busy beds

there has been ample rain this week, with more on the way, so things are moving along in the beds...especially for the cool weather crops...

the spuds, onions, jerusalem artichokes, and wild strawberries are filling in the south bed...

you really don't have to look beyond a bed with strawberries in it for incessant activity...they are cooking berries and making daughters everywhere they are planted...

the ramps are confined to a limited area because of their need for a lot of shade...still, they are utilizing their space well...

there are strawberries and onions in this bed a s well...unsurprisingly, none of the zucchini i planted here has broken surface yet ( i do not understand how this "foolproof" squash and i manage to evade on another...perhaps i am not a fool ) hpowever there are radishes up and running..so, "half a loaf", correct?

all five varieties of wheat are filling in and gaining verticality...

the bed next to the wheat is alive with rhubarb and spuds that have found the sun...and...quietly, the sweet clover has begun to settle in as well...

the asparagus, onions, tomato, and, once again, strawberries, in this bed are all doing fine...the tomato and asparagus offer mutual support...the asparagus repels nematodes that attack tomatoes and the tomatoes repel asparagus beetles...something to keep in mind when planning beds...

the winter rye has, i believe, reached terminal height and has continued with its irruption ears...

the in ground teosinte continues to produce new leaves and begins to look more like itself...

and the potted teosinte, up from the basement continues to show surprisingly robust new growth...

and has begun to sprout silks to interact with the new flowers...more ears and seeds...it's what grasses do.

the game's afoot

it has been cool and a bit rainy here recently...however that hasn't really put the breaks on the yard...

the rhubarb seems about to flower...

the spud i planted in the rhubarb bed to keep them company continue to pop up...

there are many happy ramps on the north side of the house...

did someone say teosinte? well...there it is any way...you weren't going to not see it...

the gnarled, grandfatherly, twenty-five year old grape root stock has irrupted in leaves for another season...there are vines all through the fir treed and the catalpa tree as well..last season's crop was a disappointment...perhaps we will do better this year...

all the wheat is looking robust...however the biggest event ( so far ) today is...

the winter rye is nearing the two foot mark in height and, more importantly, had begun to display ears of grain..in a few more weeks the ears will flower and then the rye can move on to finishing its season and be harvested..it should be the first in the rotation of harvests...next week should see another round of containerized spuds going in ( including the government spuds ) and...if the weather warms...maize, tomatoes, and peppers.

storms

there were significant thunderstorms overnight and at least one round of hail..so i went out on damage control this morning to see what was what...the egyptian walking onions and winter vetch are intact

it seems most of the yard came though unscathed...although the rhubarb may have taken a direct hit...i can't say this troubles me much...

the containers of spuds i took out last weekend fared well...and are well watered...

the winter rye is topping out at sixteen inches or so and seems completely unharmed...

the ramps shrugged it all off...

and the wheat is fine too...

the one set of plants that might have sustained some real damage are the wild strawberries...i am not certain whether these blossoms have been pollinated and lost their petal or if the storm knocked them off..the only thing i can do is wait and watch what develops ( hopefully berries )...there are quite a few blooms that have not opened yet and they are all in one piece so i can't see this having some dreadful impact on the final production of the plants...we will keep an eye on things and post events in the berry blog...more rain and thunderstorms forecast for today and tomorrow...we'll see how we are doing this weekend.

blooms and spuds

there are a number of in-ground yukon golds up and running ( first five photos ) which is good news but i am still wary of blackleg rot...we will see...the asparagus ( sixth) has "ferned" nicely and will be feeding the roots...time for compost...a bumble bee on a dandelion ( seventh )...which bumbled right at me after i took the photo...a rhubarb plant in full bloom ( eight and nine )curious to have a look at seed from these...and while we are talking blooms...the brussels sprouts that overwintered are looking on the verge of flowering themselves( ten and eleven )..finally tonight the seedless grapes ( twelve and thirteen ) as well as the concord grapes in the Catalpa tree ( last ) are leafing out well...looking fro blooms there soon as well.