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...

flowers

Pink glads are blooming.
Bets now open: watermelon, okra or marigolds? Or can they all just get along together nicely?
White balloon flower at the back, can hardly be seen. Must remember to move it in the winter.
Purple balloon flower.
Forget-me-nots from freebie seeds my mother gave me (thanks, Mom!)
Red spapdragons, I think. Oh, Vicky told me what these are and now I've forgotten.
Pink lily also hidden behind many taller plants. Must remember to move in the winter. Must remember. Must remember long enough to tell my daughter when she comes home from school today so that she can remind me...Need to plant more forget-me-nots. Can I make forget-me-not tea?

Good tomato news, and bad tomato news

Good news first. More signs of ripening. Sweet Orange II
Cherokee Purple
Black Krim
Really bad news. The big tomatoes are all dying. I will have to pull the last 3 plants in the southern row today. I am beginning to wonder if it is possible to raise tomatoes without chemicals around here...
Not to end on a sad note, our tomato harvest from yesterday. All sugar lump. Though they tasted a bit like waterlumps after the deluge of the past few days.

rain and shine

Our first sunflower in the rain yesterday...
And the sun today!
First gladiolus

Today's harvest. Plus 5 okra. Cucumbers are not as scary as I feared after the rains. And I managed to force all of these on a visitor today. Thanks G!I forgot to post the photo of our first tomato! Golden Currant. My husband was away so we shared it three ways. It was slightly tart, but really hard to tell the taste from such a little sliver.
I bought some lemons for the seeds (also because they are yummy squeezed on salad udon, our summer Monday dinner) and one is coming up. Lemon tree very pretty....

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.

tomatoes at night

Well the first two weeks of so -called rainy season were a total bust, but now nature is making up for lost time and it has been raining steadily the past few days. The only chance I had to go out and take photos of big tomatoes was Saturday evening. I put my hand in most of the photos for a sense of size.Big Rainbow. I had to pull two sick plants. This plant has yet to produce a single tomato, but I am holding out hope because it is flowering, at least.
Black Krim. I think I have two plants. And a baby plant.
Brandywine plant 1.
Brandywine plant 2.
Cherokee Purple. I think I only have one...though it is strange. I don't remember losing the others, but they must have been sick.
Evergreen. 3 plants. They were slow starters, but seem to be the healthiest as I haven't lost one.
Money Maker. Only one. I planted 3 seeds and only one came up. Luckily it has held in there.
Marmande super. Two plants.

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.

Big News!

Look! I am so excited! Finally...Sugar Lump
Golden Currant. The problem with these is it's kind of hard to tell if they are ripe because I'm not sure exactly what color they end up. The one on the left looks ready. I think we will wait until the one on the right is ready, too. Then we will each get half.

cherry and plum tomatoes

black plum
another black plum (we have 3 plants)
Chadwick's Cherry (two plants)
Gold currant (only one original rather sickly plant, but 3 more second generation)
Reisentraube. Not nearly as many tomatoes as there were flowers, most fell off, but that still leaves plenty. 3 plants.
Sugar Lump. These were seeds left over from last year. I think we have seven big plants, and several more in future generations.
Sweet Orange II. Three plants.
A few of the plants have this on the stem. Is it some sort of nasty bug eggs? I tried scraping them off, but couldn't do it without damaging the stem.