We've had some strange weather since spring began. A couple of weeks in March were actually quite mild and I got an early start in the garden. That was a good thing because I had to dig up a rose bush that had died. I cut it down last autumn with the intention of digging up the entire plant in March, right after the ground had thawed. That turned out to be a good idea, because the earth was actually quite muddy and it was easy to dig down with a shovel to find the roots. However, it was no easy task getting the roots up; the bush has been there for many years, apparently, and the roots had spread out widely. My husband got a hold of a crowbar and he got up most of the roots for me. But we couldn't get them all up. Luckily, the bush is dead so it won't be growing underground and sprouting up new stems here and there as it had been doing the past several years. None of those new stems survived for very long. The bush itself had become infested with aphids over the past several years, and even though I kept the infestation in check, I think it weakened and sensitized the plant for other types of attack, such as from parasitic mushrooms that appeared during the autumn, at which point I knew it was 'game over'.
April was another month with two weeks of warm temperatures followed by cold temperatures, but not freezing. I started most of the plants I wanted to plant outdoors as seeds in the greenhouse, and I planted the seed potatoes outdoors since it takes at least a month for them to begin to germinate. I also planted the gladiola corms outdoors at the same time, since it takes a month for them to begin to germinate. Pumpkins, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, and string beans (from seeds) were on the planting list this year. All of them grew well from seeds in the greenhouse and are now planted outdoors except for the tomatoes which need a bit more time in the greenhouse so that they can grow taller. The giant-type sunflowers, pot marigolds, rose mallows, and cornflowers that I also started from seeds are now planted outdoors as well.
May has been mild for the most part, with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees during the day and 50 degrees at night. But it has been a very dry month with very little rain, so that Oslo is experiencing a drought (not entirely due to lack of rainfall, but still). But luckily there is rain in the forecast for the next two weeks, so the garden should benefit from the predicted rainfall.
I bought two new lavender plants to replace two that had died, and got some new perennials from my garden neighbor Urzsula. She has given me a plant called 'brennende kjærlighet' (translated to burning love in English). It is also called the Maltese-cross, scarlet lychnis or Jerusalem cross in English. It produces big red balls of flowers, so it should be a nice addition to my garden. I also received a yellow iris from her and some large yellow loosestrife which is beautiful when it flowers. Other new additions to the garden are 'jordskokk' bulbs planted near the fence; they are called Jerusalem artichokes in English, but taste nothing like artichokes. I got about three pounds of them from another garden neighbor, Embla, and I planted some and made soup with the rest. The soup was excellent so I will definitely make it again. Jordskokk look like this (image from Jordskokk | Bama):
You peel them as you would potatoes and then boil them until they become soft enough to mash. If you are making soup you can use an immersion blender to puree them in the pot. Here is a good recipe for jordskokk soup if you are interested.
Jerusalem artichoke soup with bacon (Kremet jordskokksuppe med sprø bacon | Oppskrift | Meny.no)
Needed (for 3 people)
- 525 g Jerusalem artichokes
- 3 dl chicken broth
- 3 dl whipping cream (or heavy cream)
- 75 g dry salted bacon
- 0.75 tablespoons butter
- 0.75 tart apple
- 1.5 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- pepper
- salt
- Peel the vegetables and cut them into cubes. Put them in a saucepan and cover with broth and cream. Cook until they are tender.
- Cut the bacon and apple into cubes. Fry the bacon cubes in butter until golden. Put the apple cubes in the pan and remove the pan from the heat. Add parsley.
- Blend the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve the soup in deep bowls and top with bacon and apple mixture.
The jordskokk flowers above ground are yellow, grow profusely and quite high; they also have a tendency to spread out, so keeping them in check is part of gardening work. Here is how they look when the flowers are blooming (image from Sunchokes - Bi-O)
My wisteria plant is doing very well. I planted it two years ago along the fence and it has taken off and actually has quite a lot of gorgeous, spicy-scented flowers this year. I love wisteria, but from what I've read online about it, it is another plant that must be 'held in check', otherwise it will spread out and just keep expanding. The magnolia tree has also bloomed again, and this year I bought a cherry tree and planted it in the spot where the rose bush was. It too has settled in to its new home and has in fact bloomed, although I don't think we'll get cherries (the tart kind) this year. We'll see. I was happy to see that the two forsythia bushes that I planted along the fence also bloomed; forsythia is another favorite plant of mine--lovely cheery yellow flowers in the spring. I also planted a new lilac bush near the cherry tree. I'm guessing that in a few years I'll have to transplant it as it grows and expands, but for now it's happy where it is.
It's nice to be part of a community allotment garden. I enjoy talking to my garden neighbors, but more importantly, we share plants and seeds with each other and water each other's gardens when one of us is on vacation. The neighborliness and generosity are worth gold.
In my next post I'll include some recent photos that I've taken of the garden.
