August 14, 2022- adjusting to change

 In the garden, seasons end. Seasons begin. And there is all that time in between. My enthusiasm for gardening is down. I think that is the result of a combination of things. 

The lilies are mostly over. The weeds have run amok. In August it can still be hot. But it is increasingly dark in the morning. This Saturday morning, as I start to write this, there are no birds and it is almost 5:30.

Did I mention the deer? Here she is. This is the single deer that has been wandering the neighborhood for a while. She can outstare any person. 

This picture was part of one of those Mr. McGregor moments. ( How many people will know that reference?) I looked out the window there she was. I ran outside. I did not even wait to grab a tool. The deer was so little bothered by my presence that it did not move when I approached. I got to take this picture. She did not leave until I started waiving my arms and yelling to go away.

The neighbor has taken down the fence by the pond. That gives the deer that much more room to get away from that crazy old man who does not even have a tool. Finally I chase her away, as she jumps through the garden with amazing grace.

Fortunately other yards are on her menu.

5:38- finally there are birds. It is still too dark to go outside.

We are short on rain. For the year we have received 18.04 inches which means we are 5.24 short of normal. There is a math problem in there somewhere. It rained maybe 1/4 of an inch Monday. But it is dry again. I felt better after I started sprinkling again. I will set the garden on a 4-5 day rotation.

But other places are dryer. I do not think we are officially in a "drought." Maybe we are.  Portland, Maine is in one officially. (Katie lives there.) All that water around them and they are dry. Then there is the entire west. Then there is Europe. We, in Iowa,  cannot complain. Well we will complain but it should be a very quiet complaint.

I have to adjust my attitude.

There is so much more garden season still to come. I really must remember the many things that are great about the August-September garden.

1- Maybe it is cooler.

2- Japanese Anemones and toad lilies will bloom.

3- Certain vegetables start really performing- I think about peppers and eggplants.

4-It is also the time for planning. What can I do to make this time of the year better? For one thing I should bring back caladium. Those colorful plants were always good for color this time of year.

Here are garden pictures from this week.

Here was the first Japanese anemone. August 9 seems a little early to me. These pink ones bloom first.

This was a really cute cactus flower, on one of the side shoots to this plant. The side shoots have blooms but not the main plant.

The Alstroemeria so far have been a success. 

Here is a picture from the farm (our garden plot)  on a clear day. Who has the tallest sunflower?

The late daylilies are so appreciated.

Here is that same cactus again, with another bud coming on one of the side shoots.

A sign of the changing of the seasons. This is the seedpod for the jack in the pulpit.

Certainly one of my favorite buds is found on the Japanese anemones.

Julia's recipe

Braised Chicken with Kale and tomato sauce 

It is high summer at the farmer's market, which means that hardy greens (collards, chard, kale of various kinds) are available. This NYT recipe includes pepperoncini plus some brine, so it's got an unusual and very tasty flavor profile. It cooks on the stove top in less than one hour, so is good for dinner. 

The ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, about 1 to 1-1/2 lbs.

a bunch of lacinato kale (about 6 cups);

1-1/2 cups or so of sliced onion;

1 itty-bitty can of tomato paste;

1/2 cup of sliced pepperoncini plus some brine;

3 tablespoons of olive oil;

1 tablespoon brown sugar;

1 teaspoon ground cumin;

4 cups of chicken stock (I used better than bouillon); and kosher salt and pepper. 

I prepped the onion; heated the oil in a Dutch oven and added the onions. I turned the heat down to medium, sprinkled the onions with salt (a big pinch - maybe 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon) and left them alone.

The idea is for the onions to soften while cooking over medium or even medium-low heat.

This took maybe 6 or 7 minutes.

While the onions cooked, I sliced up 1/2 cup of pepperoncini and opened the can of tomato paste. 

When the onions were soft, I added the pepperoncini, the tomato paste, the brown sugar, the ground cumin, and a heaping tablespoon of the better than bouillon chicken paste. It's easier to stir the paste into the ingredients in the pot than to dissolve the paste in water. 

I stirred these things around for maybe 2 minutes, until everything was combined and the tomato paste looked a little darker. 

