WATERLILY IN PINK

Had always wanted a water feature in my garden...

The lilies bloom only in the mornings and early afternoon...

The same flower blooms for about three days or so before they wilt...

STRAWBERRIES

Ok, the strawberry season is finished...

But, had been enjoying these super-red stuff for quite a while...

Heavenly...

Coming up next, blueberries...

Heeeeaaa...

GOOD TO SEE, NOT SO GOOD TO EAT

One day, a neighbor gave us these stuff...

The Japanese name is gumi... (English name: cherry elaeagnus)

They are the size of large grapes, hence the name, bikkuri gumi (literally, 'Surprised cherry')

They looked very delicious, but looks do tell lies...

The taste was sweet and sourish, but most of all, sappy...

In other words, not too good to eat...

As they say, 'for your eyes only'...

By the way, I had previously bought a seedling of the bikkuri gumi...

Guess I shall reserve the fruits for the birds...

BERRIES FOR THE TABLE

Been picking some berries for the morning breakfast table...

Homegrown berries, that is...

Strawberries... mulberries... and sakura berries...

The strawberries are succulent and sweet...

Mulberries are somewhat light in flavor...

But the sakura berries are bitterish yet juicy...

Am looking forward to sinking my teeth on the blueberries soon...

GOLDFISH IN THE POND

Last weekend, decided to buy some goldfishes...

Went to the local DIY and bought three Ko-aka goldfish... literally 'Little Red' goldfish...

Size... about 4 centimeters from head to tail...

Had planned to get the fast swimming, elegant Comet or the pretty but hardy Shubunkin...

But chose the Ko-aka because they were the cheapest (ahahaahaaa... Lrong the el-cheapo!)...

The water in the pond was rather cool, so I took time to orientate them to the temperature before releasing them into the water...

They seemed so thrilled... darting and swimming around the pond...

Wooh... another aspect of joy to look forward to each day...

Meanwhile, the water in the unlined pond is getting clearer...

Initially the color of milk tea, we now have what looks a bit like 'lemonade'...

In other words, the pond is becoming more translucent and pretty (?)

The tadpoles are becoming fatter...

I feed them nothing, so they must be consuming some minute organisms that found their way into the pond...

I had added in a patch of water plants and the baby kermits seem to enjoy chewing on the moss that gathers around the plant leaves...

Yeeeee...

TADPOLES IN THE POND

Yeap, tadpoles, countless of them... in the pond...

And it had to be our neighbor to discover that for us...heeeh...

The creatures are still very minute... visible only with concentration in the rather light-chocolate colored pond...

Had been wondering why the croaking suddenly stopped some nights ago...

Nature apparently had it planned all along...

Like the nasturtiums wilting away once they flowered and seeded, the frogs stopped their love-croaking once they goaled-in with each other...

They is no further need to waste energy crooning in the dark...

Smart, eh...

By the way, to keep the nasturtiums flowering, we pick the flowers for our salads...

They look marvelous sitting on the greens and they taste pretty good too, I must say...

FROGS IN THE POND

Wheeeee... finally got the pond dug up...

But, should I or should I not line the pond...

That is the question...

Bought a water lily plant...

Looks perfect on the pond, I must say...

Plan to germinate some lotus seeds, too...

The rains keep on falling these days...

Like the green frogs who found paradise in the pond

I love the rain...

Why not... being a farmer's son myself...

Meanwhile...

The frogs croak on nightly... as I snore away...

CROP ROTATION

Spent a few blissful days tending the garden...

My 'suweeto-haato' is into roses and herbs... fragrances and colors...

Yours truly is more of a 'cookie monster', delving into 'chewables' like vegetables and fruits...

Just added two mulberry trees to my fruit tree collection...

The mulberries are sweet and sourish... goes very well with my daily breakfast yoghurt...

But still, my gardening failures overwhelm my successes...

Least of all excuses are the 'spoilers' such as slugs, caterpillars, aphids, and cutworms that completely 'cut' off the seedling trunks...

Grrrrr....

Whenever I got hold of any cutworm, I feed them to the ants and watch them wriggle in agony as the ants take them on... * evil, evil Lrong... heh heh heh *

Shall try to up my success rate this season... so, I am experimenting with crop rotation hoping to reduce the likelihood of diseases...

First, 'sliced' up my mini vegetable plot into six segments, labeled CCPPST...

Now, how to remember this strange label...

Anyway... they represent 'families' of Carrots, Cabbage, Peas, Perennials, Squash, and Tomatoes...

Each season, the Carrots, Cabbage, Peas, Squash, and Tomatoes rotate around the plot segments...

Carrots click well with 'companions' such as onions, chives, leeks, etc, which help to ward off carrot pests...

The cabbage clan includes stuff like turnips, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and they nurture well with dill, fennel, etc...

Peas such as snow peas or soybeans may be planted with potatoes or sweet potatoes... peas and beans are soil-builders or 'enrichers' as opposed to tomatoes and peppers, which are more like nutrient 'guzzlers'...

The Squash family consists of folks like zucchinis, melons, and cucumbers... they are to be planted with corn, which allows long beans to cling on to their trunks... together, the squash, corn, and beans form the 'three sisters'...

Tomatoes tango well with cousins like eggplants, peppers, and chilies as they are prone to the same diseases... their best 'companion-friend' is the basil, which helps to repel unwanted pests...

For my Perennials... strawberries, asparagus, borage, thyme, etc...

Uncovered soil invites weeds... so I may sow seeds of marigold, zinnias, and calendulas to accompany the edibles... or, perhaps even some leafy vegetable seeds to fill up the open spaces...

This mixing of vegetables, herbs, and flowers technique is called companion planting, which ostensibly confuses pests, thus further suppressing damage to the plants...

Now, after a few moons, let's see how (un)successful the vegetable plot is...

WILD SAKURAS

The hay fever season is not over for me as yet...

For the past few days, my nose was (and still is) blocked up much like the traffic jams during the golden week holidays...

Poooh... kurushii... (torturous)

This picture of the wild, hill sakuras was taken in mid April...

I continually thank my lucky stars that these scenes can be enjoyed from my 'strategically located' garden...

WHITE PLUM FLOWERS

Before the advent of the sakuras...

The plum flowers take the center stage...

There are three plum trees in the garden...

Two white and one red...

See related story here...