October 22, 2023- Home again

Busy Busy Busy

It is an exciting time in the garden. I would enjoy it more if there was not so much to do.

We got home last Monday night, after 11 days on the road. We managed two posts for this blog while on the road. Particularly while we were on the road it was so good to hear from so many of you. We had responses from Iowa, Minnesota, Florida, Maine, Maryland,  New York, and Wisconsin. I am still waiting to hear from Ohio and Missouri. Are there other people out there from other states? You can reply either by using the comments section of the blog, or by emailing us at philip.mears@gmail.com. 

We are home where there has not yet been a frost. It looks like a certainty right after next weekend. There are temperatures in the upper 20's predicted in 7-8 days. The main question is whether it will hold off for one more weekend.

The outside garden is closing down. The buckeye tree and the walnut tree have lost most of their leaves, particularly after the very windy day yesterday.

Actually it is an interesting time in the garden. There is a small dose of the present, with fall crocuses popping up, and the toad lilies being wonderful. There is a certain amount of the past, as I clean up plants that are finished for the year. But there is a big part of the garden that is the future. There are bulbs to plant, heralding what is going to start in less than 5 months. 

Yesterday I finished planting about a dozen martagon lilies. This time I purchased the labels before the bulbs arrived. That way I could put the label right next to the hole.

It is planting time and harvesting time all at the same time. Dreams and reflections dance together. Look at this amaryllis harvest. After they had grown in the sun for the outdoor season, they had to be out of the City garden plot by October 13. Scott dug them for me while we were gone. Thank you Scott.

The bulbs have been drying for the last week. They are now sufficiently dry.Today I will store them in peat moss for the winter, grading them by size. Any bulb that is at least 2 inches in diameter should bloom next year.  Of course I have no idea what color they are. That will be some of their magic.

Adding to their mystery is the question of when they will break dormancy. They will get no moisture for months. Nevertheless there will be some bulbs that will just start a bud sometime after January. 

My goal is to have them wait until spring. There really is something magical about having blooming amaryllis in the garden. When you can have several that just increases the grandeur.

This wonderful flower bloomed this summer, over at the garden plot. I suppose I could have marked the bulbs. Instead it has gone back into the big group.

Here were amaryllis on parade in June of 2022.

The toad lilies are spectacular at the moment.

They started to bloom a month ago. At that time they bloomed near the top of the stems. Now they are blooming all up and down the stems.

Then there are the fall crocuses. These are true crocuses, being related to the spring bulbs. It only took one very sunny day for them to come out all over the place. That was Friday, which of course was a work day.

There were many crocuses at Katie's house in Maine last week. She had planted hers in the fall of 2022. They are supposed to bloom the same year you plant them. That makes them better that other bulbs that have to wait for the next season.

Katie's crocuses had really spread in just one year. Of course they had almost 50 inches of rain for the year. This is in contrast with Iowa where normal is 30 inches and we were 10 inches short this year.

Katie did confide that when she was planting the hundred crocuses she planted, sometimes she would drop two bulbs in one hole.

These pictures are from our garden.

The bees do appreciate the toad lilies and the crocuses.  There are not all that many flowers these days.

There is so much to do.

The plant migration has begun. This fall I even had some lettuce starts almost already to eat. They are now under lights in the basement.

My collection of cattleya orchids has grown considerably. Remember cattleyas? I took the advise of the local orchid group and repotted several. That mostly meant dividing them. That in turn meant there were more of them.

This plant started to bloom on October 2.

The plant came inside with this picture taken on October 20. It blooms for weeks.

The orchids are some of the first plants to come inside. 

It is time to make cuttings of some of the favorite annuals. Many of these will be toast when it gets to 32 degrees. So far we have missed that frost. I understand there has been light frosts...in those low lying areas. But we mostly still have leaves on some of the trees. That does provide some protection from light frosts. 

The kitchen windowsills are starting to fill up. Persian shield cuttings are in the must do category. I am trying lantana cuttings this fall. They take almost a month to root, but eventually they root. 

We were in Maine last week. Let me add a few more pictures.

The children were helping make apple pie. We had picked the apples.

Christopher is in a first grade soccer program. They have teams and outfits. Last Sunday there was a double header. Katie is the coach, who also acts as the referee. Julia and I were there for only part of the fun.

The nieghborhood had a wonderful climbing tree, which we think was a larch.

Maisie likes to carry a spray bottle and spray many things.

Such concentration. 

I can show you some videos from our trip, which I could not add to the blog on the road.

There is a neighborhood trampoline.

This was at the Portland Children's Museum.

Other pictures from the Iowa garden.

This is in a neighbor's yard.

Julia's recipe

Pork, Peppers and Tomatoes

Sometimes one cooks what is at hand. When we got home from Maine, we found several bell peppers that needed to be used up, plus a few tomatoes Maggie had picked up for us at the farmers' market. And I had a chunk of cooked pork. So that's what I made for supper. This is a sort of variation of sausage and peppers, for which there is a recipe on the kitchen blog, but I think this may be better - more complex.  

The ingredients: 

3 cups of diced cooked pork;

1 cup sliced onion;

2 cups peppers, cut into squares;

2 cups tomatoes, cut into chunks;

1/4 cup olive oil;

1/2 cup white wine;

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese; and

salt plus red pepper flakes. 

I started by prepping all of the vegetables: cleaning and slicing the onion into half-moon slices about 1/4" thick; cleaning and cutting the peppers into about 3/4" squares; and coring and cutting the tomatoes into rough wedges. 

I also cubed up the pork. No leftover pork on hand? Leftover chicken would be nice or maybe salmon. Probably any meat or fish. Or you could leave meat out altogether. It would still be delicious.  

When the vegetables were prepped, I warmed the olive oil in a skillet and added the vegetables. I added some salt and red pepper flakes and stirred everything around.   

I cooked the vegetables until they were beginning to soften.

A video of gentle stirring. 

Meanwhile, the salted water in the saucepan had some to a boil and I added some Israeli cous cous. That's the bigger pasta kind. Other small pasta would be good. Or rice. 

Next I added the cut-up pork. More stirring, just to warm the pork and let the vegetables flavor it. 

I stirred the pork in and added the 1/2 cup of wine. 

When the stuff in the skillet looked good, I added the parmesan cheese. 

Sometimes a recipe will say to cook tomatoes until they get "jammy." This is actually a thing - the contents of the skillet did thicken some on their own. Pectin, I guess. And thickened further after the addition of the cheese. 

Stirring in the cheese.

On the table. 

Served up with some cous cous underneath and some extra parmesan on top. 

We had it with salad and berries and yogurt - our standbys. 

Leftovers were good. 

Odds and Ends

The plant sale for the food banks is winding down. We are over $6100 for the year. We are finishing the fourth year. I look forward to next year. 

Actually "looking forward to next year" is more than just an expression if you are a Cubs fan.

We are now less than 5 months from the middle of March. That is not that far away.

This picture was taken on February 15, 2023. That is less than 4 months away.

This picture was taken on March 20, 2023. We have had crocus bookends to this 2023 garden season.

I think maybe for next week I will come up with a list of some of the things I am looking forward to in the garden next year.

While we were away it was not a good time for the world. Words fail.

I fear for the world our grandchildren will inherit. Actually I fear for the world we might have in the coming months and years. 

Pray for peace. Pray for us to have governments that have positive visions. Pray to replace those who do not.

In the meantime let us all gather ourselves for the coming cold time. It is of limited duration.

Philip