Sakuras 2013 in full bloom...

The 'amateur-farmer' in me had been rather (foolishly, I'd add) unconcerned with the significance of the frost dates in the region...

So it was quite a wake-up call for me as I finally come to my senses, taking note of the frost warning on 19th April... 

Yes, frost on 19th April for a location that falls under USDA Zone 9...

Now, I have to keep this date in mind for my future seed germination plans and planting schedules...

Anyway this year, we are blessed once again, with the sakura blooms in our garden...

The above shot is that of the 'shidare' sakura, my favorite...

Another shot of the 'shidare'....

Ok, I placed the photos in reverse order... this shot shows the 'shidare' as they began to bloom.... their colors are deeper at this beginning stage...

This specimen is the 'somei yoshino', which is used as the 'standard bearer' to denote the blooming dates throughout Japan...

The 'somei yoshino' tree, in portrait style... 

Another angle of the 'somei yoshino'...

The 'somei yoshino' and our house, shot from a distance... 

For more pictures of the sakuras in the neighborhood and the hills, please see here....

Shidare and Oshima sakuras...

 

Thought I'd post these pics before they turn 'stale' now that the sakura season has ended here in Takamatsu...

This is one of my favorite sakuras... the Shidare-sakura...

It has a clear pink tinge to it, and the flowers are multi-layered... 

The Oshima sakura is single layered, and is comparatively whitish...

This tree that we have is actually just about a meter high...

It is perhaps a bit like an oversized 'bonsai'?

Their buds are also something to look at... 

And I understand that their young leaves are favored by the Japanese folks as a wrap for a sweet called 'sakura mochi'... reason is, the leaves of the Oshima sakura are quite fragrant, and they look really beautiful... don't you think so too?

PS: for a wide-angle view of the sakuras in our property, see here...

Mountain sakura a-blooming...

Good morning from Calgary, Canada...
Am now here, visiting the University of Calgary for some business...
The temperature is minus one degree... not too bad although it snowed two days ago...

Anyway, before leaving home last Sunday (25th), had the privilege to enjoy viewing the blooms of our 山桜 Yamazakura or literally, Mountain Sakura or Wild Sakura, if you like...

'Mountain' or 'Wild' in that, they grow 'naturally' on their own accord along the lower end of the slopes of our property...
There are three yamazakuras at our place, and this one is the first to bloom...

The flower is no doubt, pretty, but for me, the pink shades of the bud waiting to bloom, is perhaps somewhat more 'titillating' to the senses... no?

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...

Gales on the 1st of January 2011

Looking at the picture above, I can't wait for spring to come...

It was taken one morning in the spring (April) of 2010...

Was returning from a morning walk with my missus in the hills...

And was carrying a gunny-sack of dried leaves to mulch the plots...

The sakura trees in the background are 'natural'...

They offer a beautiful view for us each year...

Today was very windy with a low of 2 degrees and a high of 6...

Went down to the slopes to check out my cauliflower plants...

Arrgh...five cabbage worms were feeding on the cauliflower head...

The tomato plants are still going strong...

Wonder why the crows are not eating them... hehehee...

Planted my potatoes late in October last year...

Due to my returning home to Malaysia, I had missed buying the potato seeds...

A neighbor had offered to give me some of the smaller potatoes he had harvested from the spring season...

Although we know that 'spring' potatoes do not grow that well in autumn, I accepted his offer...

Some of the plants were drying up, and I did not want to risk them being eaten by racoons...

So, with nose a-running in the winds, I harvested them today...

Very nice looking indeed...
They weigh about 5.4 kilograms... not too bad...

Sakuras a-blooming

Sakura blooms normally last about a week.
This year, due to the rather unusual cold and rainy weather, it was reported that blooms stayed on for up to 15 days.
The sakura tree in our compound normally begins to bloom a few days 'late'.
So we get the pleasure of seeing the flowers even after the other sakura trees shed their petals.
This last weekend, we took a walk in the woods on the east side of our house.
It was actually the first time for me to walk over there.
And the view of the sakura tree and our house from there was quite magnificent, I must say...

We paused for a while to enjoy a view of the hamlet...

Kites (top right) are very common here.

Was 'lucky' to see two of them copulating just meters away from my vegetable garden the other day.

It was over in perhaps 30 seconds. 

Meanwhile, planted black soy bean seeds, sweet corn seeds, and sponge gourd seeds. 

Some of the seeds I planted last week are already sprouting... wooh...

Spring gardening...

