variables

despite 1.3" of rain earlier this week...

the weather forecast in terms of rain is grim...

and the drought monitor forecast for the next three months is...extreme drought...so...my garden beds will survive...one wonders how the bi-polar monoculture in the indistrial fields will be doing...and what the price of corn and soy beans will be like soon...specifically probably unpreidictable, however one surmises they cost will not go down...

out in the back the wheat on the compost pile is doing just fine...

the mulberries are in various states of ripeness...( the ripe ones are both seedy and sweet )...

the concord grapes in the fir tree are coming along...

as are the seedless grapes on the trellis...we will be getting back to these soon...

the berry plants are throwing stolons out everywhere...

while the bee hatchery is quiet...that will chage as the temperatures rise...

the deer fence i put up around the teosinte and maize beds seems to be working...

the damage to both has ceased...at least for the nonce...

and damage and loss are the subject of the rest of this post...mooseberry seems to be hosting some aphid herding ants and they seem to be impeding the new growth on this stem...this will be ending...they can move to the teosinte when it matures...it does not seem to mind them...

as i said, the grapes are coming along...and, as last years bird tape experiment was a dismal failure, this year i went in a different direction...

i purchased some netting...

and covered the vines on the trellis...

i began to cover the concords in the fir tree as well...however this is going to take some thought, experimentation, and a bit more work to see through...more as it comes up

late august in the back yard

something more than a half inch of rain overnight ( and it is still raining some ) isn't unheard of here in august however the alternating patterns of heat and wet/cool ( last week we got two and a half inches of rain[in my yard anyway]overnight...that is a bit more anomalous ) are not the norm...i have been mowing the lawn at least weekly which is not a usual august activity...usually hotter and drier by far...i have not been doing much watering of late...

alternating patterns of weather are not impacting day length though and some of the plants are taking a cue from that in terms of where their season is...the mashua is beginning to show signs of fall colors and will need to come i before a hard freeze...probably after a frost kills back the plants...

there is maize ripening on the stalks...

there is also maize being eaten on the stalk...how much will actually reach fruition is a matter to take up with the birds and squirrels...we know this was a possibility when we planted...predation is not unexpected...

blossoms continue to transform into beans...

there are tomatoes in varying stages of maturity...

and the hot banana peppers are getting hotter...

the jerusalem artichokes are still blooming and there will be tubers soon enough...

the zucchini is in flower and producing late season squash as well...

the ramps have seeds cooking away...

some are done and i have begun to collect them as they mature..they are small...

and closely resemble onion seeds which is no surprise considering they are both from the allium family...cousins...

the growing numbers of tiers of support roots...

and zea mexicana ears turning from green to maroon and brown are signals that at least some of the teosinte is finishing up...the northern tepehuan has a much longer season and i don't expect ears before late next month and no seed before october...

i have begun to harvest mature zea mexicana seed from some of those maturing ears however...i will test for viability in the spring...

the frog in the corn seems to still be at home there...whether this will persists as the corn begins to die back is uncertain...the benefit of blending in may turn to a cost of standing out...he may pull a houdini...

yams...new growth...a return

that's the first chinese yam of the season...i did not plant any bulbs...however that doesn't mean i didn't miss some last fall when i tried to harvest them all...last year there were three separate vines...we will see what this year brings...

around the corner the teosinte i planted yesterday is beginning to green up a bit...always encouraging ( i know i am pushing the season...but i am a geek )

meanwhile the teosinte plant i brought out from under the plant room lights last week is undergoing some changes...

the old growth, including the flower, has shocked ( devil UV ) and died back...however...

it is also showing good new growth down the stem...

and a new flower is emerging..so there may be a full season fro this plant yet...and, if all goes well...a double tesointe season out back...

and while we are on the subject of unexpected new growth...i put Jean's puddle wheat out at about the same time fully expecting it to end its season that began last october in a puddle of water in the basement...it has other ideas it seems as new growth is up and running at the base..it could be a germinating interloper...however it looks a lot like wheat to me...we will keep an eye out for eats...

finally...i have been rewilding some of the jerusalem artichokes i dug out of the community garden on campus...they are going in in unobtrusive spots where they are unlikely to be interfered with or interfere with anything anyone else is doing...they are native plants...they can still be found on roadsides and in untrammeled areas if you know where to look...they are edible...and, again, native...their range has been impacted by suburban sprawl and agricultural activities ( like herbicides )...reestablishing a native range seems reasonable.