Japanese yam aka 'Jinenjo' and the Beautiful Blog Award...

While walking the hills near our home one day two or three years ago, my suweeto haato suggested that we harvest the 'jinenjo' (自然薯 literally, 'natural yam') that were growing in the wild...

We, more like I, dug at one plant, and boy, it turned out to be heavy duty work...

'Jinenjo' is a climber... perennial... native of Japan... scientific name, Dioscorea japonica... common name, Japanese yam or glutinous yam...

We took back some 'seeds' which I believe are actually 'fruits' that grow on their vines...

We like to joke that they resemble 'small potatoes' growing in the air...

This is a close-up of the 'little potatoes'... diameter varies from half to one centimeter...

The Japanese folks call them 'mukago' and they combine very well with rice... so much so that there is a term call 'mukago gohan'...  'gohan' being rice... the taste is really very good...

This is how the tuber looks like...
Their flesh is white in color and they have a very high viscosity (?) level, that is, they are very 'sticky' or 'glue-ish'....
Lovely, lovely vegetable... as we can enjoy both the 'fruits' and the 'tubers'...

I'd like to dedicate this post to Ash of 'Houris in the Garden' who graciously nominated my humble blog for the Beautiful Blog Award... 
I am most honored and would like to thank her for the gesture...
However, I would like to ask Ash to forgive me because due to time constraints among other things, I am not able to fulfill the several things I should do in order to accept the award... one of which is to pass the award onwards as requested... 

Once again, thank you, thank you, for thinking of my blog...

Aliums, roots... and the Versatile Blogger award

We prefer red onions to the white ones...

This year's harvest brought us (only) about 2 kilograms of onions... 

Yet another 'indicator' that there is still a lot for this 'farmer' to learn...  

A mini-teeny 2 kilograms really does not deserve much hanging (to dry the onions) as we would probably consume them before they have a chance to get dried up...

These radishes were actually harvested some time ago... 

We like to cook these radishes in oden, which is a broth that includes other ingredients such as potatoes, tofu, fish cakes, burdock, boiled egg, among other stuff...

This other type of roundish radish is also good to eat...

They taste sweet even if simply boiled lightly...

Planted about 10 garlic seedlings in the strawberry patch last October...
Their size was pretty respectable, compared to those of previous seasons...

They apparently make good companions to the strawberries...

And, as a gesture of gratitude, I would like to dedicate this post to Stephenie of Steph's Green Space for graciously nominating me for the Versatile Blogger award... 

Many, many thanks...

And I would like to ask for her 'forgiveness' as I shall be breaking the rules quite a bit... 

I am going to make a special 'Versatile Blogger Award' mention of Robbie's blog Palm Rae Potager...

This is one gardening blog that I really enjoy visiting... 
The photos are superb... the stories, refreshing... and the garden, tastefully maintained...

Do hop over to take a peep at Robbie's beautiful pictures of Swiss chard in the latest post...

Seemania... the Liebster award...

Returned home today after spending two weeks in Malaysia...

The temperature there was about 30 degrees, and here, about 2 degrees... wheeaaa... 

Prior to leaving, my missus had brought back a pot of orange-colored eye catching flowers...

'Seemania', she blurted out to an ignorant me...

From the net, found out that 'this is a small genus of herbaceous plants native to South America. The family, Gesneriaceae, is a large plant family of herbaceous perennials and shrubs. It is native to the tropics mostly, in Africa, Asia, North America and South America'.

Also found out its other name, 'Bolivian sunset', and that it is a 'low-growing herbaceous perennial that spreads rapidly by rhizomes' and that it has 'showy orange flowers in winter'. The plant apparently grows well in shady, moist sites.

Hmm, good... shall try to plant them at the slopes and hope that they may spread all over... fat hopes? :)

Ok, this is just a one-photo post and I must express my thanks to Tanya of Lovely Greens...

About two weeks ago, she had graciously recommended my blog for the 'Liebster Award'.

Am very honored with this gesture from Tanya...

But then, I was just about to leave Japan for Penang for about two weeks, hence this belated response to the award...

It was the first time that I saw this word 'Liebster', so I did a check on it...

Apparently, it is a German word meaning 'favorite' or 'dearest'.

And to paraphrase Tanya... 'A Liebster Award is given out by bloggers to other blogs that they enjoy reading'.

The rules are... 'once you receive it you must pass it on to five other blogs that you enjoy and also give a mention to the person who awarded you in the first place'.

Tanya, 'rediscovering' her roots as a country girl, blogs on a wide range of topics from the Isle of Man... I particularly enjoy reading about her hand in making soap, wine, and the cute looking crafts, etc... drop by her blog and check it out...

The five blogs I am passing on to are (not in any particular order): 

Matron: An intimate account of a passionate veggie grower... 

Andrea in this lifetime: Nature photography, plants and ornamental species and other interesting animal encounters from travels... Andrea actually had done a post on the seemania way back in 2009... 

Life in Kawagoe: offers an interesting window into a Japanese family life from the eyes of the father of the house... 

Desert Colors: I am often surprised by the beauty of the photos shown in this blog... 

Kebun Malay-Kadazan girls: a good blog to look up on the adventures in chemical free veggie gardening...

Merry Christmas to y'all...

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!