blooms

concord grapes...

seedless grapes...

asparagus...

winter rye...

winter wheat...

alfalfa ( amazing how that worked out...the alfalfa leaf cutter bees arrive next week )...

winter vetch.

summer evening

it's a warm summer evening out back...a bit cooler than the summer afternoon that preceded it...so i went for a stroll to see what was what...

happily the ramps have begun to bloom...

the onions are ahead in that respect...

and i noticed the intermediate wheat grass has joined in...

the winter rye is moving along towards ripe...

all those purple winter vetch blooms the bees were all over have begun to transform into seed pods...

the asparagus i transplanted is still doing just fine..in a couple of years this whispy guy will look more like...

will look more like this sturdy plant...

with structures like this which will produce the "ferns" the seedlings resemble so closely...

and, if all goes well. in 2023 they seedlings will be putting up edible spears like these in the community garden ( which is where the seed for these came from )...

i found bees hard at work today...

when i strolled over to the chinese yam vine i found some less welcome insects busily working as well...obviously dousing the grape leaves in neem oil a couple of times had driven them so seek sustenance elsewhere and the yam leaves were supper...

so i got out the garden sprayer and soaked the yam leaves as well hoping to keep them from being skeletalized...i will have to be vigilant here...look into the strawberries and keep an eye on the grapes...see where they land next...the jerusalem artichokes are probably safe...the potatoes and tomatoes are nightshades..i imagine they are safe through toxicity...i an thinking the beans will need to be sprayed...never have found one on the maize or teosinte...there's a first time for most things though...depends, i suppose, on how many beetles and how voracious they are.

growth, blooms, ears, attrition.

the bees have been all over the winter vetch ( unlike the hawthorn ) and the vetch has responded with pods...no need to replant...these will mature and fall soon enough...

the winter rye is ripening...

the dwarf syrian, einkorn, and black tip wheat are all evincing new ears...

and the surprising puddle wheat noe has produced fourteen of its own...

the allium is bl0oming...

or, like this ramp and its onion cousin, getting ready to...

more spuds are blooming although i have seen no signs of fruits yet...nothing unusual in that...

the asparagus seedlings will need transplanting very soon before the root system gets too deep into the container they are in...a bed somewhere or another...

the wild and weedy maize ancestor has begun to tiller..."improved" hybrid corn does not...some heirloom maize will...

the usda corn is booming along...

while some of the heirloom maize is failing or has been bitten ( gnawed it looks like ) off at the base...i should have nearly one hundred and twenty frost-free days left so i put more seed in to soak today and will be replanting around the yard tomorrow...we will see if quantity will provide survival of a few individuals.

allium,medicago, triticum, secale, vicia, zea

dna does not waste time and there is reproduction going on every day out back...ears, flowers, seeds, bees...everything is in a state of movement...the winter rye continues to ripen and will be the first grain to be harvested and, as these things go , the first to be replanted...

the black tip wheat was the first of the spring wheats to "ear" and will doubtlessly be the next harvest...

Jean's long-lived and obdurate "puddle wheat" has now deployed six ears with more on the way...the wheat story of the season...

the dwarf syrian wheat has numerous, green, robust ears...

while the emmer...

and einkorn are just beginning to emerge...

the yellow onions are beginning to bloom...someone will tell me to pinch them off...however i will not...this is their second year,the onions are large....and i want the seeds...

in their own berserk fashion the egyptian walking onions are propagating themselves...aerial bulbs and flowers are redundant...and dna is adamant...

the potted teosinte has multiple ears along the stem and some still very green seeds showing...these will certainly have a full season since they were well developed before i brought them out from the basement...so hoping for the possibility of a third generation of viable seed produced in my yard...

what i have seen in the way of honey bees this year have been all over the winter vetch...

and they have responded by producing seed pods like a good legume...

meanwhile the leaf cutters are dancing with the alfalfa...things are definitely changing...you can see it if you pay attention ( deniers scoff! )...nature still works...we will see if we can adapt as well.