September 10, 2018
I found out that my perpetual spinach seeds that I got online came from a village of 30,000 people on the island of Borneo. No wonder they are having a hard time producing an abundance of edible leaves. Our growing conditions convince them that they have a very short season and need to produce seeds quickly. It's fascinating that plants can read their environment and make changes to their growth based on processing the information. They have no central nervous system that we can determine, but act in accordance with a unified, coordinated, approach to information that they receive..
In this case we assume it's a combination of sun trajectory, soil temperature, humidity, length of day, and night time air temperature. We are probably going to need to know these parameters if we try to colonize Mars. Other factors that may contribute to altered anticipated results include soil acidity, a foreign microbial environment, intensity of sunlight, and soil coagulation and tilth..
September 11, 2018
September is such enjoyable gardening weather. The coolness of the mornings and evenings is only interrupted briefly by the warmth of the mid day sun. I find myself doing things that got put off all summer long because the heat makes me seek the shade. I cut back down to the ground a horrendous mess of blackberry vines that had invaded my Rosemary bush. I've walked by it a thousand times and subconsciously thought it needed to get addressed, but never had the motivation to accomplish it..
The cool morning sun had me strolling down the pathway instead of "going somewhere" and I stopped and enjoyed the methodical clipping of the vines without regard to the time it was taking. I also found myself kneeling in the morning sunshine weeding the pathways. I wasn't going to weed them because I've convinced myself that it's healthier to leave them, but when I stood up I thought "Gee that looks nice"..
September 12, 2018
I was surprised this morning at how few zucchini there were to pick. The cooler temperatures have slowed them down considerably. Either the leaves don't photosynthesize as much when they don't have to respire as much, or they tell the plant to ripen what's on the vine because times running out. The weeds have slowed down too, which makes me wonder if my bush beans, which are just beginning to bud, will have time to produce..
It seems the plants in the garden have been paying attention, whereas I have not. We have plenty of time left before the first frost, but if temperatures stay low, summer veggies will be hard pressed to complete their circle. This explains why the last of the melons never fully ripen..
