Row 3 tatami 4

It has been raining almost constantly for over a week now so there hasn't been much digging and progress on the row-making front. But I am still ahead of schedule, as it is still May and I finished the forth tatami mat.

also the first 2 mat lengths of clover have germinated

A couple days ago when I was digging away while listening to music, for an instant I happened to straighten up and stretch and look around, and saw a young boar who just had entered Mr.K's land. The boar seemed equally surprised to see me, and not sure what to do, so I moved very very slowly to the side and looking for a high place to run to in case it got aggressive. Alas, I didn't find any suitable place as I have chopped down all trees nearby. Lucky for me it was not in the mood and just ran along and hid in the woods. But for a moment there my heart was racing like crazy. After that I don't listen to music while digging... and keep an ear open for any wild animals that may come near.

The mikan saplings are doing so so, I go over them a couple times a week and remove any spider webs or flowers or bugs that may be munching on the leafs. I have spotted 2-3 tiny white flies which I killed. And 2 of the saplings had mealybugs that I got rid of, one of them had borrowed quite deep into the main branch of the sapling. I hope it recovers. I will order some neem oil to spray the saplings, since I saw it really helped with the trees at home.

Oh hi garden

Just touching upon what is going on in the garden... some of the veggies from last year still remain in the beds. Found this weird looking carrot the other day... (It's not its color that is weird. It's a yellow carrot so that is the normal color.)

Knot a carrot

After years of waiting, the yuzu tree finally decided to grace us with its first flowers. 2 whole flowers, one of which blew away after just a couple of days. So I hurried up and took a pic of the remaining one. Maybe next year we would even get some fruit.

Soo many leaves, just 1 flower.

The plum tree has been living dangerously with its pocket disease. I sprayed neem oil on it 2 winters ago, but didn't see any improvement. So last winter I sprayed it again, promising myself to cut the tree down if it keeps up with its disease. This spring I saw a couple of plum pocket fruits that I picked and tossed away. But after that, it seems like it is getting better. Just look at all these healthy fruits. For comparison, last year it only yielded 2-3 fruits in total, and maybe a couple hundred sick pockety ones.

Mmm.. hurry up and ripen

Another branch

I have been pruning and trying to train the mulberry tree to be less bushy and more like a tree. This year it is exploding with berries.

I will make lotsa jam

What else... the kiwi that has been through so much is showing vigor now and is climbing all over the place. No flowers yet though.

The fig tree is in the middle, with kiwi clinging to it

The two cherry trees are also growing nicely so far.

Blueberries on the left

So are the walnut trees. They are now 2-3 meters tall, and I have pruned them into a kind of shape that I think might be a typical tree... The one on the right was V-shaped and neither of the trunks were straight, so I tied the both trunks together into a straight one. Hopefully they will grow together or something... just an experiment. I will remove the rope later on.

Walnut. I think these will need the most waiting

Yepp, I think veggies are not my strongest point, what with all the weed and bugs and stuff killing them. Fruits in the garden it is. Plus a couple of beds to play around with veggies from time to time.

The dying mikan which I put into net is coming back to life now without bugs munching on it. New leaves and everything.

Intensive care pays off

Row 3 Tatami 3

The gasoline grass cutter seems to be broken, so I bought a battery driven one. It is very quite and lighter too. A full charge was enough to almost cut all the grass in the two rows.

First cut

This week I cut down some of the bamboo shoots on the north, until I was interrupted by a giant hornet, so I legged it down to my plot where I couldn`t see the hornet anymore. Every time I am in the plot doing anything, I spend a few minutes checking the saplings and removing any spider webs from their leaf etc. This time I saw a new resident in one of the berry saplings...

Energy frog recharging his solar batteries

Anyway... this week I also finished the 3rd tatami, so I am a little bit ahead of schedule.

Maybe I can spend a little time on my garden too now