There's Always More To Be Done

A lot more has been accomplished up here beyond the Middle of Nowhere, but the end is nowhere in sight. I repeat: there’s always more to be done, especially weeding and mowing. No complaining about the rain is to be tolerated, however. It’s wonderful to see the country so green. It does make for more work, but it’s work I enjoy.

We took a half-day off to attend the Memorial Day program in Opheim. Upon our return home, he went back to seeding wheat, while I mowed the lawn. Then I thinned more catmint and tiger lilies. A lot of rhubarb was pulled, so I made a new-to-me recipe. It’s simple and delicious. I’ve eaten it straight, and also mixed with cottage cheese. (I used a sugar substitute. My option was cardamom. I also had about a pint jar full.)

Rhubarb Butter

1 # rhubarb (3-4 C), chopped

1/2 C sugar

A squeeze of fresh lemon

Optional: 1/4 tsp cardamom OR cinnamon OR seeds of 1 vanilla bean

Put rhubarb in a heavy pot. Add sugar, 2 Tbl water, & lemon juice. Stir together over heat until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat & boil gently 20-30 minutes, stirring often. Purée, & return mixture to a clean pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Let bubble until thick, about 20 minutes. Stir often. Stir in your optional item now. The longer it heats, the thicker it will get. It also thickens a bit more as it cools. Spoon into a glass jar. Let cool, then cap & refrigerate. Makes about 1 C.

After more outside time off due to rain, I managed to weed a few more sections of several rows before planting my cukes, squashes, and pumpkins. I put them at the ends of the rows, where they can spread out. Dennis returned to his wheat seeding. All this weeding is not only wearing on me, it’s worn out some of my equipment. I’ve invested in new knee pads as well as several pairs of gardening gloves.

The rain has made weeding easier: the thick areas of volunteer plants and weeds pull out in clumps. The tons of weeds that had blanketed the asparagus and rhubarb/honeyberry rows were pulled by the handfuls. Of course, once done I had to hose off my gloves, tools, and shoes. I’m glad it’s warm since well water is very cold.

Some of those volunteer flowers were simply weeded around. I left some moon flowers in place, as well as some husk cherries and love-lies-bleeding plants. The ground was simply blanketed where they’d gone to seed last fall.

There’s a lot of volunteer dill coming. It was thick in the row where I’d planted carrots. Both of those have similar fern-like tops, so I crawled alongside that row, carefully teasing out the dill. There’s also a few cilantro volunteers that I may get transferred into a row. I think that every year, but seldom manage to do it.

Some of the dill I pulled got brought into the house. I used my herb scissors to chop it into some softened butter, and added a bit of pink Himalayan salt. The dill butter is fabulous on toasted French bread. It will also be great on potatoes or rice. I think it will be great on grilled steak.

My scarlet runner beans are looking the best I’ve ever seen. The leaves are huge. They really like being on the west side of the netting-covered fence I sandwiched the pea fence with. Those peas are up, as are the glads I planted on both sides of the fence to the east of the peas.

I’m enjoying fresh radishes, chives, and green onions. Soon I’ll be making salads with Swiss chard and beet tops. I will have to reseed my leaf lettuces. Perhaps I put those seeds too deep? Maybe not deep enough and either the wind or the birds took them? Maybe they drowned from the rain? At least lettuce is a crop that pops up fast.