Thursday, August 30, 2018

Hang in there, baby

I am not doing much pruning, staking or watering so the garden vegetables are kind of growing on their own. Despite this I am still getting eggplants, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. No wonder almost all Japanese plant these whenever they get the chance. Cause they are easy I suppose.
So, because of the continuing harvest, I am not clearing any of the existing beds out to plant autumn veggies yet. Instead I will do the much postponed clearing of the wilderness at the north side of the garden, and make beds there...
Me in my dirty gardening spaceman gear 
The north side, before. Let's see what it becomes.
Actually I kinda sneak started on the north side. After a couple of hours digging out roots it looks like above picture. You can see the cleared bit on the right side. And all the roots and weeds so far are dumped in the green bin.
So, back to the main subject of "hanging in there"...
Finally the passion fruit reached the balcony railing. Hang in there baby.
Big eggplant not tied to a trellis or anything but doing fine. Hang in there baby.
Well last night I made a nice chicken stew in lemon and tomato sauce with the eggplant in the picture, so that baby ain't hanging no more. He he.
Cucumber second generation coming back. Hang in there baby.
If you look closely you see a bee pollinating the flower, as well as one or two cucumbers. The whole cucumber bed kind of exploded and I got at least one big cucumber a day for a while, then it all stopped and receded and I thought that was it, and it was dying. I just kept removing dead leafs and putting them in the compost bin. then suddenly the plants regained life and turned green and started climbing the nets again. And looks like I will be getting another set of cucumbers.
Oh, talking about bees... I still encountered one or two long-leg wasps near the ajisai at the entrance, so I decided to get rid of the plant. The genius previous owner had planted it right next to the house base so you can imagine where the root went.
I cut off the branches, and pulled out the roots. One less problem.
Thanks so much, genius for planting so near the house.
Anyway, now it looks nice and clear. And the wasps lost interest too. Hooray.
Ajisai/Off

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Doctor fish

Got meself an aquarium, with 20 garra rufas and some vegetables in it. Let's see how long it lasts. The kittens were totally crazy about it. Jumping all over the place and even climbed once on top of the tank sliding the glass cover over to reach in and get some fishies. Oh jeez, what have I gotten myself into? My cries of "No! No!" had absolutely no effect on them. I put some big boxes next to the tank so they cannot use the side of the table to jump up on the aquarium. But Oreo jumped straight up from the floor and managed to get on top of the tank anyway. I need to put something on top of the tank to deter them from going there. Think..think..
For now, I just taped the top cover so it won't slide easily. Plus put a bit of wire netting above it so it is hard to walk there. The tank was still intact when I woke up in the morning so maybe the novelty wears off.
They are still pretty small. I think I see who's gonna die next...(the one on the left)
Compare the picture above with the one I got from my chickens the first day, then you will know how to tell who will die next.
Unrelated to this, my little shed is a big mess. I really need to spend half a day and tidy it up. I realized it takes me more and more time standing there and scratching my head thinking where I put x when I need it. And I cannot find my big hoe, so I have been using the shovel for pretty much everything recently.
This is what greets me when I open the door
tried to take a picture from the inside but it's too cramped
Messy messy messy...

