It's Blooming!

Something made me wake up at 12:01 am and venture downstairs to check on the Hookeri, and It's Blooming!
It feels like having a small child that you need to keep checking on. I woke up several times during the night and checked to see if it was still there--DUH! While awake I started wondering again what had made it bloom for only the second time ever, and I think I may now have a clue. This year we transplanted the plant into a much larger pot and it grew quite a bit over the summer. It may just be that the last time we transplanted it was the last time it bloomed. We'll have to see what happens next year. In any case, there should be another bloom, possibly two tonight and the final one tomorrow or Sunday. It would be great if more than one flower bloomed at once, but I don't know if that can happen.

---still waiting...and Mustard Greens

It might just be the next new moon before the Hookeri flowers. It grows at least an inch a day, so it has to be getting close, but still no flowers. Since we know it blooms at night we even check in the middle of the night so we don't somehow miss the big event!
Mustard Greens: Last week and this week amongst the bounty in our CSA share has been a healthy dose of Mustard Greens. This is another of those things that wasn't on our plates growing up, so I'm learning how to use them in unique and different ways, other than just mixing in with salad. They are actually quite beautiful and would look pretty in a floral arrangement, but I want to eat them, so I won't put them in a vase. In my hunt across the Internet, I came across this recipe for a Tepary Bean and Mustard Green Relish on Gluten A Go Go Blog. I also found this recipe for Red Beet Risotto with Mustard Greens and Goat Cheese on Epicurious.com. Yum! Another idea I had was to do my favorite hot bacon mustard dressing and make a salad using the greens instead of spinach...add some almonds, hard boiled eggs, red onions and homemade croutons and Voila--Dinner!

still waiting

As of today, still no Hookeri flowers. The stems the buds will come out on have doubled in size but we appear to be more on schedule for flowering in another few days. We reluctantly took in the plant because the nights are getting so cold, but we were concerned that would mess it up, but that doesn't appear to be the case. We're hoping it will bloom over the weekend...maybe Tuesday for my birthday!
Here's what they look like now. Check back soon for a progress update...