My wife made a soup with my pak chois which I harvested today and sausages.
The soup was so simple that my pak chois were boiled only in consommé soup. Salt coming out of sausage can add mild taste. That simple recipe can make the best use of the taste of fresh pak chois.
I love the pak chois which absorbed soup. Oh,yummy.
Today I went to the day-care center of my daughter for picking her up.
The director of the center has enthusiasm for educating kids through gardening activities. The staffs and kids grow various kinds of vegetables and flowers in their gardening plots.
Today my daughter showed the carrots which they grew there and carrot pancakes they made.
Cooking is one of the director's policy in education.
Thanks to the director's enthusiasm, my daughter get interested in cooking and she is eager to help my wife cooking.
At a corner of the playground I found many planters which were filled with
many flowers. All of them are also raised by the kids.
Today's harvest is shown below. A bunch of spinaches.
Today I thinned them out and brought them to my parents.
Spinaches remind me of Fukushima, where is not only devastated by the earthquake and nuclear crisis but a major production area of spinaches in Japan. The Japanese government announced that radioactivity has been detected from spinaches and milk produced in the area. All distribution of spinaches and milk have been limited with the nation's emergency policy.
I feel it very sad that the farmers in the are will suffer not only from less profit but from harmful rumors saying the goods would be radioactive-contaminated.
The detected radioactive is actually higher than the standard set by the Japanese government but it's still so weak that it's not harmful for human beings yet.
I understand consumers could be sensitive to the rumor but we have to act on accurate information for avoiding unsubstantiated panics.
I found a noteworthy article about devastated Japanese from a viewpoint of an CNN reporter.
I think the article might give you a hint for understanding what Japanese character is like.
Today I thinned out my pak-chois and harvested some of them.
My pak-chois were a bit crowded even after thinning them out twice so I had to dare to pick out some bigger pak-chois. I wonder how big the rest of them will be but temperature in Osaka will be warmer this week so I believe they will grown well.
Eventually, the thinned out pak-chois turned to "today's harvest". My wife boiled them in broth with tofu.
As you know through TV or other source, the largest earthquake in the Japan's recorded history happened on March 11th and massive tsunamis, which were triggered by the earthquakes, swallowed the whole of cities in the Northeastern of Japan. The death toll will be expected over 1500 according to the announcement by the Japanese government.
And more serious concern have been reported. One of nuclear power plants in the devastated area reportedly had exploded and many people around the plants are directed to evacuate keeping away from the explosion site.
Even rescued or evacuated people will be forced to spend hard days in shelters without their houses, foods, water, and their loved ones.
If you have opportunities to find in your local areas any governmental teams, authorities, Non-Governmental-Groups, the Red Cross and other available group which request you donation, fund-raising drives and charitable activities, please corporate with them for helping those who are devastated people in Japan.
The whole part of Kesennuma City was swept by massive tsunamis.
The most massive earthquake, which was the magnitude of 9.0 and terrible tsunamis affected the most northeastern parts of Japan. I can not accept the fact that more than 400 people were killed and more people have been missing. I have no words to express how sad the event is. Very shocking and heart-breaking.
According to the news, about the bodies of 300 people have been found on a beach in Iwate pref, who were swept by tsunamis.
I, and my family are not affected but some friends live in the affected areas.
We have experienced many earthquakes through years and got prepared and trained for earthquakes but this one is diffinetely the worst one.
As the temperature goes up, the air inside my vinyl tunnels can become too hot in sunny days, which can be harmful for the growth of my spinaches so today I decided to remove the tunnel and replaced with a insect screen which the air can pass through.
And I make some holes for ventilation and cool-down on my vinyl tunnels.
Growing onions might take longer than other vegetables.
We have had less harvest in a few month in winter but growth of over-winter vegetables like onions is so hopeful that we can expect to have a good harvest in a few months.
Most of the onion bulbs are getting bigger but it's still too early to harvest them. The temperature of this month have been stable and moderate and I have to pay attention to appropriate fertilizer. I make a point of adding a grab of fertilizer mixed with nitrogen and other nutritions every two weeks.
Today my family visited my wife's father's home in Nara. After having lunch we had spare time so we walked on a river bank near his home. We enjoyed walking seeing a beautiful scenery from the bank and some signs of early spring.
Many daffodils were blooming on the bank which entertained walkers.
Beside the river banks, there are many and large paddy fields and vegetable farming plots. The river runs from a big reservoir and the water is used for irrigation for them. Long mulches are found in the photo shown below, where onions are planted.
There are some movable dams in the river. They take an important role in securing and distributing water for irrigation.
Many irrigation canals stretch from the river and distribute plenty water.
Today I found some pak chois and komatsunas have germinated in a vinyl tunnels which was been set up last weekend.
Those komatunas germinated in 6 days, about 1 week faster than other komatunas and pak chois which had been seeded in January.
We have fine and warm days this week with appropriate precipitation, which can contribute to the faster germination but I also recognized the air inside the tunnel can be too hot up to 34deg C in sunny days so I have to come up some ideas for cool-down and ventilation.