Here is the pot after the aforesaid 2 minutes of cooking.

Next, I added 4 cups of water, taking the opportunity to rinse out the tomato paste can with some of the water to add the dregs to the pot. (If I had some chicken stock, this would be the time to add it). 

And then I added the chicken plus about 2 or 3 tablespoons of pepperoncini brine. I added about 1/2 teaspoon additional salt and some grinds of black pepper. 

I brought the liquid to a boil and then turned the heat down so the liquid was simmering and put a lid on it. 

Here is where I parted company with the NYT. They advised me to add the greens at the same time and to cook the whole shebang for about 20 minutes, at which point all would be fully cooked. In my experience, this short cooking time yields what Katie calls "al dente" chicken. Not acceptable. So I set the timer for 20 minutes and turned my attention to the kale.  

I cut the central ribs out of the kale (except for the top 2 or 3 inches, where the ribs are not thick or fibrous). 

Then I sliced across the kale strips for pieces maybe 1 to 1-1/2 inches wide. I ended up with about 6 cups. 

When the timer went off, I added the kale and set the timer for another 20 minutes.

We seem to have 2 pictures of kale pouring. 

After the timer went off again, the chicken was cooked and so was the kale. I tasted the sauce, which needed a bit more salt and pepper. Seasoning is so personal.

The recipe told me to take two forks and shred the chicken right there in the pot. I tried to do that, but it was less than satisfactory. So in future, I will remove each piece of chicken to a soup plate and do my shredding there, and then return the shredded chicken to the pot. 

On the table. We served it with Israeli cous cous (little shells or orzo would be nice too). And we had a green salad and a cut-up honeydew melon. 

Maggie joined us for dinner, but we had leftovers anyway. The leftovers were, if anything, better than the first eating. The flavors got better acquainted in the refrigerator. 

If you have some other kind of pickled peppers, use them. I would not, however, omit them. Any kind of kale or hardy greens would be fine, but not spinach which is too wimpy. Cooking times may vary according to your greens. I think skinless boneless chicken thighs are the ticket here - not chicken breast and nothing with skin or bones which would only prolong the preparation.  If you have homemade or store-bought chicken stock, use it. 

Odds and Ends

There is at least one nice thing about weeds. When you pull them up you can improve how the garden looks rather quickly.

The weeds at the farm (as we call out little city garden plot) come out rather easily. I took a large yard waste bag with me yesterday morning and filled it with weeds. I will go back today. I am fortunate to have a tidy garden neighbor on one side. Tidiness is contageous.

Here are videos from the farm.

Remember that eggplant, that is now in its second season.

Earlier in the year there were frogs. Now we have cicadas. They really do get quite loud. 

Here are fun facts about cicadas.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/14-fun-facts-about-cicadas-180977361/

Did you know that cicadas cycle every 13 and 17 years. Those are are both prime numbers. Why does this matter? Unclear. I suppose if the cycles were 3 and 5, they both would come out at year 15. 

Did you know cicadas are actually alive while underground. It is not that they sleep for their entire cycle. They even eat and shed their skins a number of times during their underground times.

That is really odd.

August is  a good time to begin to plan for next year. Some tulips need to be purchased now rather than in October. By that date they may have sold out.

Did you know that you can order fall blooming crocuses now and they will bloom this fall? No waiting around for 6 months.

The sunflower does make me think about the Ukraine. We are getting used to the fact there is still a hot war there. That can happen. We get used to there being crazy people in parts of the country. Some of those people are in charge of things. I think of Florida. Missouri. Iowa. 

So what? What is this doing in a garden blog. Yesterday I was a little down about the garden. I pushed myself to go out and just put my hands in the wagon which contains the potting mix. I potted up some small hellebores. I weeded ten feet of path. I turned on the sprinkler. Some people came by and bought some plants for the sale to feed people.

I need to, we need to, find the equivalent for those other bad things. 

Just as I write these last words at 5:51 on Sunday morning, an owl announces its presence. 

The windows are open. Dawn is coming. A climate bill has passed. It is not that people need to wake up. They know about many of the bad things. They need to come out from under the covers and put their hands in the dirt. 

Do something small. Small things add up. 

Philip