Neglected garden

Written by: adekun on 18 August, 2010 3:02 pm - Filed under: garden — 1 Comment »

I’ve hardly watered the garden this year. The summer has been very dry and very hot. It looks set to be long too. This year’s summer vegetables have finished. All that seems to be doing well are the weeds. What herbs that go to seed have done so leaving little worth checking upon except pumpkins. I should have done a lot more. It is remarkable just how quickly things go awry.

Tags: chilli peppers, garden, weather

Freezer full of sweet corn

Written by: adekun on 4 August, 2010 8:51 pm - Filed under: blog — 3 Comments »

From upon my perch, I espied a good many crows circling the sweet corn. Perhaps unbeknown to them, worms burrowing away have already started to dine. Bustling in on the love triangle, beetles also threaten. I decided to grab the lot. Without shucking the ears, a few dozen were crammed into the freezer within twenty minutes.
I do wonder the best way of storing food; how to deal with those short-term gluts. How this frozen sweet corn will compare to that just picked?

Tags: garden, pests, sweet corn

Tomato heaven

Written by: adekun on 28 July, 2010 10:48 am - Filed under: garden — 1 Comment »

This year by far, has been the best for tomatoes. They were looking good before, since then, quite perfect. Only about six feet away, the father-in-law’s specially fed vines have started to shrivel. One in the corner began to yellow, soon after the rest like dominoes. Hopefully, there is enough space between each other’s and not too much flying back and forth.

The plan has always been to grow a variety of tomatoes, with the expectation that some will be a bit hit and miss. I think the yellow cherry tomatoes boast the best flavour with the yellow aiko down at the other end. Continue reading

Tags: garden, tomatoes

Kabocha peekaboo

Written by: adekun on 7 July, 2010 12:24 pm - Filed under: garden — 6 Comments »

Amongst the sea of grasses a couple of kabocha have plumped up nicely. They look to be somewhere in the expected 500 g to 800 g range. Not sure when will be the best time to harvest them. The skin should be darker anyway.
Tomatoes are good. Following a deluge the larger ones tend to burst before the crowns have had chance to turn red. However, this year, the fruit have ripened fully and been picked before any such calamity. Not so many made the kitchen.

Tags: garden, kabocha, tomatoes, weather

Summer fungi

Written by: adekun on 30 June, 2010 10:57 pm - Filed under: garden — 1 Comment »

There has been quite a lot of rain fall recently. Weeds are running rampant despite weekly culls. The odd day of sunshine offers a chance make things a little more orderly.

Several mushrooms have popped up. It would be nice to know what they are. No doubt they are common; somebody will know. The second has a strong mushroomy smell and appears to be more Agaricus than Amanita.

Tags: fungi, garden, weather

Wednesday’s weeding

Written by: adekun on 16 June, 2010 5:52 pm - Filed under: garden — 2 Comments »

The rainy season reached Kagoshima on Friday. Rain reached here yesterday. Strangely, today is hot and cloudless. With work starting late in the day, there wasn’t reason to skimp the blossoming garden chores. June is especially punishing if the weeds are untamed. Firstly, the month grants ideal conditions for them to run rampant. Second, it is generally an unpleasant time to exert oneself outside; hot and humid with purposeful mosquitoes on the prowl. Continue reading

Tags: garden, herbs, sweet corn, tomatoes, weather, weeds

Scapes

Written by: adekun on 23 May, 2010 6:42 am - Filed under: garden — No Comments »

Early last week I harvested the garlic scapes. I wanted to get them earlier, as last year they were a little tough. The Elephant garlic tends to produce a long upright stem, whereas the rest curls once or twice. Chopped up, they go very nicely with a little sliced pork.

Tags: garden, garlic, scapes