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                         a   S T A M M E R  project              

2010 November 16 to 25

On 17 November there was for the first time a decent ice layer on the upper pond. Not comparable to the  one exactly 3 years ago; the autumn is relatively benign this year. The lowest temperature so far was reached in the early morning of 25 November with 3.4ºC below zero; during the day it got as high as 6.5ºC. The wood stove is now regularly lighted once a day and inside temperatures vary between 17.5ºC in the early morning and about 25ºC with the wood stove blazing at about 5 o'clock in the evening.

Most of the leaves of the deciduous trees  have fallen but there are notable exceptions, not only between species but also between individual plants.  This is the case with the Black mulberry trees that were planted last year. They usually turn yellow in autumn and that was what they did last autumn. But this year 2 of them showed withered leaves turning dark brown while the third one maintained a surprisingly fresh green colour. To make things even more curious, this third one was the first to shed its, still green, leaves! It will have something to do with the nearby kitchen drain.

One of the most colourful autumn leaves showed the Cherry tree near the compost heap, while the Quince tree is still holding all its green leaves as if it were high summer.

The same happens with this young Almond tree on the left which was transplanted to this site, with the usual straw flakes for support, when the bulldozer made it move last year.

Not a tree, not even a vascular plant but still fresh green under an ice layer in the pond,  is the macro alga Chara connivens.

Upper pond.
Looking east.
17 Nov 17:58

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Not only leaves but also a surprising number of flowers is still active. Here a visual  roundup of some of these brave stayers.

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Almost without any leaves but with many flowers and/or fruits is this Chenopodium species that grows in several areas. I suppose it is Chenopodium album (White goosefoot) which was previously detected in the zone. The relatively smooth skin of the seed points in the same direction.

Growing massively together,  Alyssum alyssoides (on the right) might give a yellow glow over a field but this specimen grew all alone and its flowers are almost undetectable.
I was having doubts about its identity. Most characteristics point to A. alyssoides but to distinguish it from A. simplex (=A.minus) you have to pay attention to the sepals which must be persistent around the fruit. As can be seen from the image, the sepals don't fall off immediately after flowering but they don't stay on till the end. This would point to A.minus, but the fruits are smaller than 4mm while A.minus has fruits of 4 to 5 mm. My doubts continue.

By the way, this Alyssum species is also a mayor constituent of the green roof vegetation where it graciously fills up the spaces among the Sedum species.

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Fruit size indicates Alyssum alyssoides, non-persisting sepals indicate A. simplex.
24 Nov 14:50

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A new episode from the rock corner. Not much growth of course these days, more a question of decay and struggle to survive. Nevertheless the white frost in the mornings adds a vivid touch to the micro scenery. In order to embellish the scenery even more, some kind of weasel decided to position his droppings on the top of a rock.  

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The same Fallopia convolvulus from the anterior episode is clearly having difficulties with the frost.
25 Nov 9:18
 

Two frozen Almond shells.
25 Nov 9:22

Water clearly prefers edges to cristalize, as observed in this image of  Plantago lanceolata  and in the next picture with the Almond shells.
25 Nov 9:27

Struggling against frostbite but it produced at least 3 pea-like fruits.
Anagallis arvensis.
25 Nov 9:33
 

LeRoy is still a mayor source of inspiration for the management of the zone and his influence is clearly visible in this stairway recently built with debris, but this time I started to build after watching a recent documentary about Anselm Kiefer, with the suggestive title Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow. His latest projects are really of (eco-)cathedral proportions.

On the same debris dump I found this old Olive trunk.

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Another function was added to the solar greenhouse (in the best permaculture tradition where one system preferably exercises a couple of different functions.)
As we use the solar shower system to provide hot water for the washing machine, we have to wash at midday (on sunny days) and afterwards the laundry doesn't get enough time to dry outside. Inside the greenhouse it usually dries in two days without getting moist during the night.

Solar energy is used as the electricity source for the washing machine, as a way to heat the washing water and as a way to dry the laundry. Fortunately the climate is quite sunny over here.
16 Nov 14:47

introduction
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gallery 1: 2006-2012
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>> 2010 Nov 29
<< 2010 Oct 30