Java has Germinated

I've been watching the wheat from the March 26 planting obsessively, for a couple of reasons.  First, it's been unusually cold, so I'm wondering if wheat can do anything when the soil is that cold.  We had at least one or two mornings in the 'teens here on the farm, and it's barely been out of the 30's.  However, there have been a few days with sun.

Secondly, after watching the red stem color appear on the Vavilov and Pedigree No. 2 for just the first few days after germination, and then disappear, I want to record the stem color of all the wheat I'm growing.  To get good observations, I need to see it the day it comes out of the ground.

Here is what the Java looked like today, April 14.  I saw the first blades yesterday, and there is quite a bit that has not come up yet.  But there was enough additional germination overnight that I feel confident that it will all come up well.  I did not see any signs of red--it was all bright green like these guys.

Below are the temperature graphs for March and April.  The 19 day period of germination was mostly dry, btw.  But it was not very warm, and I'm impressed that wheat can do anything in such cold soil.  I'm not surprised that Java was the first out of the ground, either.  It grew amazingly fast last year as well.  The Red Fife (put into the test plot as a control), Early Red Fife, Haynes Bluestem, Dakota, and Purplestraw are not showing any growth above ground yet.

Two days after germinating, a truly awful spring blizzard came through.  Over the next few days the overnight lows were in the 20's, and several inches of snow, sleet, and rain fell.  It will be interesting to see how everything looks when this stuff finally thaws out!

Here is the view from the house on Monday, April 16.

This is what the mighty test plot looked like on April 18!

The chicks have been outside in the old coop for two weeks now.  They're doing well but I feel bad that it's been so cold.  They have a heat lamp on and are growing nicely.