March 10, 2024- Week #3 of the playoffs

Greetings

We had some rain. Finally. It actually rained during three days, accumulating over an inch. It was one of those rains farmers would call "million dollar rains." It was gradual, all going right into the welcoming ground. I had done my part. I bought another flexible crinkley hose and watered for over an hour last weekend. I do like those hoses.  You can carry them around and even put them into a bucket. I used one last summer over at the City garden plot.

Warmer weather continues. It actually reached 80 degrees last Monday. It has cooled considerably since then, but the forecast is a little above normal. "Normal high" at this point is something like 47 degrees.

Actually I should mention that yesterday, Saturday, it was very sunny but only 43 degrees. That was several degrees below nirmal. I wore my wool hat when I went out in the afternoon and puttered around in the garden. I potted up some hellebore seedlings, that should be ready to bloom next year.

I have been trying to spend at least 30 minutes each day on the indoor garden. That tends to be forgotten when the outside opens up. I have been remembering to water the orchids and potting Shirley poppies into larger pots.

Some plants are getting the garage treatment at the moment. That means they go out into the sun during the day but return to the garage at night. I forgot one night and left the lettuce out for the night. Deer do eat lettuce.

Last week was Week #2 of the playoffs.

The winner in breeze was the striped crocus. Last year this clump  bloomed on March 30. This year, in the bonus section you will see a single striped crocus this year, which bloomed on March 6. I would put this crocus, like many of the larger crocuses, in the later blooming group during the crocus season.

Here is the final vote tally. I find it interesting that the crocus ran away with the vote. In Week 13, to get into the playoffs, the crocus could only manage a tie with the dogwood.

 

The dogwood is in this week's contest. Could there be a rematch with the crocus in the finals?

This Week is Week #3 of the playoffs 

You select the third and final picture to be in the finals, in just one week.

#1 From Week 8

  Martian, the little Iris 

April 29, 2023

The little iris look so good this spring. They survived our two  trips to single digits in the second half of February. This might be a year when there are bearded iris in March. I did find an iris picture on April 1, 2012. That was the very early spring I wrote about in last weeks blog.

#2 From Week 13  

Here is the Pink Dogwood 

May 3, 2023

The pink dogwood is probably 30 years old at the point. Its buds appear in the fall and then wait. 

#3 From Week 4

 Purple Siberian Iris

 May 27, 2023

The Siberian Iris are still very quiet this spring. 

#4 From Week 12

 Black Shirley Poppy

 June 1, 2023

Here is the last chance for a Shirley poppy to get back to the finals. A pink Shirley won in 2022, the first year when they appeared in the garden. It was shut out last year.

I am planting them from 6 packs into little 2 inch pots at this point. I have about 20 of these gray ones.

I will have over a hundred of the other varieties.

#5 From Week11

  Bird of Paradise 

January 1, 2023

This was the only time this plant has bloomed. It is still growing in the basement under lights. I will get it outside and figure out what kind of fertilizer it needs. 

Right Now

This is paphiopedilum Hawaiian Knight. We had been watching its bud since January 20. It finally opened about March 1.

Paphiopedilum

This is the time of year where you can literally find 1-2 more plants showing up every day. This is corydalis. That is probably a lupine seedling to its left. 

As advertised, the first striped crocus. Some crocus form clumps. Some do not.

Another late crocus is the big white one.

Here was the first daffodil, opening on March 6, 2023. I should make a folder marked yardsticks.

Here is the first little pulmonaria flower.

To the left of this daffodil is something that is sort of blue. It is a Virginia bluebell, In a month they will be all over. I can pot them up when they are small.

These are Shirley poppy seedlings, outside. I noticed them in early January, and actually brought several inside. I do not recall ever having them reseed. 

This is crocus 'tricolor'. It is one of my favorites.

Julia's recipe

Meatballs, barley and kale

This recipe is from Greene on Greens, a cookbook from the 1980s. Each chapter focuses on a vegetable, starting with artichokes and ending with zucchini. Some of the recipes are side dishes; others are main courses. This is a main course, one-pot dinner. It takes a bit more time than some of the recipes I have posted, but it's good and unusual, reputedly Turkish in origin. Good enough for me. 

The ingredients:

1/2 cup barley;

1 lb. ground lamb (or beef);

1/2 cup chopped onion;

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs;

1-1/2 cup chicken stock (I used better than bouillion);

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg;

3/4 teaspoon salt;

1 egg;

1 tablespoon butter;

1/4 teaspoon pepper;

1 tablespoon olive oil;

1 bunch of lacinato kale;

2 cloves garlic;

1 cup sour cream; and 

1 teaspoon gr. coriander (not shown!)

