May 28, 2023- summer is coming

Slowly this week the lupines are finishing. There are some spires that still look good. But when you look at a clump you see some finished stems. It will have many seeds which will grow everywhere. There is actually one lupine seedling that is growing right in the cement curb.

The lupines have been joined this week by the Siberian Iris. There are purples and whites and yellows. Some are special hybrids without labels.

Yet an unease hangs over the garden. It has been 3 weeks since we had any measurable rain. There is no rain in the ten day forecast. And the 90's are coming. 

Yesterday I rolled the sprinkler into place in the front yard.

You learn which weeds will still come up. The scuffle hoe cuts the weeds. But it is like scraping concrete.

I took one of those magic hoses over to the garden plot on Wendesday. It coils up into a small bucket and is easily transported. I watered the 75 amaryllis plants of all sizes. I also watered the 7 row feet of okra I planted. This weekend I will select and plant a few other vegtables. Maybe eggplant.

Last week in your voting you liked the grey Shirley poppy. I also voted for this picture.

The full vote:

Here are this past week's best pictures.

I had some deifficulty picking just 5 as you will see in the extra pictures. There were some Siberian Iris that bloomed yesterday that were wow flowers.

#1 Pink Tall Bearded iris

Because we had no downpours of rain recently, tall plants have not been knocked over. That goes for the tall iris and the lupines.

#2 Red Poppy

This is Beauty of Livermore, perhaps the best red flower in the garden. It is in the front yard where there is a lot of competition for the sun. 

#3 Pastel Siberian Iris

This is one of the Shafer-Sacks creation. Their plants can be found at Joe Pye Weed Gardens outside Boston.

#4 Fancy peony

There was a peony nursery up by Center Point (20 miles north of Cedar Rapids) about 25 years ago. It was fun to go there about Memorial Day and see 75 varieties of peonies. You would pick one out and come back in October and get the root.

#5 Siberian Iris Crown Jewell

I have this nice Siberian Iris all over. Several clumps need resetting. That should be done every 4-5 years.

Other pictures

I could not decide whether this picture should be in the top 5. The pastel iris is presented with the bed of wood anemonies that are everywhere.

This next peony is named Requiem. It was developed by A.P. Saunders in 1944. He did a lot to make peonies what they are today.

Here is a webcite

https://www.saunderspeonies.com/

The gray Shirley poppies continue to sparkle.

More Beauty of Livermore.

This week's video

Julia's recipe

Basque cbeesecake

This recipe is from Better Homes & Gardens, which called it Basque cheesecake. Not sure why. I thought about making it when the children were here in April. I told them it was Basque cheesecake, and they heard it as "bass cheesecake" and said yuck. Fair enough. I need to enunciate. This is a no-crust cheesecake, and it is easy to make. It is also pretty big. Make it when you are having a celebration with family and friends. 

The ingredients:

1-1/3 cups white sugar;

3 8-oz. packages of cream sheese, at room temperature;

1 8-oz. container of mascarpone, at room temperature;

1-1/4 cups of heavy (whipping) cream, at room temperature;

1-1/2 teaspoons lemon zest;

1-1/2 teaspoons lime zest;

1-1/2 teaspoons orange zest;

6 eggs, at room temperature;

1 tablespoon cointreau or orange juice;

1 teaspoon vanilla; and

1 teaspoon of salt. 

This is not diet food. Obviously. Having the ingredients (especially the cream cheese and mascarpone) at room temperature really helps. 

Suggested pan preparation was a little weird, but not difficult. I am not sure I would do it the same way again. 

I cut 2 pieces of parchment paper, and I draped them at right angles in a 9 " springform pan. I turned the oven on to 425 degrees. 

I put the flour canister into springform pan to hold the parchment down and mold it to fit the pan. It worked. 

I started by putting the sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer. Then I grated the zests right into the bowl. So I think I had 1-1/2 teaspoon of each zest, but I did not measure. I think I may have ended up with more than the recipe called for. This is fine. 

I squeezed the citrus. I did not need the lemon or lime juice so added them to the bottled stuff in the refrigerator. I saved the orange for later. 

After all of the zests had been added, I mixed the sugar and zests. 

Then I added the cream cheese and the mascarpone. I beat the mixture on medium speed until it was smooth. Then I added the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg. Then the cream and orange juice and salt and vanilla. (I drank the unneeded orange juice. Cook's treat.)

More beating, plus scraping down the sides of the bowl and that little divot place at the bottom of the mixing bowl. 

The mixture ended up smooth but not very thick. Not to worry. 

Here it is, all mixed.

I took the flour canister out of the springform pan and poured the mixture in. Notice the springform pan is sitting on the rimmed baking sheet. One never knows when a springform pan will leak. (It didn't.)

I baked the cheesecake for about 55 minutes. It's done when it is set about 1" from the edge but still jiggly in the middle. I tested with a metal skewer. A knife would work. The top is supposed to be brown, as it was. 

I took the springform pan off the rimmed baking sheet and set it on a cooling rack.  

After about 15 minutes, I took the springform ring off.

I let the cheesecake cool completely on a wire rack.

Getting the parchment out from under the cheesecake was kind of a pain. If I had one (or two) of those really big spatula/pancake turners or a couple of really big bench scraper, that would have helped. 

Sliding the bottom piece of parchment out was not that hard. Sliding the other piece was, and to be clear, the cheesecake cracked. Not fatal by any means. But I think next time, I will figure out something else. Maybe one piece of parchment in a circle under the cheesecake and the other bigger one over the edge. Or maybe a piece on the bottom and a collar around the springform pan. 

Here it is on the plate. Very good, smooth and faintly citrusy. I have never been a big fan of the crumb crust that is usually part of cheesecake so I did not miss it at all. 

Note that despite the thinnish batter, the cheesecake sliced up nice and firm.

And here is the rest, having been wriggled off the parchment and the bottom of the springform pan. 

It was very good indeed. There was a lot of it. Dessert for a whole week. 

Odds and ends

The deer continue their subtile presense and distruction. I find the occasional lilium that has lost its top. Of course that is where the buds are.

The weather people gush at the current "beautiful weather." My ideal weather would be 65 and a light rain all day.  I do not see no rain in 10 days as "beautiful."

We got woodchips Friday afternoon. They are going on all the paths in the garden. It takes quite a bit as the paths are extensive.

The plant exodus continues as slowly shade has developed. I have found a tree person who is going to reset my ropes in the trees in the next two weeks. 

Iowa makes the national news as the governor signs a bill loosening child labor laws. What a state.

Then again we are not yet Oklahoma or Florida. But the Iowa R's are trying.

National republicans mainly want to make poor people work and reduce money for  IRS tax enforcement. (As if good jobs with child care would be turned down.) It will be easier to cheat on their taxes. What a nation. Then again looking at the world is no better.

Pray for peace and reconcilliation and to get rid of as many R's as possible. 

Philip