Flowers... of plum, pear, rocket, peas

Glorious flowers from a neighbor's plum (peach) tree protrudes into our potager...
For me, this must be one of the prettiest plum (peach) blooms I have ever seen...
Rich colors, perfectly (almost) shaped petals...

On the other side of the fence comes our very own plum (peach) blooms...
I am so intrigued by their varying shapes and colors...

Our pear trees are flowering again this year...
I think this specimen is called 豊水 literally, 'Abundant Water'...
It supposedly has a tinge of sourness in its taste...

Similarly, I imagine this specimen to be 幸水 literally, 'Happiness Water'...
The staminate (male flower) is a little reddish and the shape of the petals, different...
Apparently, they taste sweeter compared to the specimen above...

The rocket that we have remained thin as we harvested them...
I have always marvelled at the shape of their flowers...
Besides their cross-shape, just look at how pretty their veins are...

We tried three types of peas last year...
'Snow field' peas, green peas, and snap peas...
My suweeto haaato tasted them all...
After which, she 'summoned' me to narrow down to just snap peas...
She says this caption looks quite scary for her while I think it looks somewhat cute...

Actually took this wild grape shot last season...
Their buds are now sprouting and I hope to harvest them in autumn...
Am I counting my chickens?

Grape juice is what I make them out to be...

I am dedicating this post to Theanne, who graciously spiced up my humble blog with this... I am really honored.... thanks Theanne!

Sakuras, roots, and greens...

Yes, the sakuras in our property are blooming...
This one is what is called Oshima sakura...
their petals are known to be white...

My favorite is the willowy 'shidare' sakura...
The flowers are pretty, but it is the buds that really fascinate me...
See that bud on the left? With the 'tongue'?
It was moving right when I was photographing it...

The somei-yoshino sakura is used as the 'standard' to record the start of the blooms...
It is said that more than 80% of all sakura trees in Japan belong to this specie...
This specie was developed at the end of the Edo period (about early to mid 1800s)...
Flowers of the somei yoshino are reputed to be very pretty compared to other species...
Readers can see the whole somei yoshino tree in our property here...

My missus bought this cutie from the store...
Looked it up and found out its name... Saxifraga rosacea or Irish Saxifrage?
Don't know much about this plant as yet...

Carrots, we have a-plenty-plenty this season...
They are absolutely crunchy and sweet...
Been chewing on them for many, many moons already...

Our radishes did not do too badly this time...
I normally ask my suweeto-haato to cook them with tofu for me...
One of my favorite dishes, I must say...

The way to prepare this dish is actually very simple...
Slice radish into thin stripes
Prepare a little garlic
Cut tofu into bit size

Apply sesame oil on pot
Put on low heat and fry garlic
When garlic flavor comes around, put in radish...
Increase fire to medium
Water will ooze out from the radish as it cooks...
Add a little salt to taste
Put in tofu
When radish turns translucent, it is ready...

Two years ago, got a few pieces of Jerusalem artichoke tubers from a neighbor...
We had wanted to grow them for their flowers...
Think they belong to the sunflower family...
They are yellow and equally pretty, yet smaller and easier to handle...
Their tubers are edible and they taste not too bad...
We harvested a pail-full of them this season...

And the parting shot for this post is...
One of favorite greens...
The locals call them 'mamba'...
Well, let us just say that it is a Japanese mustard green...
They have a slight, faint, bitter taste to it...
And I am quite hooked on it...