halloween treat

the potato introduction station in sturgeon bay, wisconsin is one of the few corners of the federal bureaucracy that finds favor in my tenure as a gardener and they have come through again in today's mail...all three accessions of wild potato seed we requested landed in the mailbox and now the process of test germination and ( if we are exceedingly lucky and our skills are up to the challenge ) over winter seed tubers can begin...challenged and geeked at the same time...it will be interesting, if nothing else...some research is in order and then to work...one packet of seed claims to have scored 100% test germination this year...how could we go wrong with that? last post was indoor teosinte so here's a look at what's in the back yard...fall colors abound but there is still green as well...still not sanguine about mature outdoor seeds though..still the teosinte did extremely well this year and here's hoping we can take what we learned forward into a more successful ancestor/domesticate comparison in the iuncg next season...all this practice should have honed some skills...more on the wild ones as it comes up