adekun's japan blog » garden http://www.adekun.com Enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of first-time parenthood. Progress on the organic vegetable garden and other ramblings of a gaijin in Japan's least populous prefecture. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:39:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Himo and hakusai http://www.adekun.com/garden/himo-and-hakusai http://www.adekun.com/garden/himo-and-hakusai#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:52:46 +0000 adekun http://www.adekun.com/?p=798
Hakusai

Hakusai second attempt

I moaned recently about the hakusai being under-par. Although it isn’t a cure-all, I was told to wrap himo (string) around them to prevent them from spreading out. Something to note for the future. Most of this year’s are going directly to the compost bin. They are finished and starting to go to flower. :(

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]]> http://www.adekun.com/garden/himo-and-hakusai/feed 0 Flowery hakusai http://www.adekun.com/garden/flowery-hakusai http://www.adekun.com/garden/flowery-hakusai#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 04:55:11 +0000 adekun http://www.adekun.com/?p=793
Hakusai

Hakusai first attempt

Each subsequent attempt at growing hakusai (chinese cabbage) has ended up for the worse. The cabbages are splayed, instead of the solid stumpy stubs that were harvested a few years back. It would be good to understand why. Is it the weather or perhaps the compost isn’t cutting it? :-?

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]]> http://www.adekun.com/garden/flowery-hakusai/feed 1 The garden that should not be http://www.adekun.com/garden/the-garden-that-should-not-be http://www.adekun.com/garden/the-garden-that-should-not-be#comments Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:09:45 +0000 adekun http://www.adekun.com/?p=791 September veg garden

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. :?

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]]> http://www.adekun.com/garden/the-garden-that-should-not-be/feed 0 Parsnips http://www.adekun.com/garden/parsnips http://www.adekun.com/garden/parsnips#comments Sat, 26 Dec 2009 01:13:03 +0000 adekun http://www.adekun.com/?p=790 Parsnips

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.

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]]> http://www.adekun.com/garden/parsnips/feed 3 Gnawed satsumaimo http://www.adekun.com/garden/gnawed-satsumaimo http://www.adekun.com/garden/gnawed-satsumaimo#comments Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:14:38 +0000 adekun http://www.adekun.com/?p=778 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.

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]]> http://www.adekun.com/garden/gnawed-satsumaimo/feed 1 Hakusai and garlic http://www.adekun.com/garden/hakusai-and-garlic http://www.adekun.com/garden/hakusai-and-garlic#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:08:20 +0000 adekun http://www.adekun.com/?p=777 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.

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]]> http://www.adekun.com/garden/hakusai-and-garlic/feed 0 Spring onions http://www.adekun.com/garden/food/spring-onions http://www.adekun.com/garden/food/spring-onions#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:08:18 +0000 adekun http://www.adekun.com/?p=770
ワケギ - Japanese spring onions

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!

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]]> http://www.adekun.com/garden/food/spring-onions/feed 2 Peppers http://www.adekun.com/garden/food/peppers http://www.adekun.com/garden/food/peppers#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:44:22 +0000 adekun http://www.adekun.com/garden/vegetables/peppers Red pepper

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.

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]]> http://www.adekun.com/garden/food/peppers/feed 0 Compost Bin Mk III http://www.adekun.com/blog/compost-bin-mk-iii http://www.adekun.com/blog/compost-bin-mk-iii#comments Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:45:25 +0000 adekun http://www.adekun.com/?p=755 Compost Bin Mk III

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. What was reusable was reused; a new compost bin, leaner but of same dimensions was bungled together. With little wood, the idea for removable slats for the front was abandoned, as was a divider for the middle. It could really do with something made to serve as a cover.

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]]> http://www.adekun.com/blog/compost-bin-mk-iii/feed 2 Amaizing http://www.adekun.com/garden/amaizing http://www.adekun.com/garden/amaizing#comments Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:21:38 +0000 adekun http://www.adekun.com/?p=753 Sweet corn

Sweet corn

A corny title but there’s plenty to be said about just picked sweet corn. Even so, I’m not quite decided on what or rather how to express what is so pleasing about it. It is certainly very satisfying just to twist off a couple of cobs. Akin to asparagus, unlike anything you’ll ever buy from the supermarket it barely needs cooking if at all. Not being an American? Robinson Crusoe?
Anyway, no crows this year.

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]]> http://www.adekun.com/garden/amaizing/feed 2 Half price herbs http://www.adekun.com/garden/half-price-herbs http://www.adekun.com/garden/half-price-herbs#comments Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:16:25 +0000 adekun http://www.adekun.com/?p=752 Thompson & Morgan - half price, plus free seeds for every two packs purchased.

Thompson & Morgan - half price, plus free seeds for every two packs purchased.

It’s way past the recommended sowing date for the herbs I got cheap recently. However, I had to open some of the packets. The four that got tested, germinated two days after being sown, rather than the noted two to three weeks. Unfortunately, with exception to the borage, the shoots haven’t come on any further. Perhaps it’s just the current dullness and they will spring into action once there’s some sun.

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]]> http://www.adekun.com/garden/half-price-herbs/feed 0 Welcome to the Jungle http://www.adekun.com/garden/welcome-to-the-jungle http://www.adekun.com/garden/welcome-to-the-jungle#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:54:56 +0000 adekun http://www.adekun.com/?p=747 Upon our return, the view of the garden did bewilder. It was great to see how much things had come on in the short time we were away. Kabocha had climbed up the sweet corn and over the tomatoes, many of which were ripe. It’s warmer than it was in England and horribly humid. The coming weeks weeding is unlikely to be pleasant.

No rain, no mulch.

No rain, no mulch. There's still the bicycle somebody dumped.

Japan vegetable garden

Two weeks later, overflowing with weeds and pumpkin leaves,

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