winter rye

the winter rye had a much better season despite the weather...why is an unknown...perhaps it is not as "improved" ( read manipulated to human desires/needs ) as wheat...closer to its "wild and weedy ancestor" genetically and so more resilient...

then again, in threshing terms, it is a much more tractable grain than wheat...none of the difficult husks of einkorn...and no need to put it in a sack and whack it with a stick...weak rachis means you can easily remove the grain by rolling the ear between your thumb and forefinger...and yet the grain stays in the ears unless coaxed...they do not shatter...not a "wild and weedy" trait...so..human intervention in the lives of plants...and it wasn't a chore to thresh enough grain to plant ( even though you might want to find an alternative threshing plan for a larhge amount of rye...the awns are still sharp )...

it's a breezier day today...with a chance of severe weather later on they say...so it was a simple task to winnow the grain and it cleaned up well...

in a replay of the wheat bed preparation from yesterday i dug the rye bed again...turned in compost...and raked it halfway level...

i broadcast the grain ( remebering to "spill" some by the locust tree )...raked it in and watered the bed...i watered the wheat again as well...just a reminder for the grain...

there was a native berry growing in the bed and i left it to serve as a greeter when the rye arrives...and i had done enough intervening in plant lives for the day...just let this one be.

the vagaries of winter wheat

my entire 2021 harvest of hard red winter wheat easily fit into a fairly small plastic bag...disappointing in terms of flour...still enough to plant for 2022...

so i put it in a burlap bag and whacked it with a stick...

which did a reasonable job of threshing the grain...

there was something of abreeze up so i did do some winnowing...not perfect, however i am planting this wheat, not milling it...

i dug the bed again and raked it tolerably level...

then i broadcast the seed and raked it in about a quarter inch...

and doused it with some water to give it the idea that it might be time to get moving...there is a possibility of rain tomorrow they say...that would only help...now we wait and see...if it comes up...how cold the winter is...if there is enough insulating snow ( oh we got snow last winter...seemed to be all in february...unfortunately the cold befgore that had done in most of the wheat...these things happen )...and then what the weather next spring is like...a lot of contingency...rye is next on the ganda.

ears and seeds

teosinte out back

all part of the job

i went to the campus garden after work this afternoon...

because it was my turn in the thursday watering rotation...so i watered...then looked around...

as one would expect, the alfalfa in my bed is in open revolt over being contained...

there is teosinte that has survived...

it is seriously stunted...nowhere near the height of the patches in my back yard...being uprooted and shocked early has definitely not helped its season...

while we are talking seasons, this spud was clearly done...

it was an elmer's blue and the fingerling tubers do look better cleaned up...massive hauls are not, in my experience, an elmer's blue trait...saving these for seed...

the asparagus is looking robust...

and i counted ten new late summer ( or early meteorological autimn ) spears on the rise...

the cowpeas on the other hand would seem to have seen better days...season ending without doubt...

as a side note, they completely ignored the twine i put up and vined through the aspragus...human intervention denied...

i harvested some finished pods which netted me seventy-seven seeds...i will probably retrieve more next trip out...you should grab some if you want to set nitrogen next season...i will be palnting a cover crop there soon...this month to be exact...

finally, the carolina horse nettle is flowering merrily away...

producing fruits as well...it isn't planning on doing anything but expanding its range.

meteorological autumn

it's the first of september and time to move on things i plan on overwintering so...

i went out to the wheat and rye beds i had let go since harvest ( such as it was wheat wise )...

and cleared all but the volunteer spuds and turned the beds...a chore that will be repeated a number of times and the spuds will, eventually, need to be brought in...expectations there would be drops at best...since i had a short day at work i decided to go over to the comunity garden in portage where i had not set foot in some time...

where i found this completely finished spud...

which produced one pound three and a half ounces of red potatoes...cool...

over in the maize row some of the plants were finished...

the produced some fair sized ears...

and some colorful kernels...

the ten and twelve footers meanwhile...

are just beginning to flower...

like the ones in the back yard...the probability of any sort of ears, much less viable seed, forming in the time before a frost in minimal...still we will wait and see...

and whether the maize is finished or flowering, the aphid patrol is still on duty...next up, preparing a garlic bed.