the rain finally came, with roaring thunder that woke me up a couple hours after falling asleep early in the morning. i was still glad, the temperature dropped considerably and the air is amazingly fresh. i'm sure the garden feels as relieved as i do.
we have a new aquilegia, planted last year, today its first flower opened. i think it's a 'nora barlow' because it's so tall. i don't know what happened to my japanese columbines, but i'm hopeful that they'll emerge from somewhere. they were so tiny and delicate, maybe they weren't hardy enough. the peonies are taking their sweet time in the bud, they've grown so lanky i'll have to re-prop them already.
asparagus had also sprouted into overgrown lengths, but that didn't stop me from using the stalks for broth. i had no onions or garlic, but not to worry, there's chives in the garden and ramsons in the woods. while gathering them, i picked along some nettles, oregano and fireweed, then i had to run from the ferocious and abundant mosquitoes. i've already been inoculated enough for the coming summer months.
i boiled everything with ginger slices and lemon juice, and added sweet miso and salt afterwards, but somehow it tasted like nothing. then i remembered my dried porcini, and crumpled some in. they were great, but it was probably the fireweed that messed with my taste buds. i've never been a fan, but the leaves are packed with vitamin c and whatnot, and it's basically a weed, so i've felt obliged to eat them. from now on i'll stick to drying them only.
i've got the fungus fever, and this rain is making it worse... i hear the rustling of the shaggy inkcaps underground already.
