SHIZUOKA GOURMET

The surviving Goya/Bitter gourds in front of the green curtain!

I was recently asked by a good Japanese friend of mine to re-design her roof garden she had built some ten years in the view of creating a tree and flower space above her new apartment building.
The plan is to transform at least half of it into a vegetable and fruit tree garden.
I may not talk about the many reasons behind this project as this is part of a confidential venture, but I can at least describe my work as a journal.
I certainly hope to share views with like-minded souls in Japan and abroad!

2013 May 12th

The bitter gourd/goya that survived in one of the containers at the bottom of the green curtain are slowly coming back to life.

The sole suyo cucumber left is doing very well indeed.

The golden zucchini are blooming with male flowers as usual.

Oregano!

Peppermint!

Thyme!

No lemon grass, just weeds!

The herbs are doing alright in the tall and low pots in spite of the wind except for the lemon balm which has disappeared to leave place to weeds. I will have to do that one all over again!

other herbs doing well but slowly!

I decided to take the risk to build another green curtain with four more bitter gourd/goya seedlings. I’m preparing more seedlings just in case!

The new green curtain!

2013 May 13th

The yellow radishes!

the red radishes!

The red and yellow radishes are doing fine in their container.

The radishes seeded around the corn are doing well, too.

The first suyo cucumber flower appeared.

2013 May 14th

The first flower and cucumber have grown, although I doubt the cucumber will mature.

The new batch of bitter gourd/goya seem to hold on.

On the other hand the okra is really suffering from the wind.

I acquired some more seeds;
あやめ雪子かぶ/Ayame Ko Kabu/Ayame Turnips
チンゲンサイ/Chigensai/Qing Geng Cai/Green Pak Choi
早どり小松菜/Haya Dori Komatsuna/Komatsuna/Turnip Leaf/Turnip Green/Japanese Mustard Spinach
サンリト穂連想/Sanraito Hourensou/Sunlight Spinach

2013 May 15th

Roses are blooming everywhere.

The first corn male flowers appeared.

The blackberries are growing in size.

Really big!

I planted some okra beside the paprika which are suffering from the wind.

Good luck!

The Snack No2 peas seem to do better in a container than in the raised bed.

2013 May 16th

The okra so far seem to do alright.

Rose petals are everywhere. Some cleaning to come.

I transplanted the other tomatoes, the egg plants and green basil.

Green basil.

The tomatoes.

The corn are doing fine as ever!

Snow white eggplants.

Japanese pickling eggplants.

The blueberries are going along well.

2013 May 17th

Still only male flowers for the golden zucchini.

I am using an elevated wooden container plank as a wind breaker but I will have to find something else!

I acquired more containers and organic soil to be able to grow all the plants I have in store!

It is starting to look like a real garden!

I transplanted part of the hibiscus into a container.

The first raspberry flowers have appeared.

The tiny fruit on the lemon tree are doing well so far!

2013 May 18th

The new bitter gourd/goya on the green curtain seem to hold.

The suyo cucumber I directly sowed in the vacated spaces have sprouted up.

We are having some terrible wind again creating havoc among the paprika, okra, the blackberries and the hibiscus. The latter are as good as dead but the sanchu lettuce is bravely surviving.

poor hibiscus!

The brave sanchu lettuce!

battered blackberries!

The cosmos flowers are doing well!

I had to kill some insects today including small caterpillars.

One of the two passion fruit trees is producing beautiful flowers.

2013 May 19th

Only male flowers so far on the golden zucchini.

I transplanted some round zucchini into two planters although they look a bit fragile.

Pest!

Pest nest!

Destroying more insects and their nests.

More flowers new to me are blooming inside the rim garden.

What are these?

2013 May 20th

The corn male flowers are growing rapidly.

I acquired two more kinds of seeds:
イタリアンパセリ/Italian Parsley
白姫はつか大根/Shirohime Hatsuka Daikon/Mini White Daikon
I planted them into containers immediately.

2013 May 21st

The lonely suyo cucumber is doing well but I noticed the telltale marks of slugs or caterpillars.

Wait until I find that slug!

I discarded the dead hibiscus and sown some in one container and keep the left seedlings safe.

The corn male flowers are enormous. We should see the female ones appear soon.

Future acorns!

Japanese pickling eggplants.

Snowy white eggplants.

The eggplants seem to do well.

I noticed some beautiful yellow roses in the rim garden.

I decided to protect the paprika and okra with a makeshift cardboard wind breaker!

2013 May 22nd

Komatsuna before thinning.

I did a lot of clarifying/thinning, especially the Komatsuna/ Turnip Leaf/Turnip Green/Japanese Mustard Spinach and Chigensai/Qing Geng Cai/Green Pak Choi!

Komatsuna after thinning.

Qing geng cai before thinning.

Qing geng cai after thinning.

