I submitted my photo from the last post to the Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network as "the earliest blooming fireweed I had ever seen". Katie Spellman, one of the ecologists who manages the LEO Network and one of the liveliest researchers I know, emailed me in response that I might have made a mistake.
"... the typically prominent stigmas are missing, the corolla is too tightly packed, the four dark pink sepals are missing, the leaf joint on the stem is too sheathed... I think this is a species of Cardamine (which usually does bloom before fireweed). Those mustardy long seed pods and the color can masquerade as fireweed!"
This cluster is along our morning run route, but it's hard to make careful observations when you are trying to outrun mosquitoes! But I observed it more closely, and yes, it's sure not a fireweed! I took a better photo today, a low-mosquito day:
Here is an actual fireweed, which are just now starting to bloom, right about on time.
Look! My first columbine of the year!
It hit the peak of its beauty and then dropped its first petal in two days. Harsh life, columbine!
These will produce flowers for the first time this year. I started them from wildly hybridized seeds, so I don't know what colors I will get!
It's too hot to bake bread or boil potatoes, and sometimes even the rice pot seems to hot. Noodles are our primary starch on hot days.
From Orient to Occident. Pesto shrimp with tomatoes for the next pasta.
We hardly ever eat non-Alaskan seafood. It seems like a waste of money and climate change gases. Not to mention, Alaskan seafood is extremely tasty anyway! I mean look at those spot shrimp in the photo above! But every now and then, I do crave an ahi staek. My sister says avoiding ahi is good for avoiding mercury, too, but how tasty it is!
I got a lovely bunch of radishes from our CSA last week. I made a pseudo- do chua. It was really tasty!
The girls love our stir-fries most of all because they have so many veggies to sample--carrots, bell peppers, bok choy...
Mmmmm BOKCHOY!!
IALSOLOVEBOKCHOY!!
3 comments:
Ah the joys of summer- fresh CSA veg and local seafood - mmm delicious!; lovely flowers in bloom; very happy pups. Mosquitos don't make the list - not a joy!
When it is very hot, we eat sandwiches with salad, which is: Wash clean any raw vegi (carrots, radish, dicone, jicama, cucumber), slice, sprinkle salt, 10 minutes later, dump its salty "juice", add sugar with lemon juice (or vinegar).
French bread dipped in virgin olive oil is good for hot days, no cooking
Boil noodle, drain, mix with soy sauce and sesame oil
Green bean soup (mung bean) cooks in low heat 20 minutes without needing attention. Not during ye jing days
@e.davis: Indeed!
@mdr: Thank you for the ideas! There are some good ones amung your post. :)
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