Our kabocha had its first flower this morning. A baby girl! Unfortunately, we have no boys yet. There was a bee, I hope it was a far flying bee that had visited the male kabocha flowers a block away. We tried hand-pollinating it with a male American pumpkin flower too, just in case.
I can't remember if these are the Sugar Lump or Chadwick's Cherry, but they are cherry tomatoes, have been this size for about a week, but aren't getting red yet.
Marmande Super. I decided to take the dog and the camera for a walk and see how the neighbors' tomatoes are coming along.
Here is our embankment from a distance. We are on the right in front of the bridge.
It is said that tomatoes do better if protected from direct rainfall. Some people have clear plastic awnings. Some make do with what is at hand. And some (like myself) don't bother. I went up close and it looked like the one with no umbrella was doing just as well as the other two, so I'm not convinced it makes a difference.
I checked lots of gardens, in the last one (the local tomato experts, imo) some cherry tomatoes were starting to redden. These people moved in last year. I've never seen them, but I check their tomatoes almost daily (they live across from the park). They were way ahead of the rest of the neighborhood and some day I hope to run into them to learn their secrets. No umbrellas or other coverings here.
This is a random photo of mums....just because I can't help but wonder why one family could possibly need so many chrysanthemums. He hasn't even finished planting them all yet. This man has tons of plots of land all around. Maybe he just wants to fill up space. I know he doesn't sell any of his produce...
Here is another of his plots. Look at all that space! Wow! We are not as rural as our photos may appear. Most people have houses on 50 tsubo (1/25 acre?) lots. I was feeling rather jealous and almost stole one of his male kabocha flowers (not shown here) to bring home to pollinate our female. But decided that it was bad enough being known as the crazy foreigner (with a crazier dog) who wants to photograph people's tomatoes without being known as a kabocha flower-napper as well.
Our kabocha had its first flower this morning. A baby girl! Unfortunately, we have no boys yet. There was a bee, I hope it was a far flying bee that had visited the male kabocha flowers a block away. We tried hand-pollinating it with a male American pumpkin flower too, just in case.
I can't remember if these are the Sugar Lump or Chadwick's Cherry, but they are cherry tomatoes, have been this size for about a week, but aren't getting red yet. 
Marmande Super. I decided to take the dog and the camera for a walk and see how the neighbors' tomatoes are coming along.
Here is our embankment from a distance. We are on the right in front of the bridge. 
It is said that tomatoes do better if protected from direct rainfall. Some people have clear plastic awnings. Some make do with what is at hand. And some (like myself) don't bother. I went up close and it looked like the one with no umbrella was doing just as well as the other two, so I'm not convinced it makes a difference. 
I checked lots of gardens, in the last one (the local tomato experts, imo) some cherry tomatoes were starting to redden. These people moved in last year. I've never seen them, but I check their tomatoes almost daily (they live across from the park). They were way ahead of the rest of the neighborhood and some day I hope to run into them to learn their secrets. No umbrellas or other coverings here.
This is a random photo of mums....just because I can't help but wonder why one family could possibly need so many chrysanthemums. He hasn't even finished planting them all yet. This man has tons of plots of land all around. Maybe he just wants to fill up space. I know he doesn't sell any of his produce...
Here is another of his plots. Look at all that space! Wow! We are not as rural as our photos may appear. Most people have houses on 50 tsubo (1/25 acre?) lots. I was feeling rather jealous and almost stole one of his male kabocha flowers (not shown here) to bring home to pollinate our female. But decided that it was bad enough being known as the crazy foreigner (with a crazier dog) who wants to photograph people's tomatoes without being known as a kabocha flower-napper as well.
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