Showing posts with label Peas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peas. Show all posts

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Snap peas, greens, potatoes, berries...

Beautiful weather these days in Shikoku, Japan...
It is supposed to be the rainy season, and I am hoping for rain, actually...
We ate the last of the snap peas this season...
My missus prefers to harvest them when they are more 'full-bodied'...
'Crunchy and meaty', she says...
Sowed some mini turnip seeds in April...
Used to sow them in rows, but I am quite hopeless at thinning the little plants after they germinated...
So, tried sowing them in discreet spots, spaced about 30 centimeters apart...
It makes the thinning process easier, and the plants grow better too...
They taste really good, stir-fried with bean curd...
Also sowed some chingen-sai last April...
They are easy to grow and are more resistant to pests compared to komatsu-na...
I normally grow these greens in the autumn season as there are less pests to start with...
Anyway, chingen-sai is also a very delicious vegetable...
I would also like to add, a very 'handsome-looking' one too...
Planted two types of potatoes last October...
Danshaku potato (originated from Irish Cobbler potato) and Kita-akari potato (which is an 'improved' strain of the Danshaku)...
From two kilograms of seed potatoes, I could harvest only seven kilograms of potatoes...
Hmmm... could this be proof of the amateurism of the farmer?
We were very excited to see so many fruits in our two mulberry trees in May...
Come June, to our dismay, the fruits turned whitish and rotted away...
The same thing happened last year, and we had thought it was the continuous rain that brought about the rotting...
Did a check on the net and found out that the tree was suffering from 'popcorn' disease...
The recommended treatment is to 'remove and bury the infected fruit on the trees and any ground debris as it appears during the growing season'... (source)
I went a step further... I burnt them all...
Am hoping that the fruits will not be infected again next year...

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Flowers... of plum, pear, rocket, peas

Glorious flowers from a neighbor's plum (peach) tree protrudes into our potager...
For me, this must be one of the prettiest plum (peach) blooms I have ever seen...
Rich colors, perfectly (almost) shaped petals...
On the other side of the fence comes our very own plum (peach) blooms...
I am so intrigued by their varying shapes and colors...
Our pear trees are flowering again this year...
I think this specimen is called 豊水 literally, 'Abundant Water'...
It supposedly has a tinge of sourness in its taste...
Similarly, I imagine this specimen to be 幸水 literally, 'Happiness Water'...
The staminate (male flower) is a little reddish and the shape of the petals, different...
Apparently, they taste sweeter compared to the specimen above...
The rocket that we have remained thin as we harvested them...
I have always marvelled at the shape of their flowers...
Besides their cross-shape, just look at how pretty their veins are...
We tried three types of peas last year...
'Snow field' peas, green peas, and snap peas...
My suweeto haaato tasted them all...
After which, she 'summoned' me to narrow down to just snap peas...
She says this caption looks quite scary for her while I think it looks somewhat cute...
Actually took this wild grape shot last season...
Their buds are now sprouting and I hope to harvest them in autumn...
Am I counting my chickens?
Grape juice is what I make them out to be...

I am dedicating this post to Theanne, who graciously spiced up my humble blog with this... I am really honored.... thanks Theanne!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Peas so sweet...




Didn't have much success with peas for the last two years.
Used to buy them in little pots, from the DIY shop.
Finally bought seeds last October.
Green peas, snap peas, and 'silk field' peas...
Wooh, had been harvesting them since late March this year.
The peas are very sweet and taste best if harvested just before cooking.
As many a gardener would say, once you get to taste how fresh the garden produce is, you probably would not want to eat those from the supermarket anymore.
Of the three types, I think we like the snap peas the most.
My missus just boil them lightly and toss them in olive oil with a sprinkle of ground black pepper...

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Flowers to chew on...


This pic shows a salad mix prepared by my suweeto-haato...
The usual stuff like peas, red turnips, onions, cucumbers...
Plus, edible flowers like the blue borage, the red nasturtium, the sinewy, beige (?) rocket, the pink geranium... and the yellow chrysanthemum...
All these (except peas and onions) were from the garden...
Tossed in olive oil, they were quite a delight for the senses...


Ages ago when I first landed in Tokyo as an airline crew, I had my first taste of 'hiya yakko'...
Cold tofu, that is... and so, a summer dish...
It shocked me, actually, to feel the cold of the curd...
But you get used to it...
Here, combined with that green stuff freshly plucked from the garden, and spruced up with sesame seeds and soy sauce... hmmm... oishikatta...


Am blessed, thinking that I can enjoy home-made bread each morning...
This one, pizza-toast, should I say?
Onions, bell peppers, shredded cheeze on wholesome bread...
Topped up with dashes of tomato sauce...
And toasted to perfection... (well, almost...)


And, one of my all time favorites...
Tomato-based spaghetti... preferably combined with seafood...
This one was meat, though... but still with some sweet basil leaves thrown in...
Wooh, equally yummy...