snow...but not enough

it has been reasonably cold for late november in these parts and there has been snow...not that much really..about an inch and a half of accumulation this past week and with the warming going on it is melting off..it is getting to be late autumn and things are changing and i am wondering just what the coming season will be like and i am hoping this is not a harbinger of future conditions...

it has all but melted off the rye and wheat beds...

leaving just an icy crust around the edges with plants poking through...winter wheat needs three to six inches of snow to insulate it from temperature fluctuations and to provided spring moisture...a snow drought can kill it...which i experienced first-hand wither before last which led tot his year's attempt ( disappointing ) at spring wheat...i am concerned about another snowless winter...

there are other things besides concerns over things i have no way of controlling ( an issue for agriculturalist since the neolithic revolution...gardening teaches some acceptance of loss...it also instills a quest for ways to lessen or prevent it..that's why it's called agri culture )..most of the teocintli ears have turned down and begun to shatter...which is fin with me...one can hope for spontaneous teocintli in the spring...i will be germinating and planting but the yard is always full of surprises..i have collected several hundred seeds and will be hoping to produce another generation in 2019 ( these plants have all been grown from seed i collected in autumn 2017 )...

the cold seems to have had little impact on the walking onions...

and the new york wild strawberries are living up to their "tough little plants" reputation...and while we are talking tough little plants...

puddles' kids are just fine..they are growing leggy, collapsing, and putting up new vertical growth just like mom did...there will be a mat of green on the surface of the soil before long...we will see them through the winter and into the spring sunshine...

i have marginally more control over environment in the basement...and while i can neither recreate natural sunlight or daylength i do have the ability to provide a consistent one with enough necessary elements to keep the basement a bit green...the four mashua plants are all exhibiting new growth and yacon is looking green and healthy...a counter point to the outdoor uncertainty.

backyard mulch

it's a holiday and it's also the first day off i have had in a while...the ramps and the potted maple tree ( affectionately dubbed "little guy" ) both needed to be mulched for winter...

so i gathered up leaves from the maples out front and dropped a six inch deep layer on top of the ramps to insulate them and to help keep them thinking they are in the woods...

and after i repositioned little guy to the south side of the ramp bed i gave him a thorough mulching...all the way up to the fork in his trunk and radiating our=t about three feet...a blanket of dead air space to help him through the winter...

difficult as they may be to see, my first yr=ear asparagus plants have died back...so i marked them...

and gave them a mulching as well...

the second year plant has a much deeper root system and probably won't suffer much from the cold...however since i was there with the leaves anyway i filled the cage to about the standard six inches...so that's done...now i need to get out to campus one of these late autumn days.

outside to inside

it has turned somewhat wintry here at the south end of the inland sea...there is snow on the winter rye and wheat...however the temperature is up and the state of the forecast precipitation for tomorrow is up in the air...could be rain...could be snow ...could be both...

the cold has more ears opening and shattering...

there are still many green ears whose eventual status in viability terms is uncertain...

i am still managing to collect some fair sized mature seed however so i will be checking on a daily basis for the time being...

downstairs puddles' kids and their onion friends continue to do well..green is the theme...

the wheat is topping out between ten inches and afoot...in twenty-three days...that they are upright is reassuring...even if the foot tall ones have grown past the light...

all four mashua plants are looking as robust as grow light plants can...the yacon behind the mashuua in the last photo is looking pretty well too...with some luck there will be a collection of spring tubers...

teocintli and friends

i have been checking the teocintli plants daily and have been collecting what mature seed i find...however...the weather has turned somewhat cooler with daytime highs in the 30s ( fahrenheit ) and nighttime lows well below freezing, so the ears have begun to open and shatter even though there is still a lot of green seed...i have gone out and brought in the opened ears i found to collect as much viable seed as i can...it is a mixed result at best...

the seeds are coming in in one of three types...still green and whose viability is completely suspect...lighter and smaller seeds ( which surprised me with a germination rate somewhere in the sixty percent range last year )...and the larger, darker seeds whose chances of becoming a full blown adult are much better...there are many more ears still unopened, and many, unfortunately, that are very green...i will continue to look out for viable seed but the later it gets the less the chance...

as things move along outdoors the basement is showing signs of good movement...all four mashua plants...the two transplants and the two from cuttings, are showing new growth..good news since i there were zero tubers produced outdoors this past season...which i have to think was due to a bit too much shade where they were planted..an error i will not repeat if these indoor plants succeed in setting tubers...they did last winter ( which is where these plants came from ) so i am hopeful of a good outcome...

puddles' kids and their onion cohabitants are doing fine...hard to tell from the tangle but most have second and third leaves sprouted...they are leggy and falling over...which is expected...we will see if we can get them through the winter and into the april sunshine to aim for another generation...so far things are alright...we will see how this progresses...