Life Giving Rain

We’ve finally had a wonderful transfusion of rain to bring life back to our parched land. It’s wonderful to see the prairies and pastures turning green again. I was so tired of the many depressing shades of brown/tan/burnt umber the landscape had been showing us. We’re able to report rainfall in tenths of an inch instead of hundredths.

I can’t tell you how much we actually received because those not-so-wonderful winds I’ve whined about had blown a blade of dead grass into our gauge. It slithered through the screening that’s supposed to keep things out, and was keeping the flapper from opening to let the rain in. Dennis is guessing we had at least a tenth of an inch that wasn’t recorded, but there’s really no way to know for sure. We are, however, well over an inch for the month - so far. More rain would not hurt our feelings - as long as it arrives wet and not white.

A friend had been wondering how many gallons of water an inch of rain would be for the county, should we all get that much at the same time. Dennis looked it up: that inch of rain on one acre would be 27,154 gallons. There are 3.24 million acres in Valley County, which I looked up on Google. My phone’s calculator doesn’t have room to show that many zeros and my brain fizzled at the idea. So I multiplied that 27,154 gallons by our roughly 6,000 acres for a total of 162,924,000 gallons of water just for us. The county would be billions of gallons.

Right before those gallons of water came down, I managed to get my two pea fences put up. And I did that without tripping over the wires and falling on my rear. The five fence posts I’d removed so I could get the garden tractor in and till the ground are also back in place. Eventually I’ll get the wiring for the solar-powered electric fence back in place. All my gladioli bulbs, as well as some other bulbs that will need to be dug before next winter, were planted along the outside edges of those fences. The peas were planted on the inside edges. Later I’ll enclose the peas with netting to keep the birds from stealing my crop. Sharp-tails love peas and will stomp the vines down while pecking the pods open. They’re very destructive that way.

Dennis swears he saw an oriole fly through the yard early last week. I cannot confirm his sighting. I took his word for it and put out the oriole feeder. It holds a cut orange and a small cup of grape jelly. Those seem to be the orioles’ preferred feed. The rain, of course, has watered down the jelly, but it’s kept the orange from drying up. I’m still not seeing great numbers of goldfinches. Their thistle feeders aren’t in need of refilling yet.

I have enjoyed a big serving of my own asparagus. I rinsed it and chopped the spears into bite-sized pieces. A bit of olive oil was drizzled over it, then a couple slices of fresh lemon were squeezed over it in a casserole dish. Then I added a bunch of freshly chopped chives, and roasted it at 400° for about 10 minutes, with one stirring halfway through. It’s so good.

While it was still chilly, and we were seeding the wheat crop, I was hauling the noon meals to the fields. This is one new dish that will stay in my rotation. It’s even compliant for my Whole Life Challenge nutritional guidelines. It’s tasty and easy to make, which is always a plus. If you aren’t into quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), you could serve it over crushed taco chips or rice.

Beef Taco Quinoa Bowl

1 C quinoa

1/4 tsp salt

Water

3/4 # ground beef

1/2 C chopped onion

1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes

Taco seasoning

1/4 C water

1/2 C shredded Mexican cheese

Shredded lettuce

Sour cream, optional

Cook the quinoa with the salt, in water, according to package directions. While it simmers, brown the beef with the onion. Stir in the tomatoes, taco seasoning (to taste), and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer 5 minutes. Divide the quinoa into 4 serving bowls. Top with the meat mixture. Serve with cheese, lettuce, and sour cream, if desired.

I also made a beef roast so I’d have leftover meat to slice for sandwiches. Dennis has to make do with cold suppers - a sandwich, some fresh fruit (usually a peeled and sectioned clementine), a small container of nuts (cashews or shelled pistachios), and a sweet (cookies, candy, Rice Krispie bar), with a drink of some sort. He has a plug-in cooler, which I load up and deliver with the noon meal. That way I usually have my afternoons free so I can do my gardening. It works well except for the occasional equipment malfunction. I’ll have my cell phone handy (usually listening to an audio book with earphones), as well as the cordless landline phone clipped to the back of my waist. Have to stay available in case I’m needed.

Slow Cooked Roast

Rub: 1 tsp pepper, 2 tsp oregano, 2 tsp basil, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp cumin, 1 Tbl garlic powder, 1 Tbl onion powder, & 2 tsp salt. Mix together.

Use a 2-3 # roast. Let come to room temperature (30 minutes). Rub all over with 1 Tbl EVOO, then massage in the rub mixture. Heat oven to 250°. Brown the roast on all sides in another Tbl EVOO in a skillet. Put browned roast on a wire rack in a roasting pan. Cook 1 hour 20 minutes, or to internal temperature of 115°. Turn off oven, do not open door, and leave in for another 40 minutes (internal temp 130°). Remove from oven, cover loosely with foil, let rest 15 minutes before slicing. (You could put sliced onions in the roaster under the wire rack for caramelized onions with your roast.)