Planting winter vegetables for a pot dish.

Now we are feeling a summer is ending as the temperature is getting cooler. We can recognize clearly the transition of 4 seasons in Japan and it can give gardeners signs saying when and what they should plant.

Cooler temperature after some typhoons is one of the signs telling the start of autumn and we can plant winter vegetables. Today I and my daughter planted sprouts of 3 cabbages, daikon radishes and mizuna/potherb mustards. Daikon radishes and mizuna is very popular for us to cook a pot dish like sukiyaki, which give us warmth in winter.






















My daughter is now my good helper and so reliable that I can leave some gardening works to her. You see her making "straw blankets" for the cabbages. She knows how the blankets works. That's why I can leave it to her.





Autumn can give bugs comfortable environment. Some young worms were found on my Chinese cabbages. I can't leave picking and killing bugs to my daughter. Why? Because she goes away swiftly when she see bugs,,,,.

The second cropping season is coming.

 My eggplants are still so productive that many fruits on their twigs are seen and that reminds me of the second cropping season is coming in a few days!

 The eggplant trees were planted in the beginning of May and I thought their cropping season would have ended and I would pick up the trees in a few days for more space for next vegetables.

 Eggplants harvested in autumn are so delicious that there is a Japanese proverb saying " Don't let  a daughter in law eat autumn eggplants. ".  That means an eggplant is effective for cooling down body temperature so eating eggplants is not good for a pregnant daughter in law, which can affect the growth of her baby.
 But the proverb has "a Hidden meaning " ,which says the mother in law doesn't want to share the delicious eggplants with her so she pretends to be "so kind" of giving " the Good advice" to her. It's ironic, isn't it?
















-- from iPod touch

Growth of my cabbages and Chinese cabbages

 Cooler weather would be expected usually after some typhoons passing over Japan but it's still hot and humid in Osaka. The recent typhoons hit and affected some areas but they gave tons of water not only to human beings but to vegetables. I was worried about too hot weather which could affect the growth of my vegetables but judging from my cabbages and Chinese cabbages, they look healthy thanks to the water.

 Cloudy and rainy weather is expected through next week so I cultivated my planting ridges to make the soil absorb water easily. Using a hoe in a hot and muggy day is so tough that we have to drink water to avoid dehydration.


 After cultivating ridges, I checked leaves of cabbages to pick up bugs. Fortunately no bug was found.

Chinese cabbage

My purple cabbage is turning purple gradually.

My Brussels sprouts, which
are my new try, also look healthy. 

Buying new sprouts in a local sprout shop

 The temperature in Osaka is getting cooler as some typhoons has passed over Japan and the cool weather is a sign for planting new sprouts of leaf-vegetables like Chinese cabbages.
 Today I went to a local shop, which is specialized for seeds and sprouts and dealing with much various kinds of them than other local home centers. The shop doesn't purchase any seeds and sprouts from other breeders but deal with only what the shop grow by itself.

Many sprouts are stored in a big vinyl greenhouse.

 I bought 4 Chinese cabbages and 2 Brussels sprouts, which are my new try. When I buy sprouts, I always pay attention to their appearance which can show if they are healthy or not. No hole on leaves is no bug in the soil in the pot.

Brussels sprout

 I brought the new sprouts back to my garden and planted them in my extended insect screen.

説明を追加

-- from iPod touch

" My teacher " is busy in packing Molokheiyas

 Today my family visited my wife's aunt, who is not only my teacher of gardening but also a farmer who grow various kinds of vegetables and rice.

 When we arrived her working space, she and her friends were so busy in cutting and packing Molokheiyas or nalta jutes (Corchorus olitorius L.) for distributing to local supermarkets. Her products is so famous for their tastes and nutrition.





 Molokheiyas are getting popular among many Japanese including some health-food freaks since their nutrition like vitamins, iron and calcium and they are used in many kinds of supplements.

 My wife's aunt and friends were cutting swiftly their roots, trunks and old leaves, scaling their weight and packing them into vinyl bags. And they check their appearance carefully because Japanese consumers pay attention to beautiful appearance and shape of goods.

Today's harvest
1 Shishito peppers
2 Purple peppers

 I believe you can see easily how big leaves in the photo shown below are! Compared with my daughter, they were taller than my kids! They are a kind of taro or eddoe (Colocasia esculenta、) and they are called "Satoimo" in Japanese. We cook their cut trunks boiling with say sauce or broth.



Today's dinner is stir-fried Shishito peppers and pumpkin croquettes

                                                    

Exploring a deep forest of The Akame Park

 My family took part in a guided tour of exploring deep forests in the park. It was the first time for my kids to go into deep forests and they were excited in climbing up falls and finding some creatures.


 We went up a small side stream for about a hour with avoiding slippy rocks, fallen trees.


 Some of falls were taller than my kids but they followed our guide, who gave them tips on climbing up falls safely, and finally they could overcome "the difficulties in nature".

 Finding and catching creatures in a river was the most exciting time for my kids. I was afraid if they could find them by the end of the tour but they found many creatures shown below,,,.


 1 Japanese freshwater crabs(Geothelphusa dehaani)
 2 Dark chubs (Nipponocypris temminckii)
 3 Dung beetles,(Geotrupes sp),
 4 Evening cicada(Tanna japonensis)
 5 Stag beetles(Lucanus maculifemoratus)
 6 Japanese rhinoceros beetle(Trypoxylus dichotomus)

1 Japanese freshwater crabs(Geothelphusa dehaani)

1 Japanese freshwater crabs(Geothelphusa dehaani)

2 Dark chubs (Nipponocypris temminckii)

3 Dung beetles,(Geotrupes sp),

4 Evening cicada(Tanna japonensis)

5 Stag beetles(Lucanus maculifemoratus)

5 Stag beetles(Lucanus maculifemoratus)

6 Japanese rhinoceros beetle(Trypoxylus dichotomus)

 We can see Japanese giant salamanders (Andrias japonicus) in a museum of wild animals in the park.The salamander, which live in rivers of the park, is listed as "Near threatened" in the Rad list of IUCN. The length of the salamander in my video is about 3 feet.

Visiting the Akame 48 falls Park

 It's very hot and humid this summer in Japan and my family make a point of visiting cool and refreshing places during our summer vacation.

 We visited the Akame 48 Falls Park in Mie pref for avoid heated temperature in Osaka where we live. We could enjoy cool and refreshing air and beautiful falls and cascades and playing in the river.
 I took photos and videos of the park and I hope you can also feel refreshed with them.