March 3, 2024- Week #2 of the playoffs

        Our record warm February is done. Now we look to the future. In the last part of the blog I write a little about another very warm February, in 2012. What can one say about  the coming months based on 2012.

        In all that warmth there was Tuesday, when the temperature fell off a cliff. It was 77 degrees after lunch. It fell to 9 degrees. Check your math. That was a 68 degree change in half a day. 

       Right before the rapid cold, I took some pictures.

I expect this picture will be in the 24-25 contest. The flowers positively glowed.

As I think about it crocuses always bring the color to the garden. Up until that point there were only the white and yellow of the aconite and snowdrops. 

There was that wonderful mix of aconite, snowdrops and early crocuses.

Mostly gardeners like myself did not want to even look at the garden Wednsday. The cold essentially finished all the crocuses that had opened.

But by Friday, those that had not been open, were opening.

Look at these little cheerful small crocuses.

Saturday: After 48 hours of heavy coats, we are back where we were 4 days ago. Record heat is coming back. It is to be 75 today (Sunday). 

Wearing shorts again, I got out the hose yesterday (Saturday) and watered the lupines. They were not effected by the single digits. 

Last week in the playoffs

The winner by a very small margin was the Frosty Kale

Here is the full vote:

This week is Week #2 of the playoffs

#1 Gray Shirley

 June 2, 2023

I have about 30 gray seedlings waiting to go into slightly bigger pots. Finding time to do everything is a challenge this time of year. At the moment watering has showed up on the to do list.

#2 Blue Chionodoxia

 April 7, 2023

I do so like it when blue shows up on the garden palate. These little guys are just so darn cheerful.

#3 Double Bloodroot April 11, 2023

I sort of expect the first bloodroot to appear soon. In 2012 they bloomed on March 20. 

#4 Striped Crocus March 30, 2023

This is a late crocus. It was Christopher's favorite.

#5 White Shirley

 June 17, 2023

2 Shirley's in the same contest? It had to happen when 4 were voted into the playoffs. I absolutely cannot tell you which of the four, or the two, I prefer.

Bonus pictures and Right Now are the same this week

These aconite found a home at the base of the sycamore tree.

The aconite in parts of the yard are finished blooming. The foliage will be around for another couple months. With microclimates in the garden, some aconite are still going strong. This is in the raised bed by the back driveway. 

March 2, 2024

Some snowdrops clump. Some prefer to remain solitary.

The little iris riticulata bloomed the day before the latest cold snap. 

February 27, 2024

Riticulata come in yellow too.

What is remarkable about this iris is that it is a bulb, not a rhizome.

This is a little hipatica. I have always had difficulty with hipatica.

This was a blaze of color before the cold.

This is a Shirley poppy, blooming insider. I found the little plants in late December, having sprouted outside. I potted several and brought them inside. They bloomed, but were nowhere close to what they will look like in June, outside.

Julia's recipe

Cabbage soup

This dish is somewhere between a soup and a stew. Maybe porridge. The recipe is from Josh McFadden's Six Seasons cookbook, which features inventive things to do with vegetables.  I made it when it was stll cold in January, and it was both hearty and tasty.  Josh McFadden refers to the soup as having a grandma vibe, and it certainly reminded me of my German grandmother. 

The ingredients:

8 cups of finely sliced cabbage;

2 cups thinly sliced onion;

5 tablespoons olive oil;

3 garlic cloves;

some fresh thyme (or rosemary);

1 tablespoon wine vinegar;

2/3 cup farro;

4 cups stock (I used pork stock);

1 tablespoon lemon juice;

1/2 cup or so parmesan cheese; and

some salt and pepper. 

A few notes: I used pork stock (which I make by cooking weird bone-in cuts of pork in my slow cooker for such things as pulled pork sandwiches and posole). I thought pork stock would be nice with cabbage. Feel free to use chicken or turkey stock or vegetable broth. I used thyme instead of rosemary because I don't much like rosemary. Suit yourself. I bought a bag of farro, which I had never used before. It's interesting - earthy, a bit chewy, mild flavor. I think you could use hulled barley instead. I think rice might be too delicate. 