Monday, August 27, 2018

Not suzumebachi

The big wasp that frequents the pond was not the giant asian hornet fortunately. Actually there are several of them but they all look the same so I thought it was just one. But in reality they take shifts I guess carrying water to their home or something? At least it looks that way, after a few moments at the pond, it flies away and a few minutes later a new one arrives at the pond, taking the same route when done etc.
Not suzumebachi
Anyway, this was all fine until I noticed they are taking interest in the garden surrounding the pond, i.e. my garden. Pausing a few minutes and checking out the vegetation and so on. Then last week I noticed one of them (or was it all of them? Not sure. I only saw one at the time.) spends a lot of time at the big ajisai at the front, between the kitchen entrance and the main entrance. It is a nice and shady place I guess perfect for them to make a nest. No way!
Whenever I walked past the ajisai, which is every time I go to the garden, I encountered a big wasp and got goosebumps from the creepiness. And the wasp checked me out more and more...
I had already recently bought a net to catch butterflies and moths that lay eggs on my saplings. I do kill their larvae when I see any, but it is best to stop the eggs at the source I figured.
So anyway, I had just been to the store and was unloading some stuff at the front, and was on my way to take the truck I borrowed back to the home center when a wasp got real close to me. I thought this has to end here. Quickly went and fetched the net and caught the wasp. Real scary to actually go after a wasp. My strategy so far had been to leave them alone and avoid them, not chase them. So you can imagine the huge shivers down my spine while I caught the wasp. And there was no place for errors or missing cause I bet it would attack me once it found out my intentions.
So there I was, wasp in net, and no time to do anything with it cause I had to hurry with the truck. So what I did was to leave the net with the wasp in it on the ground, and placed 4 small bricks around it so the wasp could not sneak out, plus a brick on top of those bricks to make sure Tora (who spends all his days in the garden) would not see and attempt to release it. Basically a small hut of tiny bricks with an angry wasp in a net inside. Quick look at the wasp turned out it was not a suzumebachi but a long-leg wasp. Apparently when they sting you it really really hurts but it not as deadly as the suzumebachi. Chika said she got stung by one when she was a kid, and just put some disinfectant on it and was fine after a day or so.
Once at the store, I bought a 100 yen bug container to have a closer look at the wasp with it. maybe 15 minutes later I was back home with gloves on and approaching the wasp hut with the container in hand.
The giant mantis approaches its prey
Lifted the top brick, daylight hit the wasp and just as I was about to catch it with the container I saw how it crawled out of the net !!!! through a hole that it had made by biting into the net. Really??? As soon as I saw the wasp was not behind the net anymore I jumped back and saw how it flew away. Phew, lucky it didn't go for revenge. I mended the net and hoped the wasped would be scared away.
The next day I noticed there was a wasp at the ajisai. Again it was very inquisitive. This time I would not try to catch it alive. Just catch and kill it. Got the net. Shiver shiver. Goosebumps. Where did the wasp go? It was just here a second ago. Slowly walking around the ajisai. Ah! saw it sitting on one of the leafs. Slowly slowly getting closer with the net and caught it! And stomp on it a couple of times and a few more for good measure. Remove the net, continue stomping. OK, looks dead. Hooray. Tora was very interested in what I was doing and followed me in when I went back inside. Had a drink of water and played with its friends a bit and figured a few minutes later that outside was more fun. Started nagging at me that he wanted to go out again.
I gave it an offering to save Tora's life.
Oh all right, out with you. Since the two kittens are not supposed to go out but they come rushing as soon as a door opens I quickly opened the kitchen door and Tora went out. Closed the door just in time for Oreo to miss his chance and almost crash with his nose into the door as he was rushing. He was joined by Mini and both of them stood there and looked out from the mesh in the door. With Tora outside I glaced out and lo and behold, came face to face with another wasp. It was flying just outside of the mesh. Hmm... so there were more than one. I was going to fetch the net and go out to catch it too (somehow I got real brave suddenly) but stopped as I heard tiny steps on the kitchen door. I listened closer and it sounded like it came from inside the walls, like mice steps. More listening and it came from INSIDE the metal door. Sounded like scraping. The kittens also noticed it and were sniffing at the door where the sound originated. I looked out and the wasp that was flying there headed for the ajisai to rest I guess. Good, now was my chance to approach it. But wonder what that sound was inside the door. We don't have rats, yet. I guess it is one of those giant spiders that pay us a visit from time to time. They are experts in crawling inside walls and tiny holes, and I bet it has found a little space within the door frame where it is now running around. The kittens will have to deal with it if it decides to come in.
Off we go out to catch the 2nd wasp on the ajisai. Did not see any flying, and there was none on the ajisai so maybe it went away. Let's have a look at the door in the meantime. Oh my! There is this wasp with its head stuck in the door (I guess just as I closed it) and its butt and legs outside, and pulling and trying to free itself. OK, at least now I know what the loud tapping and scratching came from. Wow, if the kittens weren't there I would have not closed the door so quickly and the wasp would surely have been inside stinging away...Phew!
Just then the missing wasp came flying past and on a reflex I raised the net and caught it. Stomp stomp. Seems dead now so I didn't overdo the stomping. Instead went for the one stuck in the door. Put the net on top of it, open the door just a half millimeter so it can get its head out and slide the net down to ground to be able to stomp on it. 3 kills in a few minutes. Looked around, no more wasps visible. (Of course I saw more of them fetching water later on but not around the ajisai. If more of them come to investigate that area I need to either cut the ajisai down. I already have a huge ajisai in the backyard anyway, and the shade must be really inviting for them.)
The first wasp was already swarmed by ants trying to recycle it. The two other ones were dead but somewhat still intact, even after me stomping them several times. So I took them in with the container for a photo.
Actually one of them was still moving... maybe reflex
Not huge but the biggest I have seen so far. Big enough for me to run away
I read that they are not very aggressive and that they actually eat caterpillars and larvae so it is good to have them around if I go back to my usual avoid strategy.
But I cannot avoid them if they are in my daily path to the garden, i.e. where the ajisai is. So I will try to not kill more of them. But have to somehow steer them away from that path.

