Midwest missed Super Moon but Rain is luscious

I was hoping to see the super moon tonight, but given our run of hot, let's say super hot weather we are currently having a monster thunderstorm. Celestially, all I can say is we are having a super lightening show and the thunder boomers are shaking the house. I am always fascinated with thunderstorms and find myself gravitating to the front porch to watch the rain and the lightening. I love the ozone freshness the air gets as the stormy coolness is added to it. The temperature gradient fluctuates so dramatically here, with air temps going from chill to dripping humidity in twenty minutes. We have been a muggy 96F (36C) for five days now and this welcome thunderstorm has cooled it to a sticky 70F...

No complaints from me though, the veg garden got a free organic watering and I have a full rain barrel. The heirloom zucchini and yellow pattypan squash have popped their first two leaves! I was a bit worried about the germination for the pattypan as those seeds were three years old and looked a bit shriveled going into the ground. The bunny nibbled parsley is coming back inside their plastic milk jug cloches. I had enough on one plant to snip a couple tablespoons for a chilled salad meal, which I will include as a recipe for this post.

Lately, I have been in awe of the lowly seed and it's amazing production of a plant and then either veg, herb or flower here in the garden. It is so easy to forget & overlook the mundane miracles that are happening all around us in the yard. Folks comment on how good a gardener you can be, but really it's all the seeds' and plants' doing. I am only an environmental custodian; adding water or fertilizer when Nature becomes unreliable, tidying up the growing bed and finally harvesting the goodies. All the plant wants to do is survive to set seeds for the next generation of it's kind. To think that for millions of years this process had been carried out mostly without the influence of humans! Double wow!

Cooking in the kitchen has been my least favorite place during this very hot and muggy weather spell. I have been making cool salad meals and avoiding any oven use. Yes, I do have a microwave and that has been busy too, but even the idea of hot food is unappealing at these temperatures. I found this recipe on Pinterest, yes, I am still hooked, and modified it some to suit our family's tastes. Again, I shop at Aldi and use their basic brands. This Chilled Asparagus Salad served over Couscous was a quick twenty minute prep.

1 1/2 C. fresh asparagus steamed & cut into 1" pieces
1-16oz. bag of frozen corn, rinsed under cold water to thaw slightly
1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
2 cloves of garlic, smashed and diced (opt.)
2 TBsp fresh parsley, chopped
Lime juice to taste
Sea salt & ground black pepper to taste
1/2 C. prepared Good Seasons Italian Salad dressing
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I did not chill the asparagus after steaming, just threw the cold corn on top of it. Adding the rest of the ingredients on top also. Mix well with a slotted spoon after pouring on the salad dressing. Prepare a 10 oz. box of Reggano Couscous. We each had a generous bowl of couscous topped with asparagus & veg. Yum.
Serves 4

Tomorrow, I am looking forward to seeing all the new plant growth the rain inspired. Weekends surely go by quick around here! Wouldn't I love to have Monday off from work to stay home and play in the garden.