If you use vegetable broth, it's a vegetarian soup. If you dispense with the parmesan (or use a dairy-free substitute), it's vegan. 

I started by preparing the cabbage: I cut the big head in helf and then in half again. I cut out the core and I ate it. I like the taste of cabbage core. You could dice it up and cook it with the onions instead.  

I cut across each wedge of cabbage to make shreds. I cut the cabbage into thin shreda, but I did not get mathematical about it. Thin is not a precise term.

Next I cleaned and prepared the onion. I cut it in half through the root end, peeled off the skin and cut each half into then half-moons.  

I peeled the three cloves of garlic and used the side of the big knife to flatten them. No need to smush or slice. 

I added 1/4 cup of olive oil to a Dutch oven and when the oil was beginning to get hot, I added the onion with a little salt and pepper. When the onion was getting soft, I added the garlic pieces. 

Next, adding the cabbage...

Here's the cabbage in the pot. My pork stock was frozen so the pan on the back burner was melting the quart of stock.

After the stock was melted, I poured it into the container which I had used for the cabbage and turned my attention to the farro.

I used the same pan that I had used to melt the stock. I added 1 tablespoon of olive oil and then the farro. I toasted the farro in the oil over medium heat. The farro was done when it was a little bit darker. This process took about 5 minutes, with stirring and watching to prevent burning. 

When the farro was done, I set it aside. 

Meanwhile, the cabbage needed to cook gently on its own. When the cabbage began to wilt, I added the thyme and put a cover on the pot and lowered the heat. I cooked the cabbage this way for about 25 minutes, taking a peek from time to time and stirring the cabbage around. 

When the cabbage was way wilted, I added the toasted farro to the pot... 

followed by the pork stock. Then I added the vinegar and the lemon juice. 

I think I was supposed to add the vinegar earlier, but I forgot. 

I cooked the whole thing for about 20 minutes until the farro was done. Farro is a bit chewy when it's done but not hard.

At that point, I fished the thyme sprigs out and stirred in some of the parmesan. 

On the table. 

In the bowl, with extra parmesan. 

We served the soup with little grilled cheese sandwiches, salad and blueberries with yogurt. 

I think one could have cornbread instead or some other bread thing like yeast rolls or biscuits. 

We had about one serving of soup left, which I had for lunch. I added a little water to facilitate reheating and it was just fine. 

Odds and Ends

I have mentioned this website from time to time. It is put out by Iowa State University.

http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/sites/hist.phtml?network=IA_COOP&station=ICYI4&year=2024&month=02

Here is the chart for the just completed February, 2024.

It had 2 cold spells, with 5 days of at least 60.

One thing to note is that the average temperature went up 10 degrees during February.

Here is February, 2023. It also had its cold spells. The highest temperature was 56.

Here is 2012, the warmest February I can find.

There were no 60 degree days. The only cold spell was in the middle of the month.

Here was March, 2012. That was the last time when spring was so very early. There was a cold spell at the beginning of the month. But then the 80's arrived.

What happened in April 2012? It was not as warm as March. There was a frost. But no real freeze. 

I mentioned garden yardsticks a few weeks ago. Here was that very early spring, 2012.

February 19, 2012

March 17, 2012

It was so warm I took some house plants out in March.

March 23, 2012

The star magnolia is one of the yardstick measures for spring.

March 23, 2012

This was high spring, with daffodils, tulips and bluebells. In March!

March 31, 2012

Finally there was the lilac blooming. On March 31.

March 31, 2012

There was measurable rain in March, 2012.

Not so much precipitation this year. It will take rain to really wake up the garden. Maybe it will come the end of the week.

It can be a tiring time of the year. News can get you down.

Someone asked if I was worried about the early spring or the lack of moisture. I replied that worrying would not help. Besides there were other things to worry about.

Pray for peace.

Pray for those dumb fish to wake up to reality.

And get out the hose.

Philip