2013 May 23rd

Another magnificent flower appeared on the passion fruit tree.

I decided to discard the paprika and transplant a new batch with that Putszagold peppers. I hope they will survive in that wind!

2013 May 24th

The paprika and peppers are doing right so far. The cardboard windbreaker will have to stay for quite a while!

The Manno Leeks are also goin fine.

I had to do some clarifying/thinning radishes inside their container.
As usual I had to a lot of cleaning in the intensive vegetables T-shaped raised bed.

The blueberries are doing well and should be harvested by mid-June at the earliest.

The first flowers appeared on the tomato plants that I had to start trimming.

And the blackberries are starting changing color!

2013 May 25th

Beautiful, aren’t they!

The weather has turned hotter and watering has become very important.
More beautiful flowers appearing in the rim garden.

RECOMMENDED LINKS FOR ROOF GARDENING

Containerized: My Garden Blog
Gardens by Mike Palmer (Dorchester, England)
Best New York Gardening Blogs
Battery Rooftop Garden Blog (UK)
Green Roof Growers (Chicago)
Mitsukoshi Roof Top Garden – Ginza by Tokyobling’s Blog
NYCFARMER’S BLOG
The Tattooed Gardener
Town and Country Gardening
My Botanical Garden by Tamara
My Food and Flowers
Vienna Roof Garden
Leaf and Twig
Ekostories by Jack Yuen
My Food And Flowers
The Japans
Photography Art Plus
LOSTINTHOT
Spy Garden

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES

BULA KANA in Fiji
Kraemer’s Culinary blog by Frank Kraemer in New York,Tokyo Food File by Robbie Swinnerton, Green Tea Club by Satoshi Nihonyanagi in Shizuoka!, Mind Some by Tina in Taiwan, Le Manger by Camille Oger (French), The Indian Tourist, Masala Herb by Helene Dsouza in Goa, India, Mummy I Can Cook! by Shu Han in London, Pierre.Cuisine, Francescannotwrite, My White Kitchen, Foodhoe, Chucks Eats, Things that Fizz & Stuff, Five Euro Food by Charles,Red Shallot Kitchen by Priscilla,With a Glass, Nami | Just One Cookbook, Peach Farm Studio, Clumsyfingers by Xethia, PepperBento, Hapabento, Kitchen Cow, Lunch In A Box, Susan at Arkonlite, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Bento Lunch Blog (German), Adventures In Bento, Anna The Red’s Bento Factory, Ohayo Bento,

Must-see tasting websites:

-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Beering In Good Mind: All about Craft Beer in kanzai by Nevitt Reagan!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery

Non gastronomy must-see sites by Shizuoka Residents

HIGHOCTANE/HAIOKU by Nick Itoh in Shizuoka City

Flowering golden zucchini!

I was recently asked by a good Japanese friend of mine to re-design her roof garden she had built some ten years in the view of creating a tree and flower space above her new apartment building.
The plan is to transform at least half of it into a vegetable and fruit tree garden.
I may not talk about the many reasons behind this project as this is part of a confidential venture, but I can at least describe my work as a journal.
I certainly hope to share views with like-minded souls in Japan and abroad!

2013 May 10th

The golden zucchini are presently flowering and there should be an early crop coming!
Watering did a lot of good to the potted trees on the balcony.

On the other hand the paprika really suffered from the wind on spite of the improvised wind guards. I will give them time to see if they recover or if I have to replace them with backup seedlings.

The new batch of baby leaves will be ready for harvesting next week.

The lettuce will have to be regularly harvested as insects and slugs are starting their depredations. I started pulling out the sick ones that I will replace with radishes.

The radishes around the corn are doing really well and create an amusing pattern.

I started the harvest of silverberries in earnest.

I dry freeze them for later use as a preserve in spirits.

2013 May 11th

Very heavy rains today prevented me from working much on the roof garden.
The zucchini flowers are growing big.
I did some clean up in the intensive garden in the rain as slugs are coming out. Will have to continue tomorrow in more clement weather.

The cabbage filderkraut seem to have adapted to their conditions although I will have to keep an eye on the new ones.
I potted up the fennel but did not water the seedlings as I noticed they were a bit too soggy.

2013 May 7th~9th

Roof Park in Kyoto!

On the second day of my visit (in two different hotels) i noticed that my room on the 13th floor was ovelooking a roof park atop a nearby company building.
It was the only I could see in the whole city around me in spite of the many ground level gardens and parks in the city, which proves that individuals there are not so many keen on looking after a personal garden….

I call it a park as there were no trees for shade and no culture being done.
The seating was laid under a canopy which must be still hot and cold depending on the seasons that can be extreme in difference in Kyoto.

Actually there were small trees forming a hedge to provide some privacy.

The lawns on the side and corner are actually moss beds.