First, off camera, I put the barley on to cook. Small pot of water, with a big pinch of salt. I did not wait for the water to boil, although that's the usual instruction. It doesn't really matter. Once the pot came to a boil, I turned it down to a simmer, and it took about 20 minutesfor the barley to get tender. I was using Quaker Oats hulled barley. I think natural food store barley would take longer to cook. 

Here's the meatball bowl with the panko bread crumbs, onions, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and the nutmeg.

At this point, I had added the lamb, egg, and black pepper and was finishing with about 1/2 cup of chicken stock. 

There is only one way to make meatballs: take your watch off, roll your sleeves up and mush everything together. Not my favorite cooking task, but the only way to make meatballs. 

I used a small disher (little ice cream scoop, really) to make a bunch of small meatballs.I scooped out roughly equivalent amounts of the mixture, and then rolled them in my hands. I ended up with a lot of meatballs. I don't remember, but I think it was about 20. I set them aside.

Next I prepped the kale, rinsing it off and then cutting out the center stems.

I also peeled the garlic, shown sitting on the cutting board.

After de-stemming the kale, I sliced it across into maybe 1/2" to 3/4" strips. 

I left the kale on the cutting board, and I browned the meatballs. I put 1/2 tablespoon of the olive oil (that is, not much!) into a no-stick skillet and browned the meatballs. I did not cook them through, just some color. The meatballs were a bit delicate, so I used tongs to turn them gently. 

I cooked the meatballs in two batches, using the rest of the olive oil for the second batch.

When they were browned, I put them back on the plate where they would sit while...

I mushed the garlic, mixed it with the coriander and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and cooked the mixture in the skillet I had just used to cook the meatballs in the drippings left in the pan. 

Next the kale. I took out a Dutch oven, melted the butter in that pan and then added the kale with another 1/2 cup of chicken stock. I turned the heat way down, covered the pot and cooked the kale until it wilted, maybe 10 minutes. 

Finally, it was time to put everything together. First I added the garlic mixture to the kale and mixed it in. 

Then I added the barley (which had finished cooking and which I had drained in a big sieve) and the last of the chicken stock. 

I stirred the barley in and then nestled the meatballs all around on top. 

I covered the Dutch oven and simmered the whole thing for about 20 minutes. Maybe 25 minutes. 

I checked out the mixture to make sure it was not dry. It wasn't. If it had been, I would have added a little water. 

Almost done. The final step was gently stirring in 1 cup of sour cream Sour cream is always welcome. 

Sour cream added.

On the table. We also had green salad and reaspberries with yogurt. 

As I said at the outset, this recipe was unusual. Barley! Meatballs! Wilted kale! Sour cream! Not a weeknight meal, but worth the effort.

We had some leftovers, which were easily reheated in a small skillet for lunch. Very nice. 

Odds and Ends

I subscribe to a nice blog from rural Wisconsin. The link is

https://www.prairiehaven.com/?p=63776

It features landscapes, and when available wildflowers and bugs.

She found the first butterfly this month. She also pictured a sadly named moth call the White spotted Cankerworm. As she puts it that is an unfortunate name for a nice moth. It overwinters in the north. The females do not have wings. How sad.

It is going to be a good spring for lupines. They have spread over the last few years to take up more and more room. Each day I find one further from the home turf, which is by the house driveway. The secret to growing these not so hardy perennials, is to supplement their self seeding with new plants started inside. I have several trays of those indoor grown seedlings that go out during the day. I have sprayed them with deer repellant as I am not sure if deer like lupines. 

We try to avoid politics these days. A recent poll in the state newspaper found that more people favored ending the state income tax. That was about as useful as a poll that asked if people wanted warmer winters.  

One distraction in Iowa City has been the women's basketball team. They are one of the best teams in the country, with star player Catlin Clark. 

This banner was put up downtown by Nike, one of Clark's many sponsors. I am so glad that players now get to financially benefit from their gifts.

At the same time one needs to remember that every team in the playoffs will lose their last game, except one. 

Please remember the people of Ukrane and the people of Gaza in your thoughts. 

When I first get in my hot shower every day I remember how fortunate I am. So many people do not have hot showers, or showers of any kind.

As the wicked witch commented "What a world."

Be kind.

Philip