rain continues

the drought monitor indicated that "current conditions" would extend for the next thirty days...perhaps...

however the nearly two inches of rain in my yard over the last twenty-four hours has surely made some impact on that...it has certainly impacted local industrial fields...

there is standing water...

in the dense yellow #2 and beans...along with some hints of erosion..

and, in places...

it looks as if the plants may drown if the rains continue...and that is what forecasts call for though the weekend...no need to water anywhere around here.

equinoctial transitions

its the first day of autumn and after i took care of a few things around the house i went for a drive into the local exurban landscape of industrial fields and mcmansions...the dense yellow #2 is dying back from the bottom and the stalks have the obligatory ear...ti's still a ways to go before harvest though...

some fields have been fallow all season...and some are mysteriously empty and plowed...native plant control?

the beans are turning and in various stages of maturation...

and this field...

is the subject of an equinox harvest...seems early to me however it may be they were planted early..they are coming in whatever the case is...

out back the teosinte finds itself in varied states of maturity as well...there is a slower harvest going on here...

the eruptionson the twelve footer out there continue to grow...there are no silks so what they could be is anyone's guess ( or, perhaps, someone knows...i will soon enough )...i will leave them be as long as they continue to expand...we will have a look inside later...

the onions i planted two weeks ago did not hesitate in starting and there are a multiplicity of shoots up and running...

a few more of their allium cousins the garlic are showing up as well...in the ground and in containers...

admittedly it has only been five days since i planted rye and wheat...still i had hoped for a few more plants than this...

to err on the safe side i stuck some more ears of wheat in a burlap bag...whacked them with a stick for a while...and brodcast the threshed grain across the beds which i then watered thoroughly without raking the grain into the soil...we will see what surface germination generates...

the chinese yams have generated a fair number of aerial bulbs this year despite the interference of the gourd vines...

there are some gourds...

including a birdhouse gourd that's big enopugh for...well... a bird to nest in...there will be more from deeper into autumn.

drainage

august is traditionally fairly warm around here and today was no exception...there have been clouds in the sky but no rain i am aware of in the past sixteen days...

so with temperatures in the upper eighties and low nineties ( farhenheit )and no rain for a couple of weeks i would have expected to see some leaves curled from transpiration out there...but i found none that i could see...another of monsanto's innovations one supposed ( or bayers )...

the beans are verdant and unstressed ( seemingly ) as well...and there's an example of the bi-polar industrial monoculture they grow here...

i haven't a clue what was in this field...however the cloud of dust behind the tractor is a fair indication of how dry it is and how vulnerable to wind and ( hopefully ) eventual rain erosion the topsoil is...

i do know what's in this field and drainage tile in this quantity in a field that has been fallow all season is likely a sign that this field will be growing some sort of building soon...no signs telling me what to expect, but dense yellow #2 doesn't need this much drainage...

keeping with the zea motif...the teosinte out back has ears coming along well and seeds are beginning to be visible through the husks...don't think i am not pleased...and there is no leaf curl here...these are heirloom plants not industrial mutants...i am watering them...there's other stuff going on...we can leave that for another post...

personally i think i am going to go look for more dragonflies...that season is getting shorter too.

different season

after eight inches of rain last month the climate has only delivered a tenth of that this month...so the fields are drying...

and the machinery is out in the fields...

many have already been worked and planted with what i am assuming is a late start on dense yellow #2 which was mostly missing last year around here...

there are still any number of fields that are unturned...usually juxtaposed across the road from the planted...i am, again assuming, thinking these will be beans directly since bean time is upon us...we will be looking around to see if i am correct in my assumptions or if i am completely at sea industrially...for now the industrial feed stock has begun to reach the fields...conagra is safe.