End of the summer
Written by: adekun on 31 August, 2007 10:01 am - Filed under: blog — No Comments »
It has rained since Monday and looks set to continue throughout the whole of next week. After the first day, the ground was sodden and the mizo full. Overnight the rain has been particularly heavy. While the water soon drains away, the ground could do with a thorough drying out. The weather seems to go from one extreme to the other; it wouldn’t be so bad if it were every other day. As a result, the lingering green tomatoes are splitting, weeds are overrunning, and the deshima potatoes have rotted in the ground. The flipside is that the sweet potatoes and asparagus are benefiting.
Raspberry’s rescue
Written by: adekun on 25 August, 2007 11:23 pm - Filed under: blog — 3 Comments »
The allotted patch isn’t great, however it is a distance from the rest of veg. Earlier six raspberry plants were transplanted. About a tenth of the number of mosquito bites I picked up. The canes are dry and only one has some leaves, albeit limp ones. Nevertheless, they might perk up and should fare better than their cardboard box home.
Zeitaku Malt
Written by: adekun on 7:05 am - Filed under: beer review — No Comments »
Cucumber harvested
Written by: adekun on 24 August, 2007 10:08 pm - Filed under: blog — 3 Comments »
We have had a bit of rain overnight, very much nearer the beginning of the week. The seedbed holds one uneaten kohlrabi, a few beetroot shoots, and a tangle of weeds that have appeared suddenly. The cucumbers have become few and far between, I took the last three and added the vine to the freshly charged compost bin. It’s brimming with weeds at the moment. Below is possibly the pick of the crop.
I gave the patch chosen for the raspberries and digging over. It should be double dug it, but it so hot and humid (earlier today it was 35°C). I really can’t be arsed, the raspberries can’t wait until I can. After a few hours, I called it an afternoon and had a beer (it isn’t beer though).
I quite liked the idea of swapping it for a Strigil, the tool used to scrape in Roman baths.
Kento no tanjobi
Written by: adekun on 23 August, 2007 11:31 pm - Filed under: blog — 4 Comments »
A few hours before my wife’s contractions started, a yamori (house gecko) visited. They are considered to bring good things and to watch over the house. A year on and perhaps by coincidence, we had one appear at about the same time. Last year’s on the left and this year’s on the right.
In the morning Kento opened (with some help), his birthday cards and presents. He got a little excited and was sick on his Thomas The Tank Engine card, it wiped off though.
After a few photos, I had to leave, to conclude securing my first job over here. In the afternoon, I set about making a couple of chocolate sponge cakes. The whisked sponge wasn’t helped with the layer of nashi pear that was stuck on half way through cooking. The other a bit heavier, with butter, managed to rise.
When I was burning myself getting the second out of the oven, the phone rang. It was a school offering a days work. It’s been eighteen months without as much as a whiff.
Fantastic Four
Written by: adekun on 22 August, 2007 2:46 pm - Filed under: blog — 7 Comments »
Celia from purple podded peas has tagged me with the Fantastic Four Meme. The idea is five areas with four points in each. These are not in chronological/preferential order. Apologies for skimping on the detail, but this weather is pushing unbearable.
Four jobs I’ve had in my life:
- Risk Management Consultant: Formulation of strategies to manage clients exposure to energy risk.
- Brewer: Moreover, the jobs that come with it.
- Commercial Analyst: Financial appraisal of sustainable energy projects.
- Assistant Entomologist/Crop Physiologist: My work experience whilst at school. I’ve never counted so many aphids.
Four places I have lived:
- Suffolk, England.
- Suffolk, England.
- Suffolk, England.
- Tottori-ken, Japan: We are still here.
Four places I have been on holiday:
- New Zealand: Ten months touring around in a van. I met my wife Ritsue over there.
- Yucatan Peninsula: Guatemala pipped Mexico as my favourite.
- Réunion Island: I think about there often.
- Poland: The first backpacking adventure. Mostly spent in the Tatras.
Four of my favourite foods:
- Pies: Double shortcrust or else.
- Real ale: Sadly over here keg is king.
- Curry.
- Japanese food: There are a few notable exceptions.
Four places I would rather be right now:
- In the garden.
- Down the pub.
- Somewhere a little less humid.
- Anywhere but a city.
The following four are:
Istu ame ga furu
Written by: adekun on 20 August, 2007 5:41 pm - Filed under: blog — 3 Comments »
Lit: when rain fall?
It’s been above thirty degrees for weeks. Whilst the humidity has rendered me lethargic, the lack of water has turned the veg patch into parched wasteland - with a few tomatoes. The seedlings survived a week of thunderstorms, but the heat, dry earth and the herbivores has been too much for them to endure. Moreover, I’ve not seen one carrot top.
Early September should bring a change to the weather and the odd shower may offer some respite until then. Although there are plans for autumn and winter vegetables, I reckon the cauliflowers will get the drop and make room for another seed scattering.
