end game

some people think that humans are exterior to the environment...that the biosphere is "external" to human endeavors and that changes in the natural order and their impact on our species can be buffered an mitigated by "technology"...this is hubris...this is foolishness...this could be a disaster in the making...we are all interconnected and we are all embedded in the biosphere..a part of it...acting on it in detrimental ways, but it acts on us as well...this is about to come home as a massive storm in the bearing sea drives unseasonably cold temperatures into my back yard...the teosinte out there ( top photo ) has reached the end of its season and will be dead by morning...unfortunate that it has such a long season and does not flower and begin to set seed until the days begin to shorten in august and september...there's seed out there...and i will be bringing some in...its viability is another question...the basement is a more controlled environment ( that "technology" again...but the technology [ and yes, i aim aware of the irony of communicating this on a computer connected to the interweb ] is only as good as the energy that drives it...and...deny it or not...that is the achillies heel ) with artificial warmth and artificial light...the plants seem unaware...the teosinte down there grown from seed from native seed search ( second photo ) and from seed i took from my back yard about a year ago ( third photo ) are doing just fine each with a fourth leaf deployed...there is one obvious casualty down there and the rest are chugging along with two or three leaves...the scorzonera ( fourth photo ) has completely straightened the curlicues out of its leaves and, i hope, is about to begin serious work on roots..the early blue potatoes have both topped the container...the one on the left seems to be having an issue with some leaf curl so i gave them both some water this evening...over-watering and fungi are serious issues in a basement and it always makes me a bit nervous to douse them ( not douse really...if i gave them a half a cup between them i'd be surprised...i am of the "better too little than too much" school with indoor spuds ) so i will be watching closely...the back yard and the community garden nay be shutting down for a few months...the basement is just coming alive...now if the burdock would just put in an appearance...more as it comes up.