robust tuber growth

the top photo is of one of the potatoes that i had found sprouting in the pantry taken fifteen days ago...i took the next four earlier this afternoon ad all three have cone into leaf and are growing quickly...it will be interesting to see how long a season this "improved" variety has and what sort of production comes of it...they are fully leafed and reaching for the grow light...seriously, growing these was as simple as potting them into some soil...not that traditional varieties are any harder to grow...these just seem much quicker...the sixth photo is of the yacon fifteen days ago as well...a much slower growing plant, there has been progress and there will be more after it moves outdoors...but that won't be before may and the end of a danger of frost ( although, as warm as this winter has been that danger may be passed much earlier )...finally the onions i found in the pantry have both exhibited new growth...far more cold tolerant than the yacon, these will be moving outdoors sometime next month...if this warmth keeps up it will be time to unmulch the asparagus in the community garden very soon...things are moving at an unnatural pace...best to be alert.

climate

"if temperatures fall below freezing at night but climb to the 40°F+ range during the day, the sap will begin to flow and it’s time to get out there and tap your maple trees!"-mapletapper.com_____________________a trip around deep river county park this afternoon we enlightening...the trees say it isn't spring yet ( unlike the ones in my front yard ) but there are signs of spring around...the "maple syrup time" sign for instance...they will be boiling sap down in the sugar shack:

next month...traditional wisdom has it that you begin tapping sugar maples on the first of march...this has been pretty well debunked as fallacious and the timing is more or less based on day/night temperature variations per the opening quote...so some begin tapping in jaunuary...looking back on the temperature history for this area in january there were eight days that fit those parameters...the others were mostly below freezing while three had highs that ranged from 51 to 62 degrees fahrenheit ( in january mind you ) which may or may not impact sap flows ( more research )...this month has had only six day ( so far ) that fell within those boundaries while fifteen days have had highs ranging from 51 to 69 degrees ( fahrenheit )...the buckest i peered into were not brimming with sap...i also do not know what sort of emptying schedule is being observed...i may have just missed it...i will be attending "sugar time" and asking a few questions...one thing that maplertapper did have to say was that anyone tapping trees should stop when the trees "bud out" as this can lead to an unpleasant "buddy" flavor in the finished syrup...i would direct your attention to my last post about the premature budding of the maples in my yard and then i would wonder about that flavor.

unnatural by nature II

after yesterday's post i went for a tramp around they yard and was taking photos of the summer-like blue sky when i noticed what looked like green on the buds at the top of the maple tree out front..."nah..i'm imagining things" i said to myself...this morning tells me no i was seeing green...which in and of itself isn't that unnatural..until you stop and think about the fact that it's february...and this sort of thing isn't usually seen until later in march..it would be running a bit early...and it's not just my tree...the neighbors' are going at it too...like a month...so i took the lops and cut the end off a lower branch ( the higher you get in the tree the greener it is...i wasn't going to climb it ) and had a look...the buds are very active and very green even this low in the tree...spring is close...but not close enough...temperatures ( which are just unnatural in themselves...see bottom photo and that was about 10:30 a.m. ) are due to fall below freezing by next weekend...what impact will that have? unknown...it aint natural...stay tuned.

a good friend visiting norway sent me this photo today saying the trees should be covered in snow and the pathway inaccessible...she didn't call it that but i would say snow drought or my images of nordic countries are poorly informed...it aint natural all over it seems...from the california coast ( where there is another dear friend who reports the conditions )to the south end of the inland sea...to norway.

unnatural by nature

my back yard thermometer reads four degrees higher ( microclimate again ) than the "official" temperature about a mile away...either way this is extraordinary weather for the eighteen the of february at the south end of the inland sea...some applaud...i find it unnatural and disturbing despite the fact that there is snow in the forecast for next weekend...the garlic ( second photo ) is pushing up through the mulch which is fine..it won't mind the coming cold much...that and a few onions are the total outdoor activity..it isn't time to abandon the basement for the yard just yet...the yacon down there is moving along very well ( third photo ) and the forth and fifth and sixth and seventh photos are of potato plants that sprouted in the pantry from six days ago and this afternoon...robust growth comes to mind...the last two photos are also of former pantry denizens as the yellow onions both are exhibiting new growth...volatile weather isn't the norm quite this early...usually at least a month away...things are changing and i wonder what the long term impact will be.

out back close to the middle of the month

it is unseasonably warm here on the south end of the inland sea today so, after planting onions indoors this morning i decided to have a look at the beds outside and see what, if anything, was going on since it is still very early in the season...too early for ramp activity...the bed, besides some thriving lichen, is inert...however...the egyptian walking oni9ons ( fourth photo ) have successfully overwintered, to this point anyway, and their cousins the early italian red garlic are poking through the mulch ( fifth through seventh ) i did not repeat my murderous over-mulching of last year so i am hopeful of full beds of garlic ( there are two with onions along the border )...even the garlic in the bed of my truck is greening up...so..a small but encouraging ( for me at least ) tour of the yard...there is more on the way i am sure...we are just starting 2017.

pantry of plenty