We certainly had a wild ride in Iowa City at the end of this week. Actually, as I think about it, Friday was the end of the month of March.
There were tornados in the area Friday. Iowa City was spared but there was damage to property in Hills (10 miles south of town) and Coralville. These had been predicted for days. The public schools even closed several hours early, in anticipation. (The storms arrived about 4:30.)
I think everyone in Iowa still has the derechio imprinted on our brains. This made storms all the more immediate. (The derechio was in August of 2020. Julia and I can remember that year easliy. Maisie was born on the fourth day we were without power.
But when the storms were through the area, there was this faint rainbow. (Rainbows are mostly not allowed at this point by the Governor, at least to be viewed by children under the age of 15.)
Then Friday night there was basketball. The University of Iowa womens team won their game in a stunning upset. They played in the Final Four. The other team was the top ranked team from South Carolina. Iowa now play for the national championship today.
I stayed up and watched the entire game, which was rare for me. However Iowa only gets that far every 30 years. I figured if I missed it there would not be a next time for a long time.
One last vote
Before I talk about the garden, I thought I would give you one last voting opportunity.
These are all winners from past contests.
#1 Pink Waterlily from 2008
I have not seen this peony yet this spring. I have seen some of the peony seedlings, must will be entering their third spring at this point.
Which of these past winners do you like best?
I guess I like voting because it tells me that someone out there reads the blog. I do so appreciate the comments.
Right Now
The garden is exploding. What can I tell you. There is something new each day. You just have to look for it.
The first daffodil bloomed yesterday.
In that daffodil picture you can see the little blue silla, or squill. They are appearing everywhere.
This picture does not do them justice. I will try this coming week to say more about this wonderful flower.
Blue is good. The scilla will be followed by bluebells. I have seen them this last week. In fact I potted some up yesterday for the back driveway sale.
There are other little spring bulbs showing up this time of year.
This is a late blooming crocus, which was Christopher's favorite when he met the spring garden in 2021.
Julia's recipe
Spicy Pork Chops
The ingredients:
First I made the sauce/marinade by mixing the gochujang, ketchup, say sauce, smushed garlic and sesame oil in a bowl. I added the pork chops and flipped them over so they were coated with the sauce.
While the meat was sitting, I cleaned and sliced the onion (into wedges) and washed and cored the apple, which I also cut into wedges.
After the marinating time was up, I took the pork chops out of the marinade onto a plate.
I sprayed a 9" x 13" pan and put the onions and apples into the pan with all of the marinade. Then I put the pan into the oven for about 15 minutes. At that point, I took the pan out of the oven and plopped the pork chops down in the middle of the pan. I sprinkled each chop with about 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper.
I pulled the oven shelf out and piled about 4 cups of spinach on top of the pork and veggie/fruit.
The spinach wilted some pretty quickly and then the dish was done.
Odds and Ends
March is done. It went out as a lion.
It actually was a good month, as the early spring garden seemed to last a long time. Here are the temperatures for March for the last 3 years.
When you compare the years, 2023 stood out as not having days over 60. It is those early 70 degree temperatures that really accellerate the garden.
0 days over 60 in 2023
8 days over 60 in 2022
7 days over 60 in 2021
2023
That is the end of the blog for today. It is such a busy time. Outside I am finishing garden cleanup. (It really never ends.) I am potting plants up for the garden sale. (We have already raised over $400.) Yesterday I potted up hellebores, bluebells, cypress spurge, and pulmonaria. I just wander around looking for prospects. It is the time of year when you can through plants in a pot. When you give them some nice pond water, they are just fine.
Inside, even before it is light out, I have to tend to the seedlings. I have some coleus growing. I discovered last year that they will start from seed easily.
We survived the tornado scare. Others were not as fortunate. That always puts a little damper on ones relief.
So we forward, trying to do a little each day to help this world.
Pray for peace, and reconciliation. The rainbow may be faint, but it was there, in Iowa. It was a promise of better times.
Philip
4 comments:
The flowers in today’s contest are truly all-stars — I remember every one of them.
Today’s recipe looks like a winner, although I worry about apples in savory dishes.
Glad you evaded the tornadoes!
Wow--those past winners are stunning. I could have voted for each and every one. But in the end, I chose the pink waterlily, and I see a lot of other readers did too.
I was watching the weather this past week and was glad to see that Iowa City didn't get any of those bad tornadoes. Yikes!
The pork chops look perfect. But I agree--the more apples, the better. I probably would have added the carrots too and skipped the onions (the onion is persona non grata at our house).
Quote of the day: "Rainbows are mostly not allowed at this point by the Governor, at least to be viewed by children under the age of 15."
Love it!
P.S. My favorite bonus picture was the taxicab-yellow crocus group. That golden crocus should be named Crocus Croesus.
I went with the pink poppy today. Nice clear photo, and the flower's swishy-twirl skirt attitude carried my vote.
I know the saying about March is in/out like a lion, but I'm thinking that would be tame compared to what went through Friday. What we had was more like a peeved rampaging hippo or elephant, maybe even a herd of them. I see the official count is up to 10 tornadoes for eastern Iowa, and they aren't done deciding on a few more places the way the weather.gov site looks. Glad you didn't have any damage.
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