Scum of the Earth, Artistically Speaking

 

Naturally occurring scum and foam form on the creek.  This one spot, above a big log jam of flotsam and jetsam, is a particular favorite.  It's constantly changing, sometimes a mat as above, of blobs and accordion folds of brown and white.  Other times like an elaborate tapestry woven of leaves and pine needles pressed between foamy warp and woof.  And then, after heavy rain breaks it apart and clears it out, more like a swirling galaxy as the raft forms again.  

I've been known to stand for extended periods meditating on this eddy of foam.  Observing the way the current moves the creamy froth, rafts crashing into other patches, gathering together like Pangaea, then breaking apart and floating out to form new continents.

The other day I spied this perfect tiny circle.  A pine needle pared the edge as the sphere of foam spun in its miniature universe. The creek is different every day and such a glorious distraction and entertainment.

This week I heard a kingfisher chatter as it flew down the corridor.  A great blue heron lumbered up out of the shallows where it was fishing, so much effort to raise that long-limbed form from a stand still, I felt bad about scaring it off.

No walk today - more crap weather. The dreaded "wintry mix" rain, snow, sleet, ick.  Cold.  It was 78 on Saturday, the plums and cherries are totally confused, beginning to open their flower buds.  Hopefully they won't get nipped.  Tomorrow more of the same.  Enough already.  I want spring!

The power was out for several hours this evening.  When it got dark we bailed and went out to supper, fortunately the juice was flowing again when we got home. We are SO dependent.

Red Alert- Tomato Emergency!

I planted extra tomatoes this year with canning in mind.  I've always made sauce and frozen it, but last year I also canned pints and quarts and they turned out so well and didn't take up freezer space so I decided I wanted to do more canning this season.  When I made that decision I didn't know it would be the wettest summer on record.  In case you didn't know, tomatoes don't really like humidity and wet weather.  What was one of the best looking tomato patches we've had in a long time; healthy, lush plants loaded with green fruit, has been turned, in the course of three very wet weeks, into this.

This batch of Red Agate romas have lost almost all of their leaves. Not pictured are the Marianna hybrid which are doing a little better but the fruit is only beginning to ripen.  Granted, the fruit set is fantastic as you can see, but the tomatoes are starting to rot before they fully ripen due to too much moisture.  So today I picked everything that was remotely red and brought it into the kitchen. I dried off and left on the counter all that looked like they would make it a few days to get redder. Look close to see the little spots that in a few days turn into black rot.

The rest I washed and processed for sauce.  I have a method that is probably not the most efficient but I like the result so I labor away.  First I remove any spots and the cores from the tomatoes, cut in chunks and put them in a big pot with some salt and cook until soft, 20 or 30 minutes.  Then I put that mixture through the food mill to remove skins and most of the seeds.  In addition, because I like my sauce to be a bit chunky, I peel and seed some of the better looking ones and chop those up.  So the result is two batches, one of chopped and one of puree.

I heat some fruity olive oil in a large heavy bottom pot, cook chopped onions and garlic until starting to soften, then add both batches of tomatoes along with about a cup of chopped fresh basil, marjoram and oregano and a bay leaf and let the whole thing simmer for at least an hour to meld the flavors and cook away some of the water. This yields a rich, thick sauce that I can freeze in baggies for winter pizza's and pasta.

The final product, burbling away

I was at this for three hours this morning between the picking, sorting, peeling, chopping, not to mention washing the dishes that mount in a process like this, but it will be worthwhile in the end.  I hope the remaining tomatoes in the garden are going to ripen up before the plants go down completely so I can actually get some into jars as I had planned.  The weather is finally turning hot and dry this week, with 90+ degree days  forecast every day  I am not looking forward to that very much, but at least we are already half way through July.

The Winter That Never Was

Its been spookily warm this year and has never really gotten very cold.  We've seen lots of 50's and 60's and the thermometer hit 70 this week. The daffodils are starting to bloom what feels like about 2 weeks early, normally they come around valentines day.  The prunus mume still has flowers after about 6 weeks of flowering, I saw cherry trees beginning to turn pink in town this afternoon. 

It is really tempting to think "that's it, spring is here" even though its only Feb 3rd.  Apparently both Punxsutawney Phil  up in Pennsylvania and Sir Walter Wally here in NC saw their shadows yesterday.  But I've never put much stock in their predictions.

Call me a geek, but I think it's interesting to study the weather records from time to time.  The record lows and highs for our area from Jan 20 through today run from the single digits all the way up into the 80's and across decades from the fifties until recently.  There was a little heat bump in 2002 with a couple of days running in the 80's and also back in 1989, but otherwise there is no real pattern.  There was also a record 17.9 inch snowfall in 2000.  So it's safe to say that the weather can be fickle in this part of the world this time of year.  Though I'm not saying I don't believe in climate change, I absolutely do.

In fact this past week the USDA changed the plant hardiness zone map for the US for the first time in 22 years.  Based on weather patterns over the last 30 years, the whole country pretty much got bumped up a notch, adding 5 degrees to the average low.  The Piedmont of NC is now zone 7b instead of 7a.

This clump of white hellebores has been going to town for about a month.  I'm used to them blooming during the cold times, but they still started a bit early I think, they are in a sunny protected spot.  It has certainly helped the vegetables to grow nicely despite the short days.

I'm tempted to toss out a few pea and lettuce seeds and see what happens.  Does the change in the hardiness zone result in a change in the last and first predicted frost dates?  I'll have to go look that up next...

Two Bodacious Loaves

I got in late last night and these lovelies were on the kitchen table to greet me!  One whole wheat with seeds, one white, both crusty and tasty, my man can sure bake some bread.

The heat wave broke yesterday with cloudy skies and today its like autumn out there, what a treat and just in time, everyone was starting to get kinda cranky about the extended period in the 90's.  Forecasters are saying it will be in the 50's the next couple of nights and I couldn't be more delighted.  We are heading out to Saxapahaw this evening for a circus performance at Paperhand Puppet, I hope it will be outside? 

The windows are thrown open and tonight we'll sleep to the sound of crickets, cicadas and hoot owls once again. 

It's the first of July and that marks the mid point of the year, heading down the other side, hoping to be more in control of the wheel for this section of the ride.