the garden is still green

got off work and went to the garden just to see how things are...there has been enough rain in the past few days ( about an inch and a half in the past week ) that there was no need to water...just reconnaissance today...

and there is still quite a lot to see...there are green tomatoes in my bed and just about everywhere else as well...and there ar still multiple blooms on the plants...

they may be monochromatic...

they still have a striking family resemblance to their potato cousins...

and, to a lesser extent, to another cousin in the garden, carolina horse nettle...

the squash plants are still blooming and producing...

the asparagus is still very robust..we are a bit more than a month away from the traditional mulch...

one of the plants is still producing "berries"...

and another has come out in a rash of very late flowers which, unfortunately, probably won't amount to much in the way of seed...

over in my bed there is more than a few tomatoes going on...

the winter wheat is in various stages of development...there are new sprouts...

and more than a few have produced second leaves which is a good sign in over wintering terms...this will be going on fro a time yet...no idea when the first hard frost will be...october fifteenth is the first average frost date...but averages lie and last year it was more toward the end of the month..we will see as we watch the garden shift seasons...but not stop.

a bit broader backyard perspective

there is more than teosinte out back..the top photo is of a squash bloom on a plant that is desperately optimistic...dna is tenacious stuff...the next three are of various fall green manures...from the yellow peas in the first to the alfalfa, yellow peas, winter rye, and winter vetch in the second...tot he clover, winter rye, and winter vetch...the legumes and the rye reservoir are taking hold on the south side of the house...nitrogen going into the ground and going up into the rye...soil enrichment and compost grown on site...turned under three weeks before spring planting they will feed next year's crops...and some of next year's crops are up and running already...the fifth photo is one of thirty-six garlic plants up so far and the sixth is several of them...no sense in wasting time and sunlight.

touring the yard II

the winter rye and the spring wheat ( first and second photos respectively ) are beginning to show signs of advancing ripeness...the wheat is being grown for decorative purposes for the crafty people here but i will be hoarding the winter rye as seed for autumn cover crops in the gardens...( i will be sharing too..this will produce more than i can use )...fern's pod corn is looking hale today and , while there is no three sister's' guild in my yard because of predatory squirrels, there is a brace of squash plants out by the cucumber hills...crowded but thriving.

rain

the rain gauge on my home weather station says my back yard got 1.02 more inches of rain today...that put the total at 7.96 inches of rain in the last twenty-three days...or...about 20% of the 39+ plus inches of precipitation we receive in a year...this occurred last season as i recall and then things dried out significantly..we'll see if the pattern holds this year...as it is there is standing water in front of the garden beds ( which worries me drainage-wise )...but the garden is flourishing...doing land office business as far as growth goes...we have our first tomatoes of the year and the squash plants are producing third leaves...good stuff as far as we can tell...and eventful week ahead i think,,,more as it comes up.

buds, blooms, and july growth

i went to campus this evening after work and visited the i u northwest community garden to do a bit of data gathering...things there are moving along well...the green peppers in the second photo are budding and preparing to flower...the eggplants have flowered and the potatoes in the third photo are budding or blooming ( 44 days into a three or four month season still seems a bit early but i am uncertain of the variety planted there...if it's a 90 day strain then they're really on time )...seems like the annuals there are on time and doing well...nothing anomalous yet...after i finished measuring and photographing there i walked over to the perennial garden project ( still its official title ) to do some watering and look in on things...the jerusalem artichokes seem to have had a growth spurt and have reached four and a half feet and continue to produce more buds...the hopi blue maize has reached two feet and the larger of the two is thickening at the base in what i hope will be another branch which would be another step towards replicating the maize pictured in " corn among the indians of the upper missouri" and would be a highlight of the season for me, if no-one else...the larger of the two squash plants in the pgp has begun to flower as well ( fourth photo ) and the bottom photo is a note form my back yard that makes the presence of lamb's quarters in every stand of jerusalem articholes out there official...i still can't find any academic research that links the two plants in any sort of symbiotic ( or any other ) way but my experience shows me the two turn up together frequently ( but not on campus this year...yet anyway..another oddity )...things are progressing everywhere but not in a fashion i am accustomed to...still questions to try to answer and more work to do