Once again this year, the Somei-Yoshino sakura tree in our garden did not disappoint.
I have to thank again the previous house owner for planting this ornament almost three decades ago for our enjoyment.

Been spending almost all my 'free' time on gardening... as usual...
Am growing quite a range of vegetables in my patch... sweet potatoes, corn, carrot, onions, okra, buckwheat, various types of leafy greens, potatoes, peanuts (all but one seed was eaten by birds), pumpkin, cucumber, eggplant, bitter gourd, peppers, many strains of chilies (jalapeno, habanero, etc...), tomatoes, various types of beans...

Am immersing myself deeper into 'companion' planting... hence, calendula, dill, coriander, marigold, sunflower, nasturtium, lemon balm, different types of mint, borage, several types of basil, bachelor button, rue, sage, thyme, and some others that are skipping my mind at the moment...

Also in the process of making an 'inventory' of the plants and trees in our garden...
The list is still unfinished but wooh, think it is going to be quite a long list...

Meantime, am enjoying the lavender flowers in the herb patch manned by my missus... the bees seem to love the flowers too...

FLOWERS OFF THE GARDEN 2

The so-called 'sakura-zensen' or sakura-front is advancing towards north Japan...

Where I live, the petals have almost all fallen off at this point in time...

What's left are some sweet memories and some images taken of the 2007 spring blooms...


This pic of the 'jewel' was taken from a low angle... the previous pic was bit too dark... so, this is sort of a 'revenge' pic...


Yours truly taking a break from working the soil... as can be observed, the sakura tree trunk is quite immense... woaaahh...


Another angle of the same 'jewel'... taken in the early morning hours when the sun was just beginning to smile... at the background are terraced padi fields... they look pretty in any season...


These are yama-zakuras... hill or wild sakuras, if you like... pic was taken from the newly-built sun-deck... I could lay for hours, just gazing at these glorious hillsides...


The house with the red-tiled roof... pic taken from high up the hill slopes... sakuras at foreground are wild ones while the partially hidden 'jewel' is just to the right side of the house...

FLOWERS OFF THE GARDEN

Spring is such a lovely time to be in the garden...

Besides rolling on the soil and making a mess out of myself, I sometimes take time off for some little pleasures in talking to the flowers...


This is a close up of Oshima Sakura... the tree is like a large bonsai sitting in my garden... its fruits are like black cherries... taste kind of bitter sweet... and the color of the juice is deep purple...


We gaze at this lovely Shidare Sakura tree each morning when we have breakfast... little robins and nightingales come around to suck nectar off the flowers... characteristic of the shidare is its willowy flowers...


These are peach flowers... we only get to enjoy the flowers but not the fruits as they need at least two trees to cross-pollinate... may look for Ms. Peach to pair up with this guy...


These flowers come from a pear seedling that we just bought... obviously we will not get to see any fruit as the other pear seedling came flowerless... maybe we can sink our fangs into the fruits in three years' time (alreadea counting my chickens)...


This specimen comes from the Somei-Yoshino Sakura tree a.k.a. the 'jewel in the crown' of my garden... may be wrong, but this specie is perhaps the most common sakura specie in all Japan... more pics of this jewel in next post...

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...

Sakura in full bloom

Somei-yoshino sakura in full glory (C) Lrong Lim

As usual, the Japanese are going nuts over the sakuras.

Each year, the whole country seems to be gripped in high suspense as to when the first flower will bloom.

Predictions of the first bloom are generously made in the mass media and when the first petal opens, pundits will deliberate the 'sakura front', detailing the wave of blooms from prefectures in the south to the north.

As if on cue, the Japanese would dash to the parks, jostling to secure the best spot to place their ground mats to party deep into the evening.

It normally takes about a week to reach full bloom after the opening of the first petals.

This year however, due to the somewhat unusual rise in temperature, it took just about three or four days to full bloom.

My favorite lunch spot in town is a Japanese restaurant that specializes in seafood from the Japan Inland Sea.

The shop refers to lady customers as 'sakuras', to differentiate them from greedy men like me who are normally served larger portions of rice.

Initially, I was curious.

Sakuras are pretty flowers.

So, I expected to see some sweet looking, petite office ladies, sitting demurely at the tables, waiting to be served quaint little dishes on mickey mouse trays.

But more often than not, I was disappointed.

Many of those 'sakuras' actually look more like 'dry flowers', or some, even, 'wilted flowers'.

The weatherman says the rains are coming late today.

Come tomorrow, sakuras will be no more.

What's left at the park will be a carpet of pinkish-white petals of wilted flowers...