener...bees need flowers, however the teosinte flowers are not what they are after...the flowers on the main stems are fully deployed ( third and fourth ) and there is one developing on a tiller...still no silks...see that small serration on the center leaf in the fifth photo? a sure zea index of a flower forming and the central spike is just visible in the sixth...full blown blooms in a few days...bigger news yet...there are potato fruits ( seventh )in the back...there is a long journey ahead of them so we will not get our hopes ahead of reality but there may be solanum morphology in seed bearing for the spuds and the horse nettle if all goes well...finally the last photo shows the ramp seeds are darkening...the green will become increasingly dark until the seeds are black and mature...a ways to go on that as well..we will be patient...we will expect some losses.

out back on the last day of july

a short tramp around the yard on the last day of the month includes jerusalem artichokes blooming away ( first photo ) along with some spuds that are just as showy in a smaller fashion ( second )...the corn in a bucket is sweating away ( third through fifth ) while the "wild and weedy" ( and also blooming ) ancestor is not ( sixth through eighth )...probably because the teosinte is in ground and the corn is in buckets...more access to water...no worries...i doused the corn...the brussels sprouts ( ninth ) are coming along in the heat and the ramp seeds ( tenth ) are darkening as they mature...the grapes in the catalpa tree ( eleventh ) are doing only so-so...the mulberries ( twelfth ) are continuing their season too...how long...we'll see...there's more going on...perhaps we will stroll again on mid summer's day...coning up next weekend.

seeds, sprouts, wheat, and a pickle

there is always something going on in the yard...travel broadens the mind i am told and i believe that is a fact...however i do believe there is something to be said for microcosm ( the zen precept that if you understand a frog you understand everything applies...why is there consistently more measurable rain in the northwest corner of my yard than the southeast? sorts of eleusinian mysteries everywhere ) and what is classed as "everyday" but is not...i struggle to become native to my back yard...i may feel non-native at times however the ramps are a native species here and the round, green structures in the ramp flower in the first photo are immature seeds...geeked about covers it..the teosinte in the second photo is looking very corny amnd the brussels sprout plant in the background is developing some pronounced sprouts ( third )...the boston pickling cucumber in the fourth photo is ripe for picking ( and was )...the hot banana pepper in the fifth photo is not quite done...another week or so..while the non-native wild strawberries ( sixth ) are ( i hope ) working on establishing roots...wheat got here with the columbian exchange and it is clearly non-native...the hard red spring wheat in the last three photos is clearly ripening quickly in the heat ( 90 degrees fahrenheit today ...right now in fact ) and will be done...possibly by the weekend..a harvest soon enough and then...threshing ans winnowing...you are invited to join in...really..it is an enjoyable experience..i promise.