Nanking cherry, onions, geranium, loquats... for Theanne

I would like to dedicate this post to Theanne...
who at this moment, is feeling a little down...
thinking about the second year of her beloved husband's passing...
I hope this little post of the red, red cherries in Japan...
would bring over to her in Florida...
a little-little smile....

According to Wikipedia, the Nanking Cherry is also known as...
Korean cherry, Manchu cherry, Downy cherry,
Shanghai cherry, Ando cherry, Mountain cherry,
Chinese Bush cherry, Chinese Dwarf cherry, or Hansen's Bush Cherry....
Hmmm, so many names for just one fruit...

They are native to northern and western China (including Tibet),

Korea, Mongolia, and possibly northern India (Jammu and Kashmir, 

Anyway, it is quite a delicious fruit... tiny though but still, pretty...

A friend gave us 8 onions the other day...

They are big, round, fleshy...

Unlike the ones I grow... under-nourished, tiny, and skinny...

Yet, I'd like to think of my onions as being concentrated, power-packed, and full of flavor... 

I might have mentioned it before...

I just adore the flagrance of the rose geranium...

They are apparently indigenous to various parts of southern Africa,..

We sometimes use the leaves to add flavor to cookies...

This is the season for loquats... wooh hoo...

I love loquats...very much...

Their taste somewhat resemble that of the mango, I think...

We have three plants in our property...

Plus, there are lots of them growing wild in the hills...

The locals do not harvest them...

I do, and we make preserves out of them...

The Loquat is originally from southeastern China...

The fruit is high in vitamin A, dietary fiber, potassium, and manganese...

The seeds and young leaves of the plant are slightly poisonous...

We keep the seeds, dry them in the sun, and then make wine out of them...

Roots and flowers for the festive season...

Today is the Lunar New Year...
For the Japanese, it is 'setsubun no hi', translated as 'Bean Throwing Festival'...
On this day, the Japanese people eat 'norimaki' (vinegared rice rolled in seaweed), sardines, and throw beans to ward off the devil...
In more down to earth terms, it merely refers to the 'day before the beginning of spring'...
Still, on a personal level, we are very excited to see our Dovre Woodstove (partially) installed on this auspices day...
More on this later on in my other blog...

Ok, now on to the main topic...

Red turnips given to my missus by a neighbor...
They are about the size of ping-pongs, but absolutely crunchy...

We love rosemaries...
There are almost ten species in our potager...
The cutie above is Tuscan Blue...

Think this one is Mrs. Jessops... or is it Miss?
I can't take tea or coffee from the late afternoons...
Their caffeine makes me go sleepless when I should be snoring...
So, I cherish sipping a hot cup of rosemary tea in the evenings...
It soothes the mind and the soul...

Could this be 'fringed' lavendar?
They are flowering so nicely even in the deep of winter...

Japanese 'daikons' (radish) from the potager...
This is the most successful season for me with regards to this root...

My wifey Y requested me to pull them all out...
And had them washed...
After which she cut them up, length-wise...
And had them hung on a string...
We are going to make kimchi pickles out of them after they dry out...

And to close the post, a quick shot at the (common?) geranium...
We thrash them, we pull them out, we leave them on the ground, without giving any care...
Still, there are tons of them in our potager...

Flowers to chew on...

This pic shows a salad mix prepared by my suweeto-haato...
The usual stuff like peas, red turnips, onions, cucumbers...
Plus, edible flowers like the blue borage, the red nasturtium, the sinewy, beige (?) rocket, the pink geranium... and the yellow chrysanthemum...
All these (except peas and onions) were from the garden...
Tossed in olive oil, they were quite a delight for the senses...


Ages ago when I first landed in Tokyo as an airline crew, I had my first taste of 'hiya yakko'...
Cold tofu, that is... and so, a summer dish...
It shocked me, actually, to feel the cold of the curd...
But you get used to it...
Here, combined with that green stuff freshly plucked from the garden, and spruced up with sesame seeds and soy sauce... hmmm... oishikatta...


Am blessed, thinking that I can enjoy home-made bread each morning...
This one, pizza-toast, should I say?
Onions, bell peppers, shredded cheeze on wholesome bread...
Topped up with dashes of tomato sauce...
And toasted to perfection... (well, almost...)


And, one of my all time favorites...
Tomato-based spaghetti... preferably combined with seafood...
This one was meat, though... but still with some sweet basil leaves thrown in...
Wooh, equally yummy...