Don't forget the garden

Of course I have been super busy talking about the cats and stuff but I haven't been ignoring the garden. I keep fighting the weeds, and now all the seedlings have been planted out. Now I just look forward to the first real harvest. Lets see how much the bugs destroy.
The lady owner of the "orchard" next to my garden, the one that rarely gets maintained was there cutting weeds with a gas driven grass cutter. At least once or twice a year this is done, which means absolutely nothing towards destroying the weeds.
Anyway, I went and talked a bit with her, still not asking if she wants to sell. Instead I gave her four eggs which were laid that morning. She was very impressed and gave me a big bag of ume in return. And said I could go into her garden and pick fruits any time because otherwise they will be wasted.   

So much ume. I boiled them in syrup. Yummy

The snap beans are getting big now. Every time I walk by it I crush a couple of hundred aphids with my hands. It's fun.

Even if it all fails, the soil will have been improved for the next season

Out of the 10 salads I planted only 2 or 3 survived. They are so fragile so I think just a heavy rain might have ripped them apart.

But the mini leafs are doing fine, except for a few bug bite marks

And here are a couple of pictures from the whole garden. Peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, corn, etc. etc.

tomatoes are hidden behind the snap beans

with the pond and tomatoes visible  

And here is the backyard. Kabocha and melons...

Nice and sunny for things to grow in. But the soil is still very much clay