vegetables

Cinderella pumpkins are getting quite big. This photo was taken 3 days ago, and after all the rain it's even bigger now. How does one know if a pumpkin is ready to pick???Ants are very attracted to the okra flower buds. It doesn't seem to be doing much harm, but is curious.
I have chopped off the older sections of my two remaining zucchini that were no longer producing viable flowers. The new stems seem to be hanging in the through the rains, but I am not sure if we will ever get any more zucchini out of them or the three new plants.
My husband's method of protecting a baby watermelon from the floods.
Reisentraube tomatoes, I get one or two ripe ones a day now.
Black plum, also one or two a day.Edamame are coming along and you can see sweet orange II and Chadwick's cherry tomatoes in the background. Of the cherry tomatoes I think the sweet orange II and gold currant are the best. I am not sure about Reisentraube because my younger daughter eats them all.

Vegetables

It has been blazing hot this week and I am a bit frustrated because I really want to spend more time in the garden, but between about 10:30-3:30, when I have time, it is just too stinking hot. From the time I get up until about 10:30 I am busy getting everyone fed, dressed, off to school, walked, laundry, etc. And from 3:30...picked up from school, walked, changed, snacked and then M insists upon going to the park every day to work on her monkey bars (and see her friends). Oh how I resent those 2 hours of prime gardening time spent pushing L on the swings and rescuing M when she monkey bars too high. Then back home to cook, feed, bath, etc, and it's dark. They love it, but I wish we could get a jungle gym in our yard. Too bad they don't seem to sell them here like in the US. Anyway, here are some photos from yesterday.
My crazy husband has planted the next generation of cucumbers. I managed to force my students' mothers to take home 30+ today. He does realize that the overlap between first and second generations will happen while the girls and I are in the US and he will be responsible for 25 cucumbers/day all by himself, but yet...he plants them. The rose of sharon (mallow?) trees along the fence are starting to bloom. They have grown so fast. They were foot long dead sticks only 2 years ago. I hear they are particularly good for fighting air pollution, so we planted them along the west fence facing the big road. We aren't nearly as rural as our photos may make it seem, and air pollution is a problem. There are some cosmos blooming in this photo as well. And the lemon grass (sticking out from the left) LOVES being next to the compost bin.
Eggplants are coming along really well. So well, that I am glad we only have 3 plants. You can see some of the sugar lump mini tomatoes in the background.
I tried to take a photo of my single reddening Reisentraube tomato for Mr. Wignall, but it is in a rather inaccessible place. Hopefully some of the others will ripen before we leave and I can tell you how they taste.
Shiso Shiso and more Shiso. I have to start actually using it. I think I will make shiso gyoza this week.
Watermelon (left), okra (center), no-longer-producing zucchini (right) and some marigolds. Strawberry patch and gladiolus in the back. These were not really meant to be an attempt at companion gardening, we just didn't have anywhere to put the watermelons. So far so good, as long as the watermelons don't attempt to climb...
Cinderella pumpkin is getting big and turning orange. Now if I could only find a cool dry place to store it until October...

Missed the boat

Well, the first 2 weeks of "rainy season" was totally dry and I was worried about drought. Be careful what you wish for they say...Our veggie patches at the bottom of the embankment were surrounded by a moat. The beans and cucumbers managed to stay above the waterline but...
The pumpkin vines and two pumpkins were submerged. The waters had receded by the time I took this photo. I couldn't take the camera out in the torrential rains.
The lawn contracted some sort of fungal infection that is spread by too much water. Wasn't much we could do to stop it.
The rain killed off another tomato plant too (marmande super). I am trying to ripen the green tomatoes in a cardboard box. I have to find a green banana to put in with them. They say to keep them in warm dark place with low humidity. If there were any place with low humidity to be found around here, I'm sure it would be filled with humans, no space left for green tomatoes!

This is the garden next door. I feel a little badly posting it, as I think they must have some difficult family circumstances that have left them little time for gardening this season. But still, their tomatoes, eggplants, and goya are all coming along. Seeing their garden makes me appreciate our black plastic, despite my aesthetic reservations. That said, we are scheduled for more rain from tomorrow, and our garden may be looking like this soon.

and in non-tomato related news...

Our first mallow/rose of sharon (I'm not sure what the difference is or what this is) flower bloomed.

Our first baby watermelon.
Our first baby okra.
The pumpkin patch is headed for the hills. Howden on the bottom, then Cinderella, kabocha at the top.
I am hoping the blackberries will be ripe before we leave for the US. Raspberries are almost finished.
Lemon grass is thriving next to the compost on the right. Lettuce is going to seed.
Speaking of seeds, my husband planted a mango seed and we are eager to see what happens. He says Japan is turning into a tropical island, but not tropical enough I fear.

mostly flowers and a turtle

We saw our friend the turtle, or maybe it was another turtle, in the pumpkin patch the other morning. I think her eggs got eaten by a mole or other burrowing animal.
White and pink lilies are blooming.
butterflies on a pumpkin leaf
Sunflower has survived the horrible dusty bugs and looks as if it may flower.
marigolds are really coming along
good (left) and evil (right) on a pumpkin plant

vegetable flowers

My daughters' books say that bees collect pollen on their legs. This one seems to be more into the whole body experience. We are grateful, of course, however they choose to pollinate.

pumpkin flower
eggplant flower
green pepper flower
okra flower
cherry tomato flower
tomato flower
watermelon flower

mostly veggies

The millions are Reisentraube flowers are starting to turn into tomatoes. Still no reddening on any tomatoes. I hope they hurry up because they are gradually succumbing to various diseases. I had to pull two more plants yesterday. Today I planted baby basils in the spots vacated by sick tomatoes.
Oregano.
Our first Cinderella pumpkin is still hanging in there, now joined by a baby sister.
All the pumpkin vines are doing pretty well. These are the Howden. No baby pumpkins yet.
The Cinderella pumpkin in the foreground and Japanese pumpkin (kabocha) in the back. We have two baby Cinderellas and one baby kabocha. This despite the evil orange bugs.
A fresh evil orange bug trail on a pumpkin leaf.
Speaking of problems, the zucchini has some sort of icky white fungus or mildew or something. I've had to pull three plants. This happened last year, too. Does anyone know why or what I can do about it?

pollinating pumpkins

M pollinated our first pumpkin flower this morning! It is one of the Cinderella pumpkins. Of course, the timing is all wrong because I want them for Halloween, but exciting nevertheless. They say the best way to store pumpkins is in cool, low humidity conditions. If a place with such conditions existed in Gifu in the summer, that is where I would like to be stored as well! Both the pumpkins and I are out of luck.

Lily
The annuals are starting to spread out and cover the fading bulb foliage...
We have 3 baby eggplants.