But the two contrasting designs were made of concrete and grass!

RECOMMENDED LINKS FOR ROOF GARDENING

Containerized: My Garden Blog
Gardens by Mike Palmer (Dorchester, England)
Best New York Gardening Blogs
Battery Rooftop Garden Blog (UK)
Green Roof Growers (Chicago)
Mitsukoshi Roof Top Garden – Ginza by Tokyobling’s Blog
NYCFARMER’S BLOG
The Tattooed Gardener
Town and Country Gardening
My Botanical Garden by Tamara
My Food and Flowers
Vienna Roof Garden
Leaf and Twig
Ekostories by Jack Yuen
My Food And Flowers
The Japans
Photography Art Plus
LOSTINTHOT
Spy Garden

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES

BULA KANA in Fiji
Kraemer’s Culinary blog by Frank Kraemer in New York,Tokyo Food File by Robbie Swinnerton, Green Tea Club by Satoshi Nihonyanagi in Shizuoka!, Mind Some by Tina in Taiwan, Le Manger by Camille Oger (French), The Indian Tourist, Masala Herb by Helene Dsouza in Goa, India, Mummy I Can Cook! by Shu Han in London, Pierre.Cuisine, Francescannotwrite, My White Kitchen, Foodhoe, Chucks Eats, Things that Fizz & Stuff, Five Euro Food by Charles,Red Shallot Kitchen by Priscilla,With a Glass, Nami | Just One Cookbook, Peach Farm Studio, Clumsyfingers by Xethia, PepperBento, Hapabento, Kitchen Cow, Lunch In A Box, Susan at Arkonlite, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Bento Lunch Blog (German), Adventures In Bento, Anna The Red’s Bento Factory, Ohayo Bento,

Must-see tasting websites:

-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Beering In Good Mind: All about Craft Beer in kanzai by Nevitt Reagan!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery

Non gastronomy must-see sites by Shizuoka Residents

HIGHOCTANE/HAIOKU by Nick Itoh in Shizuoka City

Lettuces growing!

I was recently asked by a good Japanese friend of mine to re-design her roof garden she had built some ten years in the view of creating a tree and flower space above her new apartment building.
The plan is to transform at least half of it into a vegetable and fruit tree garden.
I may not talk about the many reasons behind this project as this is part of a confidential venture, but I can at least describe my work as a journal.
I certainly hope to share views with like-minded souls in Japan and abroad!

2013 April 30th

Carrots peeking out!

Heavy rains and strong gales predicted today before a long period of warm and dry weather.
The salads will soon have to be controlled in the intensive garden to leave breathing space for some late vegetables.

Swiss chard!

Golden Zucchini and Suyo cucumber before potting up.

Potted up the new batch of golden zucchini and Suyo cucumbers seedlings.

Potted up!

2013 May 1st

Finally said good-bye to the old lemon tree, of the Issun/一寸 Japanese variety with a healthy young common lemon tree.

The old tree had been moved from the rim garden into a large pot with little regards for its roots and was not given any fertilizer and little water. The more for the pity because it was a big well-shaped specimen.

Continued thinning/clarifying the various containers.

2013 May 2nd

Tomatoes ready to be transplanted!

Spent quite some time potting up seedlings and thinning/clarifying the containers.
Transplanted the first tomato seedlings in the front right-hand side triangular raised vegetable garden.

Instead of one seedling per support I transplanted 3 to each as I want to eliminate as many leaves and branches to the benefit of fruit.
オレンジチャロル/Orange Charolu Mini Tomato
ホワイトチェリートマト/White Cherry Tomato
千香ミニトマト/Chika Mini Tomato

The others:
グリーンゼブラトマト/Green Zebra Tomato
イエローアイコトマト/Yellow Aiko Tomato　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
ブラックチェリートマト/Black Cherry Tomato
Will have to wait as they are not all ready yet.

I noticed more butterflies appearing in the garden. Beautiful they may be but their caterpillars are a real danger!

2013 May 3rd

I prepared the back left-hand side triangular raised vegetable bed for the paprika, peppers and okra soon to be transplanted there.

The blackberry is producing more and more flowers and some are already starting fruiting.

I received a new batch of organic seeds from Tane no Mori Co in Saitama Prefecture in preparation for the fall and winter in particular and some late additions for the spring and summer:

Vegetables:

かぶ　パールプルトップホワイトグローブ/Purple Top White Globe Turnips
フレンチブレックファスト　ラディッシュ/French Breakfast Radish
ソラ　ラディッシュ/Sora Radish
レッドロシャン　ケール/Red Russian Kale
芽キャベツ/Brussels Sprouts
ズッキーニ　ロンドデニース/Zucchini Ronde de Nice
赤ねぎ/Deep Purple Spring Onion
コールラビ　アズールスタール/Kohlrabi Azure Star
コールラビ　スーパーシュメルッツ/Kohlrabi Superschmelz

2013 May 4th

The blueberries are fruiting very early!

