zea morphology

the bear paw maize is flowering out back ( first three photos ) and i thought it might be interesting to compare those emergent flowers to some that erupted from the zea diploperennis in the perennial garden project in the autumn of 2013...not carbon copies...but close enough to be related...the annual teosinte i have in the back yard is nowhere near ready to flower yet but when it does you can expect to see more comparative photos...just because it's my blog.

potato fruit and tesouinte seeds ( or viability IX )

the early blue potatoes in both gardens on campus have finally given up blooming ( a signal that this incredibly long potato season is drawing to a close..the early blue in the community garden were planted one hundred and fifty-nine days ago...and they are still verdant as could be..the ones in the pgp are a few days older and just as green...clearly this season will be defined by frost )but that hasn't stopped them from trying to produce fruits...i found four nascent ones( top two photos )...doubtlessly they will not see maturity...if frost doesn't end them something else will...you can see by the barren stems in both top photos that there were more..well...i brought in five...two on the fifteenth of september and three on the twenty-ninth just to be sure of having some...prudence wins out this time...the potato fruit on the left in the third photo has been ripening in a paper bag since the fifteenth of last month and the one on the left since the twenty-ninth...the older one is much softer and has begun to evince a shriveled appearance and looks to be about ready to process for seed...the potato introduction station in sturgeon's bay wisconsin sent me some rather detailed instructions for seed removal which, among other things, involves a blender...there will be more on that as i assemble the necessary equipment...the other seed news involves the zea mexicana seed from 2010 that the coach returned to me and that i began to test germinate a few days ago...seems teosinte seed ( at least some ) is viable beyond two years...there is definitely a root there in the fourth photo and there are signs of movement in other seeds...so i am inclined to declare the teosinte seed crises resolved ( or, more accurately, state that there never was a crisis..just the perception of a possible one )...so parts of this season are melding into the next as we perpetuate generations...i am geeked...there's no stopping me.

asparagus in two places at once and other garden stuff

the asparagus across campus in the pgp has thrown up some autumn spears as the day length has shortened ( top photo )...not to be out done by a cousin the asparagus transplant the i had given up as lost and which proved to be far more resilient than i credited it has done likewise ( second photo ) good news for the asparagus friendly in the community...and good news for the gardeners too...like the sugar snap peas in my yard the ones on campus have burst into bloom...pods are next in the natural progression...they are bush peas so will require no trellis...the cucumbers have been looking tired for a while now but today i notice some fall colors creeping into the pole bean plants as well..it will be time to finish harvesting, clean up, and plant fall green manures and cover crops soon...winter vetch, winter rye, dixie clover, and alfalfa will be joining the new zealand white clover in the garden for the winter...fall planting of jerusalem artichokes will need to be done and seed garlic is on the way for an opportune placement as well...the garden never sleeps...just slows a bit.

water please!

the grass in the community garden was brown and pretty crunchy underfoot this evening and the curled leaves on the maize ( second and third photo ) in the iuncg and the ones on the teosinte in the pgp ( fourth photo ) told me it was time to water...so i spent about an hour going over all the beds from from to back ( and i did not neglect to soak the arborvitae )...a much drier month has increased our need for supplemental water..a bit late but the idea of a flow meter to quantify use occurs...next season?

red pontiacs

potatoes, not autos...i planted these spuds eighty-two days ago so the one that died back is a tad ahead of schedule but its season was clearly done...so i got out the spading fork and popped it up at the roots and found tubers...six of them, weighing in from half an ounce to five and seven eights ounces with a grand total of twelve and five eights ounces of starch and vitamins and minerals from one plant...unfortunately one was less than edible...but there are eleven more in that bed and more spread around the yard...there is an ollala that looks like its about done and will probably be the next one in...they were planted in a rotation from april through may and with seven different varieties with different seasonal lengths they should be coming in for some time to come...there will be many more tuber posts here as things unwind...from my yard, the community garden ( which has ten varieties, also planted in rotation form april through planting day on may twentieth..a long season on tap there as well ), and the perennial garden's last season...and when the spuds are done we can turn our attention to the jerusalem artichokes in september and october...this is what happens when one of the gardeners has a thing for tubers.

mashua

another andean plant/replant perennial tuber has found its way into both gardens and i am utterly geeked at the prospect...mashua is a member of the nasturtium family and produces large quantities of peppery tubers near the surface, much like potatoes but, seemingly, without he solanine issues...whether these set tuber or not is another matter...they have a long season, six to eight months, need lots of water, don't like heat, and will probably have issues with the day length here in summer..if we have a mild autumn there is a chance of tubers late and some hope for a replant...if not i have found a source and can purchase more tubers in the spring...either way we are pleased that all the tubers that were planted chose to germinate..all we can do now is strive to provide adequate conditions of a good performance...going out on a limb here since this is the first go-round with these...and publicly too...we like a challenge.

inside the pgp I

the exotics ( for me anyway ) have me geeked again...the mashua has appeared in the pgp ( although not in the community garden yet ) and now the challenge is to maintain it and get it to set tubers...a member of the nasturtium family it should be sprouting red blooms before the season is over and edible tubers if the day length doesn't throw it off...the zea diploperennis has sent up multiple shoots in both stand so i am hoping we are set for another season of corny looking plants...i am surprised at a fourth season after such a harsh winter but the shoots are there and i am geeked...more on these beauties as the develop.

inside the pgp II

a number of potato varieties have put in an appearance at the pgp this week...the pungo in the top photo came from the usda potato introduction station as did the valley in the second photo...the red pontiac in the third photo came for a local supplier...the leona in the bottom photo is another government spud...it has been a few years since there were potatoes by hawthorn hall...so far their season seems to be doing well...there are still a few more to come provided all works out well...there will be a bounty of tubers on campus and at home this season.

inside the pgp III

in the few days it has been since i was at the pgp the asparagus has grown enormously...i harvested some but a couple were over three feet tall and starting to "fern"...way too woody to eat so i left them to feed the roots...a bit early for that but the plants are still sprouting new spears...there will be more to eat soon enough and, depending on temperatures, the season still has three or four weeks to run...then we wait for flowers and "berries"...meanwhile the chinese yams are up and the vines have already reached the top of the trellis post...about three feet again...i did not harvest the tubers last autumn so i expect a virtual forest of vines and literally hundreds ( if not thousands ) of aerial bulbs to intensify their invasive behaviors...culling last years rouge yams has already begun...always control issues with perennials...some more than others...these and the sunchokes top the list.

may day in the gardens II

i am still inordinately pleased to find the perennial teosinte back and growing...there are a few new sprouts in the old stand today...even though they seem to be much farther towards the perimeter of the stand than they were last year...and their multiplication is encouraging...when i unmulched the stand i started last season it had already sprouted and the shoots were so "leggy" that i was unsure if they were teosinte or if the wheat grass had invaded the zea's space...today the plants are beginning to look much more like teosinte and the purple coloration of the stem is a dead giveaway...so the newer stand has wintered over as well and that makes me doubly geeked...the asparagus is particularly robust this season...already a dozen spears have been harvested and shared and there are ten more on the rise...when the season is over and i let the plant s"fern" to feed the roots for next year the seven plants usually produce twenty-five spears and the some new purple ones in the autumn as the weather cools...perhaps this season will see a larger population...there is more green in the pgp today as the wheat grass really begins to green..the eastern gamagrass is still a pastel green...where it is green...that will begin its season in earnest next month...no sign of spuds yet...the weather needs to warm a bit...they will be in by month's end.

campus gardens spring to life (TEOSINTE!)

there are three annual teosinte plants up in the pgp ( two are in the top two photos ) and i planted a few more plus i am hoping 9 but not expecting ) to see plants from the seeds generated by last year's growth...but a few, evenly spaced plants would be great...even more gratifying, the bottom two photos are of new growth on the stand of perennial teosinte ( zea diploperennis ) i planted in 2011...survived the reasonably harsh winter and returning for a fourth season in the garden...i was concerned about this plant's future and the sprouts are good news..i will be unmulching the second, newer stand this coming weekend...the newer stand tried to flower late last season and while i think it unlikely because of day length issues, if nothing else. i would like to see that come to fruition this year...flowering or not the maize ancestor is back again.

campus gardens spring to life (asparagus)

over in the pgp it looks like a boom year for asparagus...last tuesday there were ten spears up and i harvested two...today there are twelve, including new growth on the harvested plants...fresh...tender...juicy asparagus...i will be sharing.

asparagus boundaries

the asparagus is coming along well...four spears have emerged so far...usually the plants produce twenty-five altogether, albeit at different times, until the season is over and i let the plants grow to feed the roots...then all twenty-five are in attendance...not during the season though...they arrive in their own sweet time...while i was working in the garden i cut a new border in the sod ( the university lawn loves the organic nature of the garden and constantly tries to take it over...a running battle ) and i pounded in some grade stakes and ran a piece of jute twine between them as a further demarcation...every year , so far, someone has managed to mow the big purple grass at the edge of the garden...not the end of the world when you are dealing with asparagus...it just grows back...but it disrupts the harvest and that is spotty enough already...the garden is coming to life...you can see green along with brown now...more green coming up.