early blue and teosinte

it is nearly the end of september but the early blue in the pgp continue to bloom ( top photo ) and my supposition is that they will do so until either i dig them up or frost kills the...the potato fruit ( second photo ) are still hard and not ready to harvest...waiting as patiently as i can for that...the removal of the gamagrass left me with a less restricted view of the perennial teosinte ( third photo )...it is doing well and producing both tillers and support roots ( fourth photo )...it still looks far more like maize than the annual variety does to me.

gamagrass and potato seeds?

four weeks ago ( top photo ) the gamagrass was upright and most of the seed was green..today ( second photo ) the leaves, spears , and seed heads are lowered to the ground and most of the seed heads are shattered ( even though there are still green seeds out there..the immature seed heads are the ones closest to an upright position ) scattering seed as far away as possible form the parent plants...the third photo is of n early blue potato plant that had been flowering on my last trip out..when i looked on the underside i found what looks like seed pods ( i have been working with jerusalem artichoke seeds at home trying to see if they are actually viable or vestigial and so seeds have been on my mind...i was discussing wild potatoes that i have grown from seed and wondered aloud if domesticated potatoes produced seed [which it seemed they should even if they were not viable either ] which is why i looked in the first place 0 i cannot find anything in the way of an image of a domesticated potato seed pod...yet...i will continue looking and i will refrain from harvesting these spuds until these seed pods ( or whatever 0 ripen.

a dearth of yellow

the pgp doesn't seem to be having quite the excess water difficulties that the community garden is and i wonder why...my first thought is better drainage...even though i have unearthed construction ( or destruction ) debris every season the pgp sits over what us basically an underlayer of sand ( much like my yard ) and the drainage is good...even on the low end of the garden where the water tolerant gamagrass is...and my second thought is that the plants are mostly perennials...that brown in the long shot on top is ripe winter rye...the early blue potato that's blooming in the second photo is as green as could be...and it's a perennial even if it's a plant/replant one...the lamb's quarter in the third photo is an annual and it is ( so far ) the only plant i've found with any yellowing...the teosinte in the bottom photo isn't looking unhappy at all either...and it's a perennial strain...drainage? perennials? a combination? neither? don't know for sure but i will be keeping an eye on things over there and will certainly post if the perennials start to go south.

last potato planting

off to the pgp this morning to finish up the potato patch that has replaced the forage variety of intermediate wheat grass...turned in yet another forty pounds of composted manure ( i hope the university is aware of the fertile and organic nature of the plot they are reclaiming...bet hey don't...bet it becomes lawn again...bet it gets covered in 2-20-10 fertilizer again in 2015 )...more than two tons since 2009...anyway...i put in three yukon golds, one all red and seven early blue that could not find a home in the community garden...the mashua in the bottom photo seems as happy as the ones in the community garden...hoping for many tubers there...many spuds too.