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Less paths, more soil

Spent a few hours (it was a very hot day as usual so I had to escape inside and rest in between) getting rid of the roundabout in the garden.
The roundabout, before
I don't remember how that shape came to be. But it serves no purpose really. Plus the mulberry tree looks out of bounds with the path/roundabout under its branches. In the foreground of the picture the peanuts can be seen. Now those are out of bounds if anything. I had no idea four measly peanuts could go crazy and expand that much. But not sure how much actual peanuts I will get. I sneaked a peek under and the peanuts have just started to form, but look real small. Like 2 mm narrow peanuts at the end of the tubes.
Another thing that went completely berserk beyond expectations are the passion fruits. Not that they gave any flowers, but just like the magic beans in the story they climbed up all the way to the giant's house (my balcony). Hope they survive the winter. If they do I will arrange a better taller net for them to climb and shade the house. I even caught the little Jack climbing up the magic beanstalk the other day.
more like Jack the ripper hunting bugs
But I digress... back to the roundabout.
First I cleared off the garden stones, revealing the tarp
Cut away the tarp and the protective sheet below it to shape the new path
Put back the planks. New soil is ready to dig.
The triangle shape soil had to be dug. To get rid of the lawn remaining under it, and also to dig out the bamboo rhizomes that infest my garden. In that little piece of land I dug up more than 5 meters of roots. Another sweaty day was done. Just to put back the stones and shape the path, and voila!
One adjustment done. A little bit simpler already
To celebrate, I barbecued some chicken livers and hearts. Not my own chickens' of course.
Yumm yumm

A day at the beach

Went paddling on surfing boards and looked like total geeks doing it.
Hard to keep balance
I managed to stand up and paddle occasionally
It was beautiful but the guy's camera was from 18th century

One would imagine they could afford a real camera but nooo

At the end I was so paddled out I could only lie down

Monday, August 20, 2018

Prepare for autumn

It is still pretty hot and there is still lots of life in the tomatoes and the eggplants so I am keeping those until the last minute I guess. But There are still plenty of beds to prepare for autumn.
I dug up the bed near the chicken run where my carrots had failed and also where the sunflowers used to be. I discovered that the lawn that I had buried under the bed in hope that it would eventually die and turn into compost was alive and well with its roots still intact. Actually it had managed to just get up to the bed surface now and new leafs were coming out like crazy.
So I guess just burying the lawn is not a good idea. I was gonna dig those beds proper and get rid of the bamboo rhizomes anyway, so I did. I dug up lots of rhizomes and also all the lawn roots and now the bed is nice and deep. Then I mixed in some manure and compost and planted asparagus seeds which I got from 100 yen shop. Home center had stopped selling them cause apparently they just went out of season and will start selling again in January. But I figured 100 yen is a low risk investment to save one season, and if I am lucky the new asparagus will get established by nex year. If not, I will plant at right timing again.
This is all gonna be asparagus. In the back: figs. In the middle: mikan
Now I know why the poor carrots didn't take. There was a lawn under them that they could not pierce. Let\s see how the carrots that I planted in the backyard fare.
I just remembered that parts of my big strawberry field also is on top of old lawn, and although I have been diligent in picking weeds and keeping it nice, I have noticed quite a lot of dead strawberry leafs and a whole lot of new thin grass starting to come out. Aw man...
Although I am not gonna re-dig that whole bed, I have to reach in and dig up lawn roots here from time to time. The roots are pretty solid and log so once I get hold of a root I can pull it out along with some of its friends. If I do this enough times carefully hopefully I will remove more grass than strawberries.
Lawn under was also same reason why the corn was so small
I can blame everything on the lawn now, haha. Anyway, what I can do, for the strawberry bed, is to dig deep in the 1/3 that is still kind of empty. That way the strawberries can kind of migrate and get established there while I sort out the rest.
While I was digging up lawn for the asparagus I noticed ants apparently love to build nests and lay their eggs under too, so they were not so happy. Finally I get a bit of revenge.
Next weekend I will clear the peppers as they have stopped growing, and make a nice bed for beets or something low there.
Then I will also straighten the pebble path and get rid of the roundabout part, gaining a bit more land to plant on.
After that, while waiting for the tomatoes and eggplants to say their goodbyes, I will continue digging the north bed along the fence.
For autumn, I have got onion seeds, beans and some other fun stuff.
On a completely different topic, I looked around to see how much pros charge to fix my forest plots (Clear the bamboo, dig up all the roots, put in barriers etc) and the cost is real unreasonable. More than 5 times the cost of buying the land itself.
So if anything is to be done, it has to be done by moi. Clearing the bamboo can be done with a chainsaw and I can just leave it there to decompose. Or I can save time and chop up everything and spread as mulch. To dig up the roots and cut them up I need a small excavator. Depending on how much work it is I will either rent or buy one. Chainsaw and chopper I need to buy. It should not be impossible. And the cost will be much much much lower than letting pros do it. If I am to go through with it I need to first learn to operate a Yumbo. Will have a look around to see if there is anywhere I can get a license.

