Rise of the Bulbs (and Tubers)

The spring bulbs are sending up their green leaves, making the garden beds look more alive.  The lake is still frozen though I hope no one is trying to traverse the ice anymore.  I think most locals would consider it foolish at this point.  The lawn is starting to green up and I have finished planting all the direct-seed (vs. raised indoors in pots) annuals in the raised beds.   This will hopefully be a great year for cosmos.  I love their long blooming season and enduring color into the fall.     

Puschkinia libanotica - A delicate looking bulb that I tried for this first time this year (planted in fall).

Eranthis hyemalis -- Probably the smallest of all my plants.  These ones could fit on a quarter.  They were planted in fall as a tuber.  Though I planted many of them, this seems to be all I got.  They are a bit finicky, requiring soaking of the tubers before planting.

Rhubarb pushing its colorful leaves out of the earth.  It keeps company with the flowers, where it is both ornamental and delicious!

Sloped perennial bed with Chionodoxa, Siberian Squill, Pulsatilla vulgaris, and large-flowered crocuses in bloom.

I'm planning on visiting my brother's place soon, where I've been given the great opportunity to go to the garden center to consider plants for his new landscape.  Can a person get any luckier than that?  My Felco #6 and garden gloves are packed and ready!  I just love it when someone asks for some "garden consulting".  I'm also planning on trying out a new iPad app (iScape) that can do digital landscaping.  It doesn't look as good as my desktop computer landscaping program (Realtime Landscaping Photo), but sometimes gardening must go mobile.  

Rhubarb: Tamarind of the Temperate World

Rhubarb is a wonderful plant, especially because it thrives even in harsh northern locations like here. If you live in Canada and can't grow rhubarb, I would say that you might have a problem!

Until a few years ago, I believed that everybody knew about rhubarb. Alas, this was untrue. We know two South African families that moved to La Ronge and got to discover rhubarb as a novel plant. We warned them about not eating the leaves, though this seemed to result in unnecessary paranoia. They wondered at the wisdom of eating only selective parts of "poisonous plants". The other family had a problem with young hoodlums grabbing the leaves off the rhubarb, playing with them, and littering the neighbourhood with them. That family ripped all the stalks and leaves off their plant, thinking they killed it. But no, the rhubarb lived on. It takes more than that to kill a rhubarb.

My rhubarb cookbook - with an introduction by the late
Canadian gardener, Lois Hole.

But back to my title. Have you tried tamarind? It is a sticky brown substance scraped out of pods of the tamarind plant and used to bring tang to such condiments as HP sauce and worcestershire sauce. I imagine the adventuresome British developed a fondness for this sour foodstuff while living in India. It is very very sour (like rhubarb) and needs sugar to sweeten it for candies or drinks, but can also be used to add a tart tang to savoury dishes. It is especially good with fish and I love tamarind chutney on East Indian dishes, especially samosas. The first time I tried tamarind chutney, I became nearly obsessed with finding out what this was and how I could make some myself! My tropical friends all knew about tamarind, of course, but I think it will take some more time and convince them about rhubarb.

Recipe for tamarind chutney:

2 Tbsp tamarind paste (can buy this from Asian grocery, or in
my case, off ebay)

5 Tbsp water

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

finely chopped cilantro leaves, to garnish

1. Place tamarind past in a large bowl. Gradually add the water, gently whisking with a fork to make a smooth, runny paste.

2. Add the chili powder and ginger to the mixture and blend. Add the salt and sugar and mix well.

3. Transfer the chutney to a serving dish, garnish with chopped fresh cilantro, and serve.

Note: It has a consistency thinner than most gravies and is quite spicy and tangy, but leaves you wanting more!