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...

Harvesting sweet potatoes

I know, this photo is a bit off-season...
Tried my hand at growing sweet potatoes last summer.
'Naruto Kintoki' is what they call this specie.
Harvested them in early November last year.
Wooh, the joy of pulling those giant potatoes out from the soil...
They needed to be put in a dry place, away from the direct sun, for at least a week so as to allow them to 'sweeten' up.
Gave away some to neighbors and friends.
Still, took us months to slowly enjoy nibbling on them.
On hindsight, we should have harvested them earlier, as in mid October.
As such, we will not be overwhelmed too much by their size.
Will certainly continue to plant these goodies this season.
They really taste good, and they are easy to grow.

Dancing in the sky

Been enjoying gardening, even during this frigid weather here in Japan.
We were really lucky to secure for ourselves this property with a sizable land space and lots of mature trees.
Off hand, I would say, close to 100 trees?

Among them, we count the huge sakura tree as our symbol tree number one.
Symbol tree number two is a handsome tall pine tree in our front garden.
However, within the property lies a cypress tree, a 'twin' of about 10 meters or so.

This tree, although pretty handsome, has been blocking some precious sunlight especially during winter.
My pond is perenially in the shade... poor goldfishes...
We should slice off that tree, says my missus from day one.

I said, chotto matte...
But, after some prolonged deliberation, I finally agreed to 'decapitate' the twins...

The tree was too tall for the ladder, so I had to improvise by nailing horizontal bars.
The view up there was pooh, quite breathtaking.
Had wanted to abort the chopping plan and build a chair up there instead.

This picture shows what an amateur I am.
Took me until almost late evening to slice off the branches.
A week later, we chopped off the trunks.
All that is left of the tree are two stumps, a meter above ground.
Branches will sprout but we can live with that.

View of garden from dining table

Hmmm... looks like this is the first image I am posting in the year 2008...
What happened?
Was actually not my normal self for the past three months or so...
Body was going bonkers...
Blood pressure shot up the roof...

Brain was playing tricks on me...
Not sleeping well at nights...
Body refusing to wake up in the mornings...
It was pretty scarry...

The cause of it all? Work pressure, and yours truly trying to work too hard (ahem...)
Even my gold fishes became sick...

Luckily, am recuperating quite well now...

Oh yes, the picutre above...
That is the garden view that we enjoy each morning as we chew on our breakfast...
The hills are in the background...
Except for the house on the left, it is all flowers and green...
Quite a paradise, I should say...

Of course, birds come by frequently, singing...
The other day, we saw a wild rabbit in our garden for the first time...
Cute, said my missus...
And yesterday, a meter long snake resting up those pillars... woaah, said I...

Anyway, thank god I am sleeping quite well these days...
And life is good...

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...