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Garden adjustments

With the first growing season behind me I can start planning small adjustments with the lessons I learned so far.
First, here is my backyard. It is quite tall so I had to take 2 pics to cover it all.
I ran out of soil in the end so the upper right wall is still a bit uncovered
I have put in some potatoes in the upper row to keep the weeds at bay. And after getting rid of the melon remains and the weeds I planted various seeds in the second and third row. Things like cauliflower, carrots, salads, broccoli, beets etc. The bugs that eat the tiny newly sprouted leafs are worms that hatch in the soil so no point putting tunnels up. But I may be wrong of course.
lower part of the backyard
I have put in strawberries in the forth row, which I will tunnel when it starts getting cold. Under it at the bottom there is the Yuzu twins on the left, with the ever expanding jasmine behind it. None of them have bloomed. I have put in a bit of fertilizer to get the chemical levels balanced. Let's see if next year we get flowers. Yuzu leafs smell like heaven though. To their right, there is a bed with nothing in it but weeds. It was garlic but they failed. Further to the right we have the 3 passion fruit saplings that grow like crazy. I took the picture from the balcony, so they have already reached its floor and climbing up the rope. They were planted on top of my home made compost but even there I have added fertilizers afterwards. The accidental tomatoes are also there somewhere. And to the right of everything we have the big patch of  marigolds covering Chubby's grave.
OK, on to the main garden and what I am thinking of changing...
Right...
The blue tarp showing is because that particular area is a slope and if I pour rocks on top of the tarp it will just roll down and fall off... I think to remedy that I will just cut off the rock path just above the first bed. So the tarp to the right and left of the bed I will remove and replace with soil and basically extend the bed, which will serve as a delimiter. The blue tarp at the bottom I can then cover with tiles. I can imaging it getting really slippery in the winter which is dangerous. Maybe I even widen the bed to make the lower tarp/tile path a bit narrower. That way I can make an effort and level that path so it is not leaning downward and is safer even if it gets icy.
Expanding the bed to the left will mean that the hanamizu tree (the little that remains of it) will have to go completely, root and all. I have cut it down gradually any way, and it doesn't contribute with much.
The hanamizu tree is also disturbing the nut saplings
I think the bed can be expanded all the way just to where the hanamizu tree is without being in the way of the walnuts. I read that only a few vegetables grow ok near walnuts, such as nighshades so tomatoes and eggplants should be OK.
The area between the pond and the backyard I will leave for now cause I use it to access the backyard. Then we have a couple of saplings there so I cannot make beds there anyway.
Will have to change
The left side of the main garden is sloped and so far I have dared to put saplings there mainly. But where it gets level, to the left of the rock path is good for planting veggies. This year I planted sunflowers and carrots and also started asparagus. The carrots were a big failure, probably cause the soil was too shallow with lawn still decomposing under it, and birds or bugs eating off the tiny carrot leafs. Sunflowers were a big success but I think I can put them somewhere more out of the way next time.. maybe next to the fence which I opened up by cutting branches to create a bed, on the right side. The asparagus look like they really like it. And thanks to their big roots they keep the weeds away. That bed is kind of small and is interrupted as saplings are sticking out here and there. So I want to put more asparagus in that whole area.
Oh, yeah. There is this area where the path widens like a roundabout with a mikan sapling sticking out in the middle. Not sure what I was thinking but that whole area needs to be replaced with soil and veggies. Just a normal path should do fine.
Next we have 4 beds, above the big strawberry field. First one is peanuts, real thick and nice. Second one is mini-tomatoes and cucumber. Third is eggplants and forth is peppers. The eggplant and pepper beds are just under the blueberry, so next time I have to plant something of lower stature. Also I should train and prune the blueberry to stop leaning over the rest of the garden.
I still have to dig and make a bed and path behind the blueberry along with the net fence as well.
I will do as much as I have time with, let's see what it evolves into.
I even thought I could put a couple of beehives on the south sloped side of the garden where no one goes. But still thinking. The area I am thinking of is along the wire fence, starting from where the chicken run ends.  

