The compost pile is not photogenic. The temperature is about 15 Celsius which is about 60 Fahrenheit. This compost is alive in April in southern Minnesota. There is never enough compost, even if your neighbors contribute. Compost is a band aid for the planet. #minnesota, #compost, #compostodon.
April 3, 2024. The native Prairie Smoke plants are waking up. This small clump is heavy with nodding and closed blooms. The evening sun is from the left giving the scene more color. #nativeplants, #minnesota, #Bloomscrolling.
Some lovely snow cover on March 24th and 25th. The ground was bare and dry most of the winter season. Southern Minnesota had the hottest winter on record. So many locations experienced the same problem. Climate change is busy. #minnesota, #ClimateDiary, #nodig, #garlic.
The mysterious cubes are part of the noon meal. They were fermented lentil broth for three days so they have tangy flavors of hard cheese. This is our first home made Burmese style tofu. We will make this again. Thanks to San Francisco and Singapore for ideas about lentil tofu. #fermentation, #minnesota, #burmesetofu, #vegetarian.
March 13th, 2024. The first crocus blooms are a month ahead. This is a lovely crocus family ready to feed the pollinators. #minnesota, #zone4b, #pollinators.
It’s February 17th. The 2023 garlic crop is processed. We have about 4,600 grams of garlic in the crock with 92 grams of kosher salt. This will ferment on the countertop for several weeks. Fermented garlic is treasure for cooking and making other ferments. #growyouown, #garlic, #fermentation, #kimchi, #rempah, #sambal, #minnesota, #zone4b, #nodig.
It’s a January 6 salsify harvest. Which will be a January 7 roasted salsify meal with tomato Kasundi sauce. We will eat like there is no frost in the ground for the jet stream is broken. #growyourown, #minnesota, #Zone4b, #salsify, #ClimateDiary, #kasundi
You are right @Pollinators the two seas have a moderating effect in Schleswig-Holstein (the northernmost state of Germany).
However, unlike e.g. Italy there are no mountains stopping cold polar winds getting down here. So usually it's not that cold, but with the right winds we got down to -15°C (5F) a few days ago. The lowest temperature in the greenhouse in recent days was -7°C (19F). During the day it heated up to 10°C (50F).
And that is the tricky part for the plants. Just a week ago we had 10°C (50F) outside. There is no consistent cold winter temperature any more. With 10 or even 15°C (50-59F) sometimes in January/February, plants start shooting and get killed by -10°C in March/April.
So in some way our growing zone became milder like yours, but the cold snaps are the tricky part. #ClimateDiary
Tomato Kasundi is on my mind. Thank you Ganga in Australia. We made seven quarts this morning. It’s tasty right now and will get tastier. We will see how well it ages in the fridge with the vinegar and the mustard spice. The tomatoes are very happy to be introduced to their new friends. #growyourown, #minnesota, #nodig, #tomato, #kasundi
The American chestnut tree was a huge part of the east coast forest system. And then chestnut blight arrived killing the trees. #DunstanChestnut trees are an attempt to reintroduce the trees. We planted several on the advice of the nursery. This photo is the healthiest tree. This young tree has many chestnuts. There must have been piles of chestnuts under a mature tree. #rewilding, #Minnesota, #Zone4b, #NativePlants, #GrowYourOwn, #Chestnut, #Pollinators, #PunkTrees.