Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Winter that Wasn't

As if I had to tell any of you what a wonky winter we had this year.  

The daffodil flowers have already died back, the red bud trees and wild plum & cherry have been in bloom for over two weeks and the dogwoods just started flowering yesterday.  I made our first dandelion fritters a few weeks ago, the snow peas are over 2" tall and I harvested my first radish over the weekend.

And all this before Spring had officially sprung!

I wonder if we are going to pay for this wonderful, albeit strangely warm winter by being pummeled by nasty spring weather.  We managed to just miss the big storm yesterday, although I admit I was hoping for at least some rain as it would have meant that I wouldn't have to water the fruit trees.

But back to Spring.......

Rhiannon and I are going to celebrate the Vernal Equinox today in style:

We picked a basket full of dandelions this morning and we're going to have dandelion fritters with afternoon tea.  Num, num, nummy!
Wishing all of you a wonderful and fruitful Spring!

10 comments:

  1. That sounds so good! No dandelions here yet - but my chives have gone from nubbins to 3" in two days! Woot! I do hope Ma Nature gives us a break this year. I think we deserve it.

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  2. Yesterday I spotted a bazillion yellow 'petals' on the grass north of the house. My first thought was, "Man, the wind sure tore the heck out of the daffodils." But then as I got closer, I realized the dandelions had popped out overnight. ;-)

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  3. No dandelions here yet either, but my chives are equal to Susan's. I think they've grown a couple of inches in the last couple of days. Our low last night was in the low 50s. Unheard of for us in northern Minnesota at this time of year.

    Dandelion fritters? Have you posted this recipe? (Am I blind?) I'd love to try these when our multitudinous dandy lions make their appearance.

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  4. I eat the greens and make wine with the flowers, but have never made a fritter with them. It is on the must do list. Now I just need to wait for some to bloom, which could be any day in this wacky weather.

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  5. Happy Vernal Equinox to you too! :) Enjoy your tea and fritters!

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  6. Susan, Ma Nature may have given us a winter break, but looks like she's gonna pummel us with rain first days of spring!

    Charade, it is like they just pop up overnight. The we picked the front yard clean of them, then yesterday before the rains started, they were back!!

    Mama Pea, I think I posted a recipe a few weeks ago, but basically it's just a fritter batter & you pop the dandelion heads in & fry 'em up. I like mine to taste sweet so I even sprinkle them with powdered sugar.

    Jane, I was hoping to make wine with them. Have you ever posted about your wine-making (hint-hint)?

    Candy, Thank you! They were DE-licious!

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  7. CR, yes I have posts for all the wine making, and here is the post for the dandelion wine.
    http://hardworkhomestead.blogspot.com/2011/05/dandelion-wine.html
    I just sampled last years brew and it was surprisingly good. You should give it a try.

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    1. Oooo! Thanks! The dandelions are just going CRAZY and I really want to do more than fritters with them!

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  8. strange indeed! Our cherry trees and dogwoods have already started to replace their flowers with leaves!

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    1. Our dogwoods still have flowers, but just about everything else has dropped theirs.

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