Saturday, January 12, 2013

endless season?

i went out to the pgp this morning to check on the kansas wheat grass domesticates ( still not dormant...see photo appendix ) and while i was there i took a look at the brussels sprouts...i picked those plants clean in late october and was surprised to find that they had continued to produce sprouts both along the plant's branches and on the stems...it was fifty-four degrees according to the thermometer in the vehicle on the twelfth of january...that aint natural...and i harvested enough sprouts to add some flavor to an evening salad...last winter was peculiar...last season was odd for the perennials...there is a mixed bag of dormancy this winter ( much like last )...and as of the seventh the usda still had my county suffering form a moderate drought that has been going on for months...i am working with as many native perennial species as i can ( jerusalem artichokes, ramps, ginseng ) and the annual lamb's quarters just to see if there is some sort of climatic impact on the plants that evolved here in terms of overall plant growth, health, and production...the non-native perennials ( like the zea diploperennis that surprisingly overwintered )did much better last season than the natives...i have to wonder what a climate shift will do to their range...i really like sunchokes and the harvest last fall was a disappointment...i would miss them if they left their original range and moved north...more on this if i ever make any real sense of the data...there is still a lot to collect.

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