The blueberries are already fruiting.

Some fruit on the silverberry tree are turning red.

I had to keep the Danksia Roses in check as they can grow up to 15 meters!

Spent a long time thinning/clarifying the carrots in the back right-hand side triangular raised vegetable bed.

The intensive garden is more and more looking like a lettuce bed, but the backup baby leaves are growing fast inside their containers.

2013 May 5th

The first flower buds are appearing on the gold zucchini in their containers.
I planted loads of radishes around the corn to create a tasty motif!

I tasted the red fruit of the silverberry tree but they are still too tart/tangy!

Still keeping trimming the Danksia roses!

2013 May 6th

I took the risk to transplant some of the paprika seedlings in the far left hand side triangular raised vegetable bed in spite of the strong wind.

They were really suffering so I partially sheltered them from the wind behind planks.

I wonder what I will find back from my three-day holiday!

I found the first real blackberry fruiting!
I also noticed at least two kinds of bees hovering over the flowers! The best news of the day!
As they growing quick I sowed some more radish seeds here and there.
Will continue to do so until winter!

MEANWHILE, ON THE HOME FRONT………..

From 2013 April 30th~

Garden jumble on our apartment balcony!

Japanese apartments are small, and balconies even smaller, although we are well above average as far as apartment size is concerned!

First seeds sown.

Sowed mini radishes, golden radishes and lucolla on April 30th.

The first shoots appeared on May 2nd.

Took first photographs of shoots peeking through on May 3rd.

Will have to thin/clarify the radishes soon!

RECOMMENDED LINKS FOR ROOF GARDENING

Containerized: My Garden Blog
Gardens by Mike Palmer (Dorchester, England)
Best New York Gardening Blogs
Battery Rooftop Garden Blog (UK)
Green Roof Growers (Chicago)
Mitsukoshi Roof Top Garden – Ginza by Tokyobling’s Blog
NYCFARMER’S BLOG
The Tattooed Gardener
Town and Country Gardening
My Botanical Garden by Tamara
My Food and Flowers
Vienna Roof Garden
Leaf and Twig
Ekostories by Jack Yuen
My Food And Flowers
The Japans
Photography Art Plus
LOSTINTHOT
Spy Garden

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES

BULA KANA in Fiji
Kraemer’s Culinary blog by Frank Kraemer in New York,Tokyo Food File by Robbie Swinnerton, Green Tea Club by Satoshi Nihonyanagi in Shizuoka!, Mind Some by Tina in Taiwan, Le Manger by Camille Oger (French), The Indian Tourist, Masala Herb by Helene Dsouza in Goa, India, Mummy I Can Cook! by Shu Han in London, Pierre.Cuisine, Francescannotwrite, My White Kitchen, Foodhoe, Chucks Eats, Things that Fizz & Stuff, Five Euro Food by Charles,Red Shallot Kitchen by Priscilla,With a Glass, Nami | Just One Cookbook, Peach Farm Studio, Clumsyfingers by Xethia, PepperBento, Hapabento, Kitchen Cow, Lunch In A Box, Susan at Arkonlite, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Bento Lunch Blog (German), Adventures In Bento, Anna The Red’s Bento Factory, Ohayo Bento,

Must-see tasting websites:

-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Beering In Good Mind: All about Craft Beer in kanzai by Nevitt Reagan!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery

Non gastronomy must-see sites by Shizuoka Residents

HIGHOCTANE/HAIOKU by Nick Itoh in Shizuoka City

The peas finally emerging!

I was recently asked by a good Japanese friend of mine to re-design her roof garden she had built some ten years in the view of creating a tree and flower space above her new apartment building.
The plan is to transform at least half of it into a vegetable and fruit tree garden.
I may not talk about the many reasons behind this project as this is part of a confidential venture, but I can at least describe my work as a journal.
I certainly hope to share views with like-minded souls in Japan and abroad!

2013 April 18th

The broccoli sprouts are doing well. The bad surprise never materialized!

The backup seedlings for the bitter/gourd are doing exceptionally well. I will have to replace the sickened ones in front of the green curtain with them soon.
Now that the peas are doing well I will have to thin them out.

In the intensive T-shaped garden all is growing well although some tiny insects are starting their predations…

I thinned out the radishes in their container. It will be the turn of the spinach soon.

The spinach coming out!

The jasmine flowers are exploding everywhere.

2013 April 19th

I decided to sow three types of mixed salads in containers placed beside the intensive T-shaped garden both for backing up the baby leaves and also to prepare lettuce through thinning and selection.

From the other side!

2013 April 20th

The Cabbage Filderkraut seedlings!

The bitter gourd/goya seedlings!

I did well to prepare backