Enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of first-time parenthood. Progress on the vegetable garden and other ramblings of a gaijin in Japan’s least populous prefecture.
I finished off sowing the seeds after breakfast. The idea was to return to it with some the best of the ailing seed potatoes in the afternoon.
A short blast of rain and a thunderstorm later put an end to that. The downpours only lasted five and fifteen minutes, the first being a bit of a concern. Although most of the rain was carried away by the mizo (ditch), a couple of pools appeared. It was the second that really did it, it’s not that there is a drainage problem, but the volume of water in such a short space of time.
The deluge had the seedbeds awash. Quite a current flowed over the top and toward the asparagus. At least I haven’t got to worry about those drying up. If you squint, you can just see the markers jutting above the waterline. I’m pleased with how the trenches carry the water away. The downside is that I shall probably have a couple of sessions on my hands and knees, pulling weeds, since they and any seeds get deposited in the place that must be kept weed free.
Today was another early start, Kento waking at six again. After watching the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony, I set about sowing some of the seeds I bought over the weekend. Most of the translating was done once back.
From left to right:
- Spinach, orai (all right) a hybrid produced in Denmark
- Kohlrabi, Grand Duke from Italy*
- Beetroot, a Detroit variety, surprisingly produced here
- Carrot, shinkuroda (new dark?) from South Africa
One of many reasons why seed exchanges are proving so popular. Funny how the exotic Japanese varieties are grown overseas.
Typhoon Usagi weakened into a tropical storm and gave the garden a good watering instead of a battering. Thunderstorms and 30°C+ temperatures are forecast everyday for the next week. We have just had a quick blast of rain, so I’m hoping this pattern continues and the seeds get off to a decent start.
*The white sticker says something like along the line of “sorry if they don’t germinate”.
The garlic along with the onions has been hanging around outside to cure. Yesterday the remaining garlic was checked, cleaned and boxed. There was a spell of exceptionally humid weather which got to a couple of cloves; it could be they were bruised. A few of the onions which were a little soft on the outside previously, have since dried out.
Of the four Aomori garlic heads harvested, this one front right, is quite small comparatively, about the size of a small onion and strangely spherical. Behind, a regular head, sans a mouldy clove and a tiny Kabocha pumpkin my wife was given.
Peeling back the paper, there is just the one clove, somewhat bigger than a golf ball. I guess it could of done with another month in the ground.
I noticed that I had pushed the minimal watering regime a little too far, the leaves of the sweet potatoes were drooping and some of those on the tomatoes plants were browning. A check into the soil confirmed this. Typhoon Usagi (rabbit) is predicted to pass tomorrow afternoon. It appears to be gaining momentum. Although the rain would be welcome, I expect the tomatoes and cucumbers will suffer the same early conclusion as last year.
Last year I cobbled together a reasonable sized compost bin out of old wood. The sides were made from some reed blinds destined for the city incinerator. Sadly over the past year my toil has been turning into compost. With the help of a few unhandy spade jabs, probably a lot faster than the contents.
I always thought you can never have enough compost; fortunately my neighbour has and offered me some. It seemed like a good time to reuse and recycle – again.
There was some leftover wood from when the mother-in-law commissioned the sister-in-laws fiancé to replace the tatami floor with wood, whilst we were away. I rather very much liked it before. The scrap was soon to be collected for the dump.
A day was spent the previous week, savaging, sawing and hammering. Without any long nails, an hour was taken to straighten and sharpen some old rusty ones.
The slide-up front panels are some old sliding cupboard doors, butchered to fit. As luck would have it there where five 40 litre bags of weeds, ready to go into the left bin. The compost I took went into the one on the right. No work of art, it didn’t cost anything and I’m very pleased with it.
