Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Potager Y on a hot, humid summer's day...

Been really busy with work lately....
It is during times like this when I ask myself, 'now why didn't I choose to become a full time farmer?'...
I have full freedom to decide how I want to work, when I wish to work, and nobody (except my sweeto haaato of course) tells me what to do...
Hee hee hee, now wouldn't that be nice...
If only I have the courage to decide so... :)

Ok folks, you will all have to forgive me while I put up some 'not-so-nice' pictures...
I worked last Sunday, and I am taking today (Wednesday) off...
Had planned to shoot some pictures with the 'real' camera but unfortunately I left it at my office...
So, I am making do with a point and shoot camera for these pics...  


Well, my cute little plants are growing...
Cucumbers (the Japanese and the US types), jalapeno chillies, nasturtiums red and yellow, few types of tomatoes, zucchinis, pumpkins yellow and green, sweet corn, basil of the sweet and Thai types, dill, marigolds and zinnias aplenty, rows of coriander, Malabar spinach red and green, kangkong, long beans, wing beans, fuji beans, loofa Egyptian and angled, the long-slender-green-real bitter gourd, butter scotch pumpkin, green beans, sweet potatoes, the normal potatoes just about ready for harvesting, peanuts that are starting to flower, bell peppers, amaranth red and green, Korean shiso or Perilla aka Beefsteak plant, Japanese yams of the round and long type, mini watermelons, okra, chard... did I miss anything?
We obtained some Black-eyed Susan seeds from an elderly lady on one of our walks in the neighborhood...
Took us more than two years to get them to flower in our potager...

Harvested some onions some time ago...
Had been hanging them out in the shade to dry them for use during the rainy day...

The Japanese folks call these hydrangea beauties, 'Ajisai'...
Of the several types in our property, this is my favorite...

And the tiger lily....
When we are done with enjoying the flowers, it is time to harvest the edible root-bulbs...
That is, if the wild boars do not get to harvest them first...

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Nanking cherry, onions, geranium, loquats... for Theanne

I would like to dedicate this post to Theanne...
who at this moment, is feeling a little down...
thinking about the second year of her beloved husband's passing...
I hope this little post of the red, red cherries in Japan...
would bring over to her in Florida...
a little-little smile....
According to Wikipedia, the Nanking Cherry is also known as...
Korean cherry, Manchu cherry, Downy cherry,
Shanghai cherry, Ando cherry, Mountain cherry,
Chinese Bush cherry, Chinese Dwarf cherry, or Hansen's Bush Cherry....
Hmmm, so many names for just one fruit...
They are native to northern and western China (including Tibet),
Korea, Mongolia, and possibly northern India (Jammu and Kashmir, 
Anyway, it is quite a delicious fruit... tiny though but still, pretty...
A friend gave us 8 onions the other day...
They are big, round, fleshy...
Unlike the ones I grow... under-nourished, tiny, and skinny...
Yet, I'd like to think of my onions as being concentrated, power-packed, and full of flavor... 
I might have mentioned it before...
I just adore the flagrance of the rose geranium...
They are apparently indigenous to various parts of southern Africa,..
We sometimes use the leaves to add flavor to cookies...
This is the season for loquats... wooh hoo...
I love loquats...very much...
Their taste somewhat resemble that of the mango, I think...
We have three plants in our property...
Plus, there are lots of them growing wild in the hills...
The locals do not harvest them...
I do, and we make preserves out of them...
The Loquat is originally from southeastern China...
The fruit is high in vitamin A, dietary fiber, potassium, and manganese...
The seeds and young leaves of the plant are slightly poisonous...
We keep the seeds, dry them in the sun, and then make wine out of them...