Cleaning up

The backyard digging is finally finished, and I can look forward to fixing and digging in the main area from now on.
But first, apropos of nothing, the kittens show extreme interest in the little sink above the toilet seat. Of course it is because whenever I flush water runs through that pipe into the sink first like a tiny waterfall and then fills the tank, giving them opportunity to play with water. Good or bad, they are not afraid of water at all, but really love it. When they do something bad and I spray them with water they take it as a reward... so I am not sure how to deter them from doing bad things. Even Tora who used to be terrified of water has started to look at the kitchen sink with different eyes, albeit still carefully. The kittens wait outside of the toilet or bathroom to rush in whenever they get a chance. They even take naps on top of the tank waiting for the next flush. Needless to say, every time I open the kitchen faucet they come running and try to touch and drink the water. Really annoying in the long run when you want something done...
Of all the weird places to fall asleep
Oh it's so much fun
Anyway, back on topic. A couple of dead trees on my neighbor's forest has long annoyed me. The reason is that they are just next to the border and their branches are in my garden. When I drew my net fence I had to leave gaps for the branches in the net, kind of wrapping the net around them. I was not sure if the trees were dead or not, and didn't want to cut a big living branch which didn't belong to me. The net is fine, just looks complicated around the intruding branches. The trees are near each other so this problem is concentrated only to one area.
So...during the last year I have observed the trees and nothing has grown on them. Actually one of them has grown tiny leafs but the other two are very dead. The branches break easily with almost no force, and they are dry all the way inside.
Not a huge problem but it demotivates me from planting anything under the branches
Last weekend I went ahead and cut down the middle tree from its base (it is rooted right on the border so ownership is on both sides I guess, but it completely leaned inside my garden). I also cut down a big dead branch that stuck through my net, and patched the net so it looks normal. The still alive branch I left as it is. Hopefully it will grow bigger leafs and get back to life.
The still alive branch with a few new leafs sticking out from it.
I have already had a couple of trees acting all dead but suddenly springing to life. The biggest example is the walnut sapling. And then there was the lilac at the entrance. Most recent example is my cherry sapling that started growing all new leafs from low part of its trunk.
There's a lot of weeds but cherry leafs are clearly visible
So even when a tree looks dead I have learned to give it a chance as it may just be asleep. But waiting a year and no growth, plus totally dry trunk and branches must mean there is no hope.
comparison. Foreground: living branch. Background: dead branch.
Now that area is cleaned up and the net is patched. The dead branches are gone and I can start expanding my beds there if I want to grow something.
After. Now I only need to cut all the weed and shape a bed.

Monday, August 6, 2018

Something big this way comes

We are supposed to have a strong typhoon hitting Chiba head on in a day or two. Whoops.

Geez, I guess I have to cover whatever is precious in the garden. Strawberries need tunnel, the asparagus too. The rest can do without. Hopefully the stakes and trellis will hold. Passion fruit will have a big shake. And as usual all the saplings are in the danger zone. Maybe I tie them up a bit.
Oh, and need to bury the backyard top row sheet walls completely.

Double Trouble

Not much happening in the garden right now. Just a lot of digging and fixing the soil mainly in the top row of the backyard. So let me just put up a couple of kitty pictures.
Well I guess they are twins after all
Oh hi tongue!
This kind of mess is usually what I come home to.
When they are not messing up the place or ganging up on poor Tora
Oreo's white belly where his name originated

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Blue or Red?

The pond is attracting more and more dragonflies. I have "planted" a couple of dead sticks in the pond cause I think dragonflies like to sit on vertical plants....
Yesterday I saw this big blue one sitting on top of one of the sticks. The other day I saw another one while it was laying eggs in the pond. Very interesting dance.
Here is the blue one from yesterday taken with my sony phone.
Sony pictures are huge, like 10 Mb...
Right when I was taking the picture I saw this other beautiful red dragonfly approaching so I hurried in and got my trusty Pentax which has zoom cause I didn't want to scare it away.
Pentax pictures are just as detailed or more but much smaller in size. Like 2 Mb 
Hope they stay and eat all the mosquitoes. Oh, Tora has started a new habit of pooping in our strawberry bed every day. Not good.... So far I just cover it with soil hoping it doesn't attract too many flies. But I heard cat poop is too strong as manure.
Poop picture also taken with Pentax