out back solstice plus one

the first full day of winter is unseasonably warm here...something like thirty six degrees ( farenheit ) above "the average for this day" ( i know, averages lie )...whatever the averages say there is no real possibility of snow for christmas...and, while this may not trouble some, it aint natural...( or, nature isn't what it used to be and there is a "new normal" afoot )...

the berries in the bed of my truck are not complaining and are basking in the sunshine...

as are the native berries on the east side...

and the new york imports and the egyptian walking onions in the south bed...

"cold hardy" is a fine designation for all these plants as i discovered when i made an effort to dig up a jerusalem artichoke and found the ground frozen solid a couple of inches down...no tuber retrieval without a pick-axe...it is warm today however there has been snow and a week of below freezing temperatures in the recent past...late autumn was colder than early winter...

the winter wheat and rye are soaking up the rays today as well...fine for now...we will see if the snow cover is deep enough to get them through the real cold ( one presumes it will arrive )

beyond that all is quiet in the ramp bed ( undisturbed mulch is fine with me )...

there are still a few seeds hanging around the mostly shattered teocintli ears...

and the dryad's saddle that has been quietly consuming a dead portion of an elm back there has seem better days...

about the only other color in the yard is the berries in the hawthorn tree...with the berries, onions, and grains they are in tune with the season...and the birds will be spreading a source of winter food as they move the seeds about.

colors

it is november nineteenth and some nighttime lows have already been some twenty degrees below freezing...so any reasonable person would expect the tomatoes to be long gone...and they would be correct...an autumn brown is the hue today...

the teocintli is done as well...

some ears are empty...

some are in the process of shattering...

and some are splitting open in preparation...

i brought in a few late season ears that had not split open yet ( i am letting the shattered and split ones go in their natural cycle to see if it will reseed itself in this climate )...

they rendered some plausibly mature seed and some fairly green ones as well...brown and green in microcosm...and while we are talking green...

the winter wheat has lost no chlorophyll...there are cold hardy folks out there

neither have the egyptian walking onions that are headed into their second season...

nor have the aerial bulbs which have "walked" and are sprouting, rooting, and doing their best to burrow into the soil for winter...

the leaves on the new york import strawberries are still verdant...they will not be intimidated by winter...and while beries are the focus...

even at this late date the native berries have still been trying to produce berries...i am skeptical that there is anything to pollinate these lonely blossoms who are admittedly looking rough...still...don't tell me dna isn't relentless...

we should not think ourselves burdened with the limited pallet of green and brown though...there are other blooms holding on to vestiges of more vibrant days...

and the hawthorn berries are inviting the birds.