Pea Pods in the DuskI must have been terribly stressed out during my first week here at my parents' house. In my last post, I sounded like some kind of heroin of a tragedy, didn't I? Being more settled down -- at least, compared to last week -- now I feel rather embarrassed to read it. Maybe the tone of my last post was misleading, I guess?
Here let me make one thing very clear: I didn't come here to sacrifice. Mom's condition was one of the reasons for my move this time, but not the one and only reason or the most important reason. I didn't move into this house just for her or for my parents-- I came here to live a better life myself (in other words, to take an easy way out). I got sick of working like a slave only to pay the rent and power bill and to feed myself. The small and inconvenient kitchen was getting on my nerve. After all, I moved in here because both my parents and I thought that it was "the greatest happiness for the greatest number." We could be wrong, of course, but my family needed a change for sure.
Growing herbs and vegetables in big gardens was what I dreamed of when I had nothing but a small balcony garden. Now I'm enjoying working in our family vegetable gardens.
Yesterday we harvested all the peas (for seed) in the dusk and shelled the pods watching TV after dinner.
Pods were pretty dry
So cute!Dad harvested all the onions this afternoon. Yeah, these are the "so many onions that we don't know what to do with." BTW, thanks for the recipes to consume onions.
How many times would I be making onion soup...???And this afternoon, I seeded zucchini. This is my very first time to grow zucchini, and dad didn't even know what it was. So we may not have a great success this year, but I'm pretty excited to give it a try.
I washed my hands in the small streamBefore going home, I picked some strawberries.
Someone had already tasted it before we did :DDad said it must have been slugs that ate the strawberries.
9 comments:
The kabocha flower and plants in your last post looked a lot like the squash and zucchini plants that I've grown. I'm no expert, but I should think that if one grows well, the others should too.
And those strawberries in particular look so nice. Whenever I try to grow some, they end up eaten by rabbits. And not very large. But the ones I get to eat are always so much more delicious than store-bought ones.
Anyway, the garden seems so amazing - there's so much stuff. I hope you enjoy the abundance and your family. :D
-Ara
Your garden is very amazing Obachan! And...those peas. They're cute, like you said, but... it's strange. In America we don't usually refer to food as cute, but it's true! XD
aww...it's wonderful. Your place is definitely a dream place, and I like the fact that you're with your parents. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Oba-chan!
Don't worry about venting your feelings on the blog, that's what it's here for! If it makes you feel better, that's what's important. Secondly, I love your pics from the garden, please post more (what were those cute beans? I often see dried beans here in Ishikawa grocery stores but I don't know what to do with Japanese varieties!!) Thirdly, zucchini is wonderful and you will end up with more then you can eat. Water it well and harvest the zucchini before they get too big (the bigger they get, the more seeds it'll have and the tougher it will get). About the length of your hand is a good place to start. They're nice and tender at that age. You can do so many things with zucchini - saute it with onions and salt and pepper, slice and bread with panko and fry, scrape out the middle and stuff it - if you need any ideas I'm sure we can send you some ^^ Zucchini bread or muffins are delicious too!
~CAB
Well it looks as you are now always on Golden Week time!! The ocean is healing, the family can be at times irritating but the garden, the food and the interaction that it creates among people and other living things is one the things that matter in life. Enjoy every minute as it comes. As for zucchini in Japan sometimes it works, sometimes it is a total failure. If you manage to get the fruits before "tsuyu" then it will be fine. At least that has been my experience in Izu. It does not like the humid wet rainy seasons.
Good luck. Odoriko in front of the ocean
What beautiful strawberries! And yes the peas look like little faces :)
Ara;
OMG, rabbits eat strawberries? I didn't know that.
Yeah, abandance. That's the word to describe our family veggie garden. The veggie photos I've posted so far are showing only part of the whole thing. I'll post about other veggies eventually, but in summer... boy, we're going to be under constant pressur to use up the fruit and vegetables we harvest one after another! XD I'll be making and canning tons of jam, pickles and sauces.
Tindy;
Hahaha... I thought the peas, especially the three in the front row looked like faces, kind of lookind down and whispering something.
Anna;
Well, I have to say... everything has its bright and dark sides, and so does my life here. You'll see... ;P
Madsilence;
Thanks. I'll be venting anyway, whether the readers like it or not. LOL
Yep, there'll be a flood of veggie photos from our garden. I promise. There's 12 or 13 kinds of fruits, vegetables and herbs growing in our vegetable garden now.
And thanks for your zucchini info. I can't wait to make zucchini bread with the zucchini grown in our own garden!
Odoriko;
Thank you for your advice. Mmmmm... I guess it's impossible for us to get the fruits before the rainy season, though, because I seeded just the other day and there's only a few weeks before "tsuyu." Well, we'll keep our fingers crossed.
Anonymous commenter;
I thought the same thing about the peas. ;)
That's the spirit Obachan!! Your mails sounds like wagon of joy this time. =) I guess working in the garden is very healing indeed. Glad that life is working out for you.
And the peas, I must agree. They're so CUUUUUTTTTEEEE!
Obachan...omedetogozaimasu...u`re settling well and seem to enjoy live there... mo to ganbate nee?
P
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