May 22, 2022- in between time in the garden

Spring bulbs are done. The riot of summer color has not arrived. We are in between.

We are also chilly. A week ago we complained about the heat. Well, predictably now it is cold. As I get ready to send this to print, it is 40 degrees outside. 

Look at the 10 day forecast. I am taking some of the last houseplants outside. This week I wrestled the two large bougainvillea down the stairs and out the door. They are not going to like the temperatures that are close to 40.

But while we complaint about the temperature, we have begun to complain about the lack of rain. There was no real rain this week. Well, there was a half an inch on Wednesday. That hardly counted.

I had the sprinkler back on yesterday.

It is now officially the in between time in the garden. The spring bulbs are finished. 

The last ones still blooming are the English bluebells.

While the spring bulbs are done, they have left behind lots of green material that can now be cleared away. 

But just as many things are ending, something else steps up.

What is getting ready to bloom?

The Siberian iris are next up within the iris sequence. I really like how there are some iris from March to August.

So far we had the reticulata, the dwarf bearded, and the cristata. 

The first Siberian Iris bloomed Thursday.

I have no name for this lovely flower. It was a gift plant 20-25 years ago. Those are always special.

I had not realized that the yellow Siberians bloom near the beginning. This picture was taken Saturday morning. I thought maybe it would open by the end of the day. On a day when it did not get to 70, it did not open.

Maybe today.

The lupines have started. They are particularly nice as they rise over the cypress spurge.

This picture looks like one big plant. It is actually several. When planted together they do look like one large plant.

Even the lupine seedlings have started to appear everywhere. Here they are appearing in the path, next to one of their beds.

Seedlings are needed as I find the plants only last maybe 2-3 years.

The first Shirley poppy bloomed this week. I have gotten many planted that were started in January. More need to get into the ground. 

This flower gives red its definition.

Julia's recipe

Spicy Fish

Readers of this blog may recall that we get fish from a CSF (community supported fishery) in Sitka, Alaska. So we have more fish in the freezer than we would otherwise. We know this is good for us, and it means I am always on the lookout for new ways to prepare fish, not broiling (broilers have always made me nervous) or a deep frying (ditto on the deep fryer set-up). Ethnic is good, although sometimes I adapt when I don't have access (or don't have ready access) to some ingredients. This recipe, from the NYT cooking site, called for 3 different kinds of peppers (dried, ground or fresh) that I did not have, but I think it tasted just fine with the substitutes I used.   

The ingredients:

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes;

1 cup (or so) chopped onion;

1 lb. or so thin white fish;

3 tablespoons regular oil;

2 tablespoons seeded and sliced hot peppers (I had serranos - more for garnish);

1 teaspoon coriander seeds;

1 teaspoon mustard seeds;

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes;

1 teaspoon garam masala;

1 teaspoon ground cumin;

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric;

1 teaspoon hot paprika (or regular if that's what you have); and 

1 teaspoon salt (any kind).

Garnish: 1 tablespoon julienned ginger; 2 tablespoons seeded and sliced hot peppers (the rest of the serranos); 2 or 3 tablespoons lemon juice.  

As usual, I started by prepping the onion, hot peppers and ginger, all of which I set aside separately. I mixed the coriander seeds, mustard seeds and red pepper flakes in a little bowl. I put the garam masala, ground cumin, hot paprika and turmeric in another little bowl. 

 

Julienning ginger. Peppers seeded and ready to slice. Coriander seed mixture in one little bowl. Garam masala in another little bowl. 

First I heated the oil on medium heat and added the coriander mixture. 

When that smelled good (less than a minute), I added the onions.

I cooked the onion for maybe 5 minutes until the onions began to soften.

A note on peppers: The recipe called for dried red Dundicut chiles. I had never heard of them, and did not have them, and so I used dried red pepper flakes. The final result might have been hotter with the Dundicut chiles. Don't know. 

Then the recipe called for kashmiri red chile powder. Did not have that either, but I did have hot paprika.

