August 23, 2020- Recovery

The storm is now almost two weeks behind us. As I sit in the dark, at 5 in the morning, on Saturday, it is quiet. There are no generators humming in the background. I believe most of Iowa City has power. We just got our cable back on Thursday. At that point we remembered there is not all that much worth watching on cable. The City has picked up the piles of branches along the street. I am cleaning up individual beds at this point. The cleanup from the storm has merged with cleanup that normally accompanies August.


Here is the backyard over the two weeks.

                                 Monday afternoon, August 10

Saturday August 22

Here is Yesterday
At this point most of the remaining cleanup will need to be done by some professional tree people.
We still have some very large "hangers" way up in the sycamore tree.
All of the big limbs on the ground have moved on.
I am now cleaning up particular plants and beds.



















Mostly it is a lost two weeks in the garden. I do have plans. I have annuals to plant. I have bulbs coming in a month. I have plants to divide.

And now it is dry. Really dry. Maybe there will be relief when one of the hurricanes comes up the Mississippi again.
The hoses are now deployed in both the front and the backyard. But this happens in August. I am learning what hoses or wands need replacing. But as I was out watering early on Friday morning it felt normal. Remember normal? Remember when we would think about traveling. We would perhaps welcome the students back to town. At some point we even had a government we could trust.

Pictures from this last week

No voting for pictures again this week.
There will be time for voting at some point.
I do appreciate the comments and the reply emails.
Contact is so needed in these times.



Starry Starry Night, the hibiscus, continued to bloom. It seems to like its location.





One of the cactus bloomed. In fact three plants now have buds.






There are marvelous patterns in the lantana flowers.
The shapes are not like any other flower I can remember.





This is the oldest cactus I have. It is becoming a work of art. A few years ago it sort of added side shoots, on top. This year those segments have grown a lot. There is more on top than there is in the original plant. It is really amazing. Some of the top shoots, as opposed to side shoots, are getting quite large.





The zinnias are a major color addition to the garden. The zinnias I planted from seed about July 1 are almost getting big enough to bloom. These pink ones should be in next years lineup.






The straw flower does well without rain. Actually I am having to water almost everything at this point.




This explosion of asclepias seeds was rather nice.






When it is time for the annuals to rule, the Persian Shield is one of the best.  I bring in the biggest of these plants and make cuttings all winter.





Some hosta hold up during the dry time. This is Inniswood.





The jack in the pulpit's seed head turns red. On its way red and green make a great color combination.







The Japanese Anemones are starting in earnest. The pink ones come first.

Julia's recipe

Pork, bean and pepper stew

Sometimes you want to use up some things in the freezer, in the refrigerator and in the pantry. I had one of those occasions on a recent weekend. I found myself with some too-big-to-be-scallions fresh onions, some leftover pork loin roast, a can of cannellini beans, some needing-to-be-used sweet peppers (and a jalapeno pepper) and some pork stock. The pork loin roast was too big to be eaten in one meal (although mighty tasty with sweet potatoes and green beans and a side of pickled beets) and so the rest of the roast went into the freezer.

The pork stock is from a different pork preparation. I cook pork butt or fresh ham roasts (both of which have bones and are not tender) in the slow cooker which means at the end of the cooking, I have tender pork for pulled pork sandwiches or pozole and some pork stock.

Contemplating my ingredients, I remembered that to make a stew, you need a protein thing, a starch thing or two and some vegetables. And so I made pork stew.




Here are the ingredients: 4 cups of cubed cooked pork; 1 15 oz. can of cannellini beans; 1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes; about 3/4 cup of chopped onion; about 1/2 tablespoon smushed garlic; about 2 cups of chopped colorful peppers (although green would also be fine); about 3 - 4 tablespoons sliced jalapeno pepper; 1/4 cup pork fat (if you have that sort of thing - otherwise oil, olive, corn, regular: not coconut); 1-1/2 cups of pork stock (or chicken stock or bouillon); 1 teaspoon each cumin and oregano; 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes and 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Also 1/3 - 1/2 cup cornmeal but I forgot to put it on the counter in time to get in the picture.














I started by cubing the cooked pork roast and prepping the vegetables.


























I then melted the pork fat (skimmed from the top of the pork stock) in a big enameled pot. I added the onions and cooked them (on medium high heat) for 5 minutes or so until they had softened. Then I added the garlic and cooked the mixture together with the 2 teaspoons of salt for another minute or so.


Use oil if you don't have pork fat lying around.










Then I added the jalapeno and the cut up sweet peppers. More cooking until the peppers began to soften. Then I added the herbs (cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes) and cooked a bit more.



















Next I added the beans (which I drained but did not rinse), tomatoes, and stock. I let that cook - still on medium high until the mixture boiled and then on medium low to maintain a simmer.


After about 30 minutes, I added the pork. Then I added about 1/3 cup of cornmeal, sprinkling it on top and then stirring it in. I might have used more like 1/2 cup. Cornmeal is starchy and so it has some thickening power, which gives the stew a nice consistency.








Pork stew in a bowl. We served it over a scoop of rice. It would be good with tortillas or polenta. Or just plain.

So you don't have cooked pork on hand? This would work with cooked turkey or chicken. You could substitute chili powder for the red pepper flakes (increase the amount to 2 teaspoons or maybe more).  You would use corn chips instead of cornmeal by pulverizing them in a food processor and if so reduce the salt to nothing until you taste (assuming that your corn chips are salted). Of course, you could use any can of beans you have on hand.  Always taste the final product for salt!

Odds and Ends

Plant sale report
The plants on the back driveway were not hurt by the storm. I have cleaned them up and the sale is picking up again. We passed the $2700 mark. I continue to enjoy the opportunity to talk gardens with people.

Now let me close what you all really wanted to see today.
More baby pictures. This is our grandchild Maisie, who by my calculation is now 9 days old.





Be safe
Make good trouble.
Philip and Julia