status quo on campus

there's a season at the community garden...but it is quiet at the moment...no real surprises to report...the onion is still blooming ( first photo ) and the three yukon gold potatoes ( second ) still have a way to go...even though it isn't recommended i believe more spuds will be going into the empty space vacated by the reds...there are two new potatoes coming up ( third and fourth ) i will add to the number...the teosinte ( fifth ) is looking much less water stressed after this morning's monsoon rain...no corn sweat today...the jerusalem artichokes( sixth ) have hit about three feet...normal stuff there too...the asparagus (seventh ) has settled in or a summer run..one new spear (eighth ) coming along...i am still hopeful that the flowers in the last photo will produce seed this year...i would like to spread some home-grown asparagus around.

spuds, ramps, and a shot of zea

clearly i missed some tubers last year since i now have ten volunteer potatoes in the jerusalem artichoke bed ( first two photos )...there are some deliberately placed ones out there ( third through fifth ) and while i was rooting around in the bins in the plant room checking for problems ( no more blackleg rot to report...so far ) i found a dark red and a yukon gold ( sixth and seventh respectively) that seemed about ready so i put them out in containers ( eighth )...i planted four elmer's blue spuds as well so there are now thirty-eight in the ground including the volunteers with more to come...it is mid may and the ramps are beginning to die back ( ninth) i will be looking for plants that want to flower soon...hoping for more seed to share and spread around the yard just to see what happens...the plant in the tenth photo tells me we will be seeing corny looking leaves very soon as the teosinte greens up...finally the last photo is a spike of rhubarb seeds...lots of them...both plants are producing an extravagant amount...it is lamentable i don't like rhubarb in any of its mutations...this could be the mother lode for someone...i will take a pass.

community additions

events in the community garden tell me the season is moving along...my bed ( top photo ) is slowly beginning to fill...the jerusalem artichoke colony ( second ) will be over a foot tall by month's end while two yukon gold spuds ( third and fourth ) and another red potato ( fifth) have joined the three reds ( sixth) already booming along...the one egyptian walking onion in there ( seventh ) has begun to develop the aerial bulb ( eighth ) that will allow it to "walk" as the weight bends the stem down and the bulb roots at a distance from the parent plant...above ground colonization using bulbs rather than stolons...down the row the asparagus is doing just fine ( ninth ) and has already begun to flower ( tenth and eleventh )...acquiring some viable asparagus seed from this stand would be a bonus..i have a bed in my back yard i would like to seed...the plants continue to produce new spears ( twelfth through fourteenth ) a sign of a happy, heal;thy root system...finally i have some teosinte seed that has germinated (fifteenth and sixteenth ) so i planted a couple in my bed...no the aggressive type jerusalem artichokes are it will ,if it succeeds, still give them some competition for "tallest plant" honors at the end of the season.

blooms and spuds

there are a number of in-ground yukon golds up and running ( first five photos ) which is good news but i am still wary of blackleg rot...we will see...the asparagus ( sixth) has "ferned" nicely and will be feeding the roots...time for compost...a bumble bee on a dandelion ( seventh )...which bumbled right at me after i took the photo...a rhubarb plant in full bloom ( eight and nine )curious to have a look at seed from these...and while we are talking blooms...the brussels sprouts that overwintered are looking on the verge of flowering themselves( ten and eleven )..finally tonight the seedless grapes ( twelve and thirteen ) as well as the concord grapes in the Catalpa tree ( last ) are leafing out well...looking fro blooms there soon as well.