natural? unnatural? new natural?

something like a four degree difference from one side of the yard to the other...or it might just be the thermometers are not calibrated the same...one suspects they were never completely accurate to begin with...that does not conceal the fact that it is near or above fifty degrees ( fahrenheit ) here on the fifteenth of december and that is unusual..or would have been in the past...it may just be what is these days for whatever reason you may wish to attribute it to ( bound to be some deniers out there )...

warm enough that the berry plants i rescued from my old truck before i sold it have decided it's safe to escape the netting i put over them to keep the new puppy ( it has been a busy autumn ) from digging them up ( a terrier, she likes to dig and fresly turned soil is irresistable ) and seek sunlight and evince new growth...admittedly they stay green all winter and are cold hardy...still, they generally hunker down afer november until march...so there is movement in the yard...

and in the basement the rescue potato is doing well...

as are the zea plants...i begin to suspect that, despite the oddly shaped seeds, these are teosinte...they simply do not look like maize...so..it's december and, for the most part, quiet...we will see how the remainder of the month goes weather-wise and what the yard does...the basement would seem to be prety stable for the nonce.

variables

despite 1.3" of rain earlier this week...

the weather forecast in terms of rain is grim...

and the drought monitor forecast for the next three months is...extreme drought...so...my garden beds will survive...one wonders how the bi-polar monoculture in the indistrial fields will be doing...and what the price of corn and soy beans will be like soon...specifically probably unpreidictable, however one surmises they cost will not go down...

out in the back the wheat on the compost pile is doing just fine...

the mulberries are in various states of ripeness...( the ripe ones are both seedy and sweet )...

the concord grapes in the fir tree are coming along...

as are the seedless grapes on the trellis...we will be getting back to these soon...

the berry plants are throwing stolons out everywhere...

while the bee hatchery is quiet...that will chage as the temperatures rise...

the deer fence i put up around the teosinte and maize beds seems to be working...

the damage to both has ceased...at least for the nonce...

and damage and loss are the subject of the rest of this post...mooseberry seems to be hosting some aphid herding ants and they seem to be impeding the new growth on this stem...this will be ending...they can move to the teosinte when it matures...it does not seem to mind them...

as i said, the grapes are coming along...and, as last years bird tape experiment was a dismal failure, this year i went in a different direction...

i purchased some netting...

and covered the vines on the trellis...

i began to cover the concords in the fir tree as well...however this is going to take some thought, experimentation, and a bit more work to see through...more as it comes up

growth and concern

after a frost a few days ago the weather is showing signs of warming...and the 7.2" of rain we had in april seems to be carrying over to this month...my back yard received over an inch today and there is, according to the forecast, a 100% chance of more tonight with an alleged accumulation of one to two inches...we'll see how accurate that is tomorrow...

the imported new york strawberries have taken to the weather...they are in full bloom and there are berries in the works...

and there are stolons anywhere you'd care to look in the beds..and escaping them as well...

the ramps are quietly attending to business on the north side...looking for signs of flowering later this month...

all the spuds that have been moved outside from the basement have found their way to the south side where they are verdant and flourishing...there will be more planted over the next two months for a cyclical spud harvest later in summer and in early autumn...

this may not provide great perspective, however the winter rye is somewhere above three feet in height...

and the first ears have begun to emerge from the stems...harvest late next month or early july...

the seedless grapes are coming into leaf just fine...however i have some concerns about the concords...

this gnarled grape is pushing thirty years old and has produced impressive vines in the elm, catalpa, and fir trees out past the back patio...the elm tree vines expired a couple of years ago...

the vines in the catalpa tree began to leaf earlier this month...

but today i notice those leaves looking a trifle brown and wilted...not good news especially...these things happen...

it's not all doom just yet though...the vines in the fir trees look fine...we will just be keeping a closer eye on them all until we see what's what...as the weather worms lok for maize and beans and quash...tomatoes and more spuds plus the odd herb and a few gourds.