June 20, 2021- the heat continues

 It was a long hot and quiet week.

The heat continued. No rain. Well there was that 5 minute downpour on Thursday that really did not register in the rain gauge.

Update: It is raining as this goes to print. At the moment, a good steady rain. And at least the next several days promise to be much cooler. Thanks to everyone who did their own personal rain dance.

Last Sunday Katie, Elisabeth, Christopher and Masie went home to Maine. Christpher wore his pilot outfit and was a hit with the crew. They even let him into the cockpit at some point.

I am feeling better, which allowed a little gardening yesterday. I am still aware that I have to be very careful. This back condition has actually now gone on for over a month. I did get some help yesterday with moving heavy plants around. The plant stand in the basement is now dark.

The lilium are the stars at the moment. 

The Shirley poppies are finishing their wonderful 3 week run.

Yesterday this wonderful cactus flower graced the garden. I only wish more people could have seen it.

The yellow clivia are blooming. They are one of those plants from a friend, that not only bloom, but remind you of the friend.

A few daylilies have opened. 

Right on cue, early Friday morning I discovered a deer right in the middle of the back yard. I chased it away. It was back in 20 minutes. This time I chased it until it had crossed the street and was heading back to the park.

The damage was there. Remarkably, toad lilies were the premium plant eaten. That was followed by daylily tops. I immediately sprayed Ruby Spider and a few other special plants. I did think while I sprayed, that all I was doing was directing the deer toward the hosta.

This was the first deer presence in the garden in months. I assume it will continue.

As gardeners know, if it is not one thing...it is another.

Julia's recipe

Shrimp with tomatoes and feta and mint

I ran across a new shrimp dish on the NYT cooking site. This recipe called for fresh tomatoes, which are now available at the farmers' market. The recipe takes less than an hour and is tasty and pretty so I went for it. 

By the way, having the farmers' market up and running again is cause for celebration. There are fewer vendors - some apparently having decided that getting up at 4 am on a Saturday to drive to IC and set up a booth is not worth it. Some, like Ms. Pavelka the lamb (and pork and beef) lady are operating from home on an order and pick-up basis. The virtual farmers' market (order on-line, pay by credit card, pick up your order) is still operating and I gather some vendors prefer that. I like to say hello to my favorite growers and pick and pack my own tomatoes. Virtual market tomatoes, in particular, were the worse for wear by the time of pick-up. So let us celebrate the return of accessible locally grown food (hoping this is true for you too), with masks on faces and vine-ripened tomatoes for all.  

The ingredients:

3 nice medium to large tomatoes;

1 lb. shrimp (mine were cleaned, cooked and frozen); 

1 cup diced onion;

1 teaspoon smushed garlic

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided;

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or less);

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano;

 4 oz. feta cheese;

some salt and pepper;

about 2 tablespoons snipped fresh mint.

I started by skinning the tomatoes. A bit fussy maybe but I did not want bits of tomato skin in the sauce. 

I heated a pan of water to boiling, lowered the tomatoes into the water, let them cook for a few minutes and then turned off the heat and fished them out one by one. 

I held each tomato under cool running water and used a paring knife to loosen the skin which slipped off in strips. 

I set the denuded tomatoes aside.

Actually, the very first thing I did was dice the onion and put it in a non-stick, oven safe skillet with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, along with some salt (maybe 1/2 teaspoon) and pepper (maybe 1/4 teaspoon). 

I let the onions cook gently on medium for 5 or 6 minutes then added the smushed garlic. And cooked for a minute longer. 

While the onions were cooking, the tomatoes got done cooking, and I finished them by taking out the cores and cutting the tomatoes into wedges. 

I dumped the wedges into the skillet along with 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and another 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cooked the mixture for about 10 minutes.

I turned the oven on to 400 degrees. 

And I turned my attention to the shrimp. I use cleaned and cooked and frozen shrimp. Iowa is about as far from an ocean as one can get without moving to the Dakotas. All shrimp here are frozen. 

I don't especially like to clean shrimp, hence my choice. I used 26-31 sized shrimp: not small but not large. Medium sized. I don't like to encounter shrimp shells in my dinner so I cut off the tails. Why do cleaned and cooked and frozen shrimp come with tails covered in shells? Is this thought to be fancy? Can't say. 

At the end of their cooking time on the stovetop, the tomato wedges still held their shapes to some extent and the skillet was juicy.

I took the skillet off the stove. And I tossed the tailless shrimp with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and some salt and pepper. 

Then I arranged the shrimp in a single layer on top of the tomatoes. After that, I sprinkled the 1/2 teaspoon of oregano over the shrimp. 

Next I grated the feta and sprinkled it over all and put the skillet in the oven.

My shrimp were frozen so it took about 20 minutes in the oven to reach the finish line. If you have the wit to thaw your shrimp first or if you are using fresh shrimp, the baking time will be more like 10 to 15 minutes. 

While the dish was baking, I used kitchen shears to snip some mint, and we made Israeli (i.e. big) couscous.

Here it is on the table, having been sprinkled with snipped mint leaves. I do recommend using the mint leaves if you have access as the contrast in flavor is very nice.

Using the full 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes made for a pretty hot sauce. Feel free to reduce the red pepper flake element. 

Here it is in the soup plate, served with the above-mentioned big couscous and green salad and raspberries with yogurt. 

Leftovers heated gently made a nice mid-week lunch. 

Odds and Ends

Our garden sale for the local food banks has continued. We have limped past the $4800 mark for just this year. That is a little more than we raised last year. 

I wonder about technological changes to the blog in the next 5 years. One thing occurs to me. I would like it if a sound track could be added. This morning I would add the sound of the rain. (Earlier I would have added the frogs.)

Having done a little gardening yesterday I wait to see how my back responds. I do have annuals that are waiting to be planted. 

I did get some more calla lilies. If I plant them now they will bloom in early August. They do require holes to be dug. 

Here are more pictures from the week, that time last night did not get included with commentary.

Masie asked for equal time. 

I really will have to devote just one week to Shirley poppy pictures. I really have no idea which ones will get entered in the contest this winter.

Stay safe. It is always so good to hear from you. What is good in your garden at the moment? Or for that matter what flower have you seen lately that gave you an 'Oh wow' moment?

Philip