May 12, 2024- it is lupine time

It is cool this Sunday morning as I finish this post.

The eastern sky is brightening and it is just 5:15.

It has been a busy week. 

The garden is full of plants that are finished. That includes  aconite, snowdrops, daffodils, tulips, and the latest plant that is done, bluebells. The question is what will bloom now. For a few weeks it has been dwarf iris.

Last Sunday I drove up to Lisbon to see Diann. (That is about 25 miles north of Iowa City.) She has a remarkable collection of little iris. She has given many iris in the past for the food pantry sale. I could get some more if I came and dug them.

I returned with these.

This is Blueberry Tart. I really like the color combination. Brown and blue. Who knew? 

This is Honey Love. I don't get to give them names.

This is Sweethearts Again.

Some were still blooming or had buds. I know that people will buy plants that are in flower. 

That principal  was illustrated when I sold almost all the tree peony seedlings I put on the sale table last weekend. 

Speaking of tree peonies, Diann had a collection of those too. I need to look no further than Diann for different seeds in September.  4 years? Actually seeds planted this fall might bloom in 2028. That is truly looking ahead. 

I have been trying to keep up with the weeds. Part of the problem is that I had some many little spring bulbs. There were aconite, scilla and bluebells. The remains of those plants mix with grass and dandelions to make the garden look unmanaged. About this time of year you tackle that bio mass. You try not to weed so deep that you disturb the weeds.

The important thing is to not get so overwhelmed that you conclude it is hopeless. This is true about so many things. My day job comes to mind. Then there is politics and the state of the world. 

Finding little rewards is one way to keep going. You clean out an area around some hosta and then look at that little patch of order.

I do want to write about the lupines. They have started to bloom.

Plant migration- Plants are moving outside. The walnut tree and the sycamore tree still make little shade. But with Scott's help the biggest plants are now out of the house. The largest orchid cactus are setting buds this time of year. I have waited to water them to try to encourage them to wait. 

Caladium report-22 out of 100 that have sprouted. The outdoor temperatures are still between 50 and 75. I will have to call the grower to find out whether taking the sprouted ones outside now would be alright. For now they can have a shelf with indoor lights.

Chadek report- This is our city owned sunny garden plot we have rented for 4 years. The little space, maybe 10 by 20 is ready for plants. Frost is in the rear view mirror, but the ground is still cool. I would like to plant my amaryllis there soon. This year I will try giving some tree peony seedlings full sun, I think I can plant them in small pots to make it easier to pull them up in the fall. I wonder how their growth would be helped by 5 months of full sun. 

I have been potting up tree peony seedlings this spring. I sold ten of them this last week. We potted 15 more on Thursday.

The part for the washing machine came Thursday. The new computer is on its way. One thing I cannot do on this laptop is crop pictures. There has been this tulip in the front parkway. It has been so photogen

                                                    Julia's recipe

 Shrimp and grits-sort of cajun

As I have said before, I did not grow up with food from the American South. No pulled pork or barbecued chicken or spoon bread or sweet potato pie or coarse greens of any kind. Not even corn bread. So the cooking of the American South is somewhat unfamiliar territory for me like Indian cooking or Chinese cooking. But I am interested, and the cooking of the American South mostly uses ingredients I already have in the pantry, which is a plus. I decided to make grits, with vaguely cajun shrimp to go on top. I looked around on the internet for ideas about ingredients and method, and here is what I came up with.   

Ingredients (for the grits):

3 cups water;

2 cups milk (I used whole milk);

1 cup grits (mine were white and much finer than polenta. Grits are not the same as polenta.);

3 tablespoons butter;

maybe 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Ingredients for the shrimp:

1 lb. medium-sized shrimp, thawed or almost thawed (mine were cleaned, deveined, and quick frozen - I do not like cleaning shrimp if I can help it. I always buy frozen because I live about 1 million miles from salt water);

1-1/2 tablespoon butter (or other fat - I had a tablespoon of bacon grease which I supplemented with             1-1/2 teaspoon olive oil) - not shown!;

1-1/2 teaspoon cajun spice mix - or more if you prefer;

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper - or less if you prefer;

1 cup or so diced red or green pepper;

1/2 cup or so sliced scallions;

1 tablespoon smushed garlic;

1/4 cup chicken stock - or clam juice or veggie stock or or that matter, water. I used a bit of better than bouillon with 1/4 cup water);

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce;

2 teaspoons lemon juice;

some salt and pepper. 

First I started the grits. Somehow, in the process of working on this part of the post, I made the picture of the grits disappear. So let's just use words. I put a pot on the stove and poured in both the water and the milk. I brought the liquid to a boil and whisked in the grits and the salt. When it came back to a boil, I turned the heat to low and put a cover on the pot, leaving a gap for steam to escape. It cooked for about 40 minutes, and I stirred the pot 3 or 4 times during the cooking period. At the end of cooking, I added 2 tablespoons of butter and stirred it in as it melted.   

While the grits were cooking, I made the shrimp dish. First, as usual, I prepped the vegetables. 

Next, I put the bacon grease and the olive oil in a no-stick pan. I heated the pan on medium to heat the fat and oil.

I patted the shrimp with paper towels so they were drier than they would have been otherwise.

I put some of the shrimp in the pan in a single layer. I needed to cook the shrimp in 2 batches. 

Once the shrimp were arranged, I sprinkled them with some of the cajun spice and cayenne, using about 1/2 of each so I would have enough for both batches of shrimp. 

This is a picture of sprinkled shrimp. 

I cooked the shrimp over medium heat for maybe 2 minutes and then flipped them over and cooked them for maybe a minute on the other side. At that point they were just opaque. 

When they were done, I scooped them out onto a clean plate and cooked the rest of the shrimp the same way.

The evacuation of the last shrimp.

Then I added the vegetables to the same skillet: first the peppers for a couple of minutes (3 or 4) on medium heat, followed by the scallions for another couple of minutes, followed by the garlic. And a little salt and pepper. Total vegetable cooking time was maybe 8 minutes. 

I cooked the vegetables over medium heat. 

Next, off camera, I added the stock, worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice. I cooked the mixture for about 5 minutes.

Then I added the shrimp back to the skillet along with the juices that had pooled on the plate and cooked for just another 2 or 3 minutes to warm the shrimp up. 

Here are the final products on the table: the grits in a nice bowl with a final pat of butter and the shrimp in a shallow bowl. 

Served up. The shrimp dish was not soupy, but there was some liquid which the grits soaked up. It was a flavorful dish: the grits smooth and creamy, the shrimp a little spicy and a little chunky.

I had the leftovers for lunch the next day, which I heated up together in a small saucepan and it was great.

Odds and Ends

We went looking for northen lights last night. Nothing. But it was a nice drive trying to find a dark place away from the city lights.

The new computer is still in transit. It might come by the end of the week.

The Siberian Iris are ready to bloom. 

I alway waiting for the martagon lilies. I think 2 out of 12 have been topped by the deer. They get extra spray as they are on the precious list.

The plant sale rolls along. We have past the $3000 mark for the year. This is the time of the year when there are many plant sales.

I continue to pot up hosta, and toad lilies, and japanese anemones and the latest, jack in the pulpit.

The world? The Iowa legisalture has gone home. But graduated income tax is gone. Assuming they stay in the majority I assume they will end the income tax completely. 

Pray for peace. I have a hosta called Peace. I should give it extra fertilizer and the deer spray.

Find the little thing you can do today to help.

Maybe next week I can show you more pictures.

Philip