Lastly the recipe called for 2 chopped fresh Thai green chiles. I struck out again, so I used serranos, some in the sauce and some for garnish. 

Next I added the other spice mix, the tomatoes, the salt and the half of the sliced serranos. I let this mixture cook over low heat for maybe 7 minutes,

While the tomato mixture was cooking, I turned my attention to the fish, and I realized that it had skin on it. It was sablefish, a mild white fish, thinner than cod and thicker than sole. 

But it comes from Alaska with skin, which I forgot. So while the tomato mixture cooked, I cut/peeled the skin off. It was not hard to do, but if you can find skinless fish, that would be good. Flounder would be fine, or sole or cod or halibut. Mild, white, boneless, skinless fish is the ticket. 

Understand that thicker fish will take a little longer to cook. 

After I had skinned the fish, I cut it into chunks about 3" in size.

By this time, the tomato mixture smelled good and was not goopy. I laid the fish pieces around on top of the tomato mixture.

Here is the skillet with the fish scattered around. I cooked it (back up to medium heat) for maybe 3 minutes, then used tongs to turn the fish over. I will use a slotted spoon next time, as the fish is delicate and wanted to fall apart. 

I let it cook for just a few minutes on the other side, and then slid the dish onto a serving plate. I sprinkled the dish with the ginger and remaining serrano slices and the lemon juice. 

And here it is. 

We served it with rice, so that the sauce would be sopped up. And we served it with spinach and scallions, another Indian-ish dish, for which the recipe appears somewhere on the blog. Plus green salad and the usual berries with yogurt. 

It was a nice meal. Not much by way of leftovers, but what there was heated up nicely with leftover rice for lunch.

Plant sale-a new blog feature

The plant sale has become an important part of the garden. We are in the third year. It has no overhead with the only advertising being on Facebook, primarily the Iowa City Gardeners group site. I hate doing business with Facebook, but there is not a real alternative.

I think I will just describe the sale a little, and then tell what is back there right now for anyone interested. The sale goes on 24/7, on our back driveway. All proceeds go to the local food banks. Feeding people is mostly a non partisan cause. (Why is it that is it only "mostly" a non partisan cause? 

Payment is placed in the front porch mailbox, for those people who know the instructions. Sometimes I find money under a pot. 

Many of the plants so far are ones I potted. I have potted bluebells, hosta, pulmonaria, jade plants, epimedium, toad lilies and lots of dwarf beard iris. The iris were potted last fall and overwintered in the cold back garage.

Particularly in the last two weeks people having been bringing plant donations. Yesterday someone brought a bunch of those tall ferns that grow in gardens.  Maybe they are ostrich ferns. They were gobbled up within hours. 

The best contributions come potted and marked with the plant name and a suggested price.

Some come with a label like "hosta." Some come in bags. 

Some of those I repot.

Yesterday someone brought 2 Isabel Bloom figurines (she's an artist from Davenport). 

The orchid cactus was blooming inside so I brought it out. Someone liked it today but did not buy it after I had to tell how big they can get.

The plastic alien in the lower right had no comment. 

Here is a closeup of the orchid cactus. 

Behind the little owl, the second of the Bloom figurines,  is one of 4-5 spider plants that someone brought last year. They were so nice I overwintered them. Now they are out looking for a more permanent home.

 Someone brought broccoli starts. 

I recently divided a clump of Blue Mouse Ears hosta. When you divide hosta you can get quite a few.

There are also jade plant cuttings, after a winter of growth. You do not have to root them first. Just trim them up and pop them into a pot. In a few months they will start to grow.

Odds and Ends

One of the next plants to bloom will be the herbaceous peonies. In preparation for flowering the ants have started to do their thing with the buds.

Maybe you knew that ants really liked peony buds. But did you know that ants are no particularly interested in tree peonies? I find that odd. I will have to watch the Itoh peony as it gets ready to bloom. It is a cross between a tree peony and the herbaceous one.

That is about it as I sit here with my sweater and my coffee. Come by if you have a chance. Try not to look at the dandelions. I am working on them. 

Pray for peace.

Philip