My progress in turning an unworked patch of the garden it into an organic mini-farm. Encounters with bugs, typhoons etc.
Being somewhat constrained in the middle of a city, the garden offers a decent start on the road to being self-sufficient. Whilst I’m no expert on gardening, I’m keen as mustard. Over the past two years, a variety of vegetables has grown without the use of chemical feeds, sprays, and potions.
Garden back in September
A new sense of direction and purpose is what the garden needs (in addition to heaps more compost). The weather was not overly kind last year. Once the summer vegetables finished, the plot was dug over and left. It was rather given up and sadly barren. Rather than try to grow the usual Japanese vegetables, it might prove fruitful to concentrate on fewer if more exotic veg. Perhaps a review of what went well and what was enjoyed. Go over what I set out to do last year. It all seems a bit cavalier. 
Parsnips for Christmas
Among the priority purchases whilst in England, were a couple of packs of parsnip seeds. Although it was way past the sowing season, a few seeds were sown. It seemed a vain attempt to spruce up the Christmas repast. All previous carrot growing attempts had met with limited success. Not so much fanging/forking or diseases but overly spindly roots. The half dozen eatable specimens came as an unexpected surprise.
The sweet potatoes were harvested over the weekend. There wasn’t really much harvesting to be done. The dozen slips that were planted never really got going this year. It seems to be the same story elsewhere; a bad summer, lots of rain etc. Half of them had familiar nibble marks and headed straight to the kitchen. The rest are so few in number and misshapen that they will not be given away.
Both the hakusai and garlic should have been planted at the beginning of the month. At least now they are in. This season far fewer cloves were planted. Three rows of twenty-four. 10 rows of the usual 6-piece white, 10 Shanghai and the remainder Aomori. The hakusai were spaced 45 cm apart with another row offset to keep them fairly close together.
ワケギ - Japanese spring onions
Allium wakegi are sown this time of year. They seem much the same as spring onions or scallions. The dry stems are pulled off and the ワケギ bulbs broken apart so you can plant two or three together. Space every 15 cm, maybe two or three rows wide. They should be ready for harvesting in the spring!
パプリカ a red pepper
The ubiquitous ピーマン (p-man) can be found in every veg growers garden over the summer. パプリカ (papurika), another species of Capsicum annuum is less common. As there are so many of the former about over harvest time, there doesn’t seem much point in growing them. It seems worthwhile tending the unusual and watching fab colours develop.
Compost Bin Mk III
Two years have passed since the last incarnation of the compost bin. As expected the sides did not hold up. However, the latest rebuild was due to a forced relocation. Held back by the sodden mass, the posts put up a bit too much protest as they were yanked free. Despite the humidity, it was the time to use some of the rescued scrap wood. Continue reading
Tony: Great article I'm going to Japan in August so I will still have a bit of time to get ready ...
SaigonNezumi: Just started reading your blog. Very interesting.
Strange that I ran into your shoulder injury posts. I started lifting ...
johngifu: I love parsnips but can`t seem to grow them as well as carrots. Having a lot of success at the ...
jake: I gave up growing parsnips.... they always had "woody" interiors. Good luck.
Carrots grow like weeds in my garden.... don't know ...
Rick: Hello Adekun!
I found your beautiful blog at the Blotanica community, first of all, have a great 2010 over there and ...