back to the plants

the odd weather is playing fast and lose with my winter wheat and i really don't know where it will all end up...good, i hope, but my experience is a bit limited and all that i have read still insists on the need for snow form december to march to insulate the plants form the cold...well...no snow...no real extended sub-freezing weather either...peculiar climate these days...natural or anthropogenic...i suppose that all i can do is wait...there's movement in the basement though...i have never grown scarlet runner beans before so i decided to germinate some just so i would know what they looked like when they came up...odd critters...a north american native and grown form heirloom seeds...perhaps not in its original native range, but on the home continent...close enough for my standards ( bear cultural and demic diffusion in mind)...the indoor teosinte is holding its own...the aphid infestation is down to a few individuals sprayed on a daily basis...obviously eggs have been laid in the soil...i heaped the pots with mushroom mulch to provide some needed nutrients as the winter progresses and the addition of the second gro light seems to be working well...there is new growth ( though not much in the way of new tillers ) on both plants so after several months in the artificial environment of the basement i am guardedly hopeful ( as opposed to optimistic which would be a complete denial of life's realities ) that they will see spring and eventually go to seed...my apple trees did well this past season and they are securely mulched for winter...but, realist that i am, i am hedging my bets by growing a few more just in case i have blundered completely...if the backyard trio come through to spring hale and ready to produce another season's growth i will find homes for the newbies...perhaps as a companion to the tree i planted in my daughter's back yard last summer...everybody likes some company...more stuff as it comes up.