Week 3 of the playoffs- March 16, 2025

 Welcome to the garden blog winter picture contest. 

We started the contest on December 1, wanting to get through the winter. We did it.  Just this last week spring arrived. Spring was late this year. But the great time machine turned up to fast forward this past week, and spring has exploded. The first crocus appeared on Wednesday, not long after the first aconite. By Friday the aconite numbered in the thousands.

It was officially 84 degrees Friday afternoon. That was a record for Iowa City. The dance of the aconite, the snowdrops and the early crocuses has begun. 

What I had forgotten was that crocuses in particular need sun to open. There was sun on Friday, not yesterday. But when the crocuses were open, they were wonderful. 

There are more spring pictures from this past week in the "Right Now" section.

         Yesterday was really tiring. But I guess it was a good tiring. I did about six 30 minute rotations in the garden. I would spend ten minutes raking. Then 10 minutes potting aconite. The plant sale has officially begun. Then I would clip hellebores. Finally I would put lettuce plants into bigger pots.

      Most of these tasks involve beding or stooping. I explained to someone I can still stoop. Sometimes it is the getting up part that is a challenge.

Last week in the playoffs the winner was ...the Blue Siberian  Iris.

The full vote was

My apologies to anyone who tried to vote on Monday. I made a mistake in posting the poll, causing the poll to close after Sunday's vote. The creater of the poll fixed it late on Monday. People could vote starting Tuesday. I guess voting glitches can suppress the vote.

This Week is the final week of the playoffs.

You pick the final picture to go into the finals starting next Sunday. I think it will be a difficult vote. I do not see any one picture running away with it. I could be wrong.

#1 Amour Elite Standard Violet

 April 7, 2024

(from December 29, 2024 post)

#2 Cypripedium Gisell Orchid 

May 4, 2024

(from February 16, 2025 post)

#3 Tree Peony Phoenix White 

May 4, 2024 

(from January 5, 2025 post)

#4 Lupines 

May 12, 2024 

(from February 23, 2025 post)

#5 Ruby Spider daylily 

June 29, 2024 

(from December 8, 2024 post)

There you have it. Vote away. 

Right Now in the garden

These are  little hipatica flowers. I had not realized they were so early.

The hellebores are emerging. It is now appropriate to cut back last year's foliage. That certainly involves bending and stooping.

The lupines are waking up. They are tender perennials, good for only 2-3 years. Many of last year's clumps are now waking...so far.

Here are potted aconite for the food bank sale. I pot the ones that are in the paths.

The aconite are up by the thousands. The come up and bloom. Then all the tiny seedlings show up. They will not bloom for a year or two. But they are growing.

One variety of snowdrops grows in clumps. Of course now that I think about it these could have been growing for 10 or more years.

Julia's recipe

Chicken Mei Fun

This dish is from the NYT which called it "Chicken Mei Fun". According to Mr. Google, it is pronounced as in the English words "may" and "fun". Now you know. This is another of those Asian dishes for which you prepare a bunch of things separately, then put everything together over heat for a short time and eat. It's a plan. A bit more labor intensive than some dishes (think red or green Thai curry, for example, which is done in little more than the time it takes to make the rice). 

The ingredients:

1/2 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast;

1/2 lb. (1/2 package) rice noodles (not threads);

3/4 cup carrot, in matchsticks;

3/4 cup red pepper, in matchsticks;

2 sliced scallions;

3 cups thinly sliced napa (or other) cabbage;

2 eggs;

1-1/2 teaspoons grated ginger;

5 tablespoons soy sauce;

1/4 cup regular oil;

1 tablespoon cornstarch;

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil;

1-1/2 cups chicken broth (I used better than bouillon);

3/4 teaspoon five-spice powder; and

1/2 teaspoon pepper, white if you have it, black if you don't.

A lot of ingredients, I know, but other than the five-spice powder, nothing particularly exotic. 

First, I made the marinade, mixing 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of the regular oil, 1 tablespoon of water (not shown above), 1/4 teaspoon of the five-spice powder, 1/4 of the pepper and all of the cornstarch. 

I whisked the ingredients together.

I had briefly put the package of chicken back in the freezer so it would be easier to slice. 

Then I sliced it into thin strips (no precision required) and dumped the chicken in the marinade. 

The chicken needed to sit for 10 minutes. In the meantime, I cooked the rice noodles. I cooked them for about 4 minutes in boiling water and then drained and rinsed the noodles. 

Next up, the main sauce. I mixed the rest of the soy sauce, the rest of the five-spice powder, the rest of the pepper and the sesame oil. I added better than bouillon paste (shown) to these ingredients because I did not have chicken stock on hand. 

After I had mixed these ingredients, I added 1-1/2 cups of water to make the sauce. 

Next up - the eggs. 

I put 1 tablespoon of oil in a large non-stick skillet and added 2 beaten eggs. No scrambling. I just let the eggs cook (over medium heat) until bubbling around the edge. Then I flipped the egg pancake over and cooked it for maybe 30 seconds. 

Then I scooped it up and put it in a bowl for later.

Next the chicken. I added another tablespoon of oil to the skillet, scooped the chicken out of the marinade and cooked it until was mostly cooked - 1 or 2 minutes on the first side and then 1 minute or so on the second side. 

And here we go, into a bowl. 

I turned the skillet off for a couple of minutes while I prepped the veggies. Yes, I could have done this earlier but I didn't.

Cabbage shredded; carrot matchsticked (or is it matchstuck?). Lastly the red pepper and the garlic. 

One more tablespoon of oil over medium high heat. Then the garlic, until you can smell it. 

Followed by the shredded cabbage.

and the carrot sticks.

Next I whisked the sauce and added it.

Then the rice noodles and the chicken and the cut up omelet.

I stirred the noodles in and added the red peppers. I cooked this mixture for a about 4 or 5 minutes. Just long enough to heat all of the components up and to give me time to slice the 2 scallions on the bias. 

On the table, with the scallions sprinkled on top. 

On the plate. We had salad and berries and yogurt, as usual. No need for a side dish of any kind. All there in one delicious heap. 

Leftovers when heated briefly were nice for lunch.  

I assume you could use other quick cooking protein (shrimp, thinly sliced pork loin) or go the tofu way. Or just go veggie. 

Odds and Ends

This was from Friday's phone. It was into the 80's on Friday. We slept with windows open for the first time in a long time.

But there was still snow in the possible forecast.

Saturday was only in the 50's, with a lot of wind. No sun. OK for gardening, but you needed a jacket.

Somehow this bird crossed my electronic path. It is a Woodcock dancing.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ne6nj9AgY7M

Arugula- I have grown lettuce from seed this year. What I have learned is that it needs bigger pots if you are going to actually eat it.

I planted some outside two weeks ago, with a anti deer product on a little ribbon fence around it. It took the deer tw nights to find it, and completely destroy the lettuce. They left the arugula alone.

Yesterday I put the first plants out for the food bank sale. This will be its sixth year. It started with the COVID spring. Now more than ever I feel the need to raise money for the food banks. Government is clearly not interested in feeding people. I actually believe that they are not interested in helping anyone. Where are the Nelson Rockefeller Republicans?

I pray for the children, the next generation.

But mostly I pray this week for people afraid to protest, afraid to raise their collective voices in opposition.  I pray for the First Amendment. It is an abstract principle until you get locked in an ICE detention center.

I will put my hands in the dirt again later today. It does help a little.

I hope the flowers from the blog makes you day a little better.

Thanks for your responses over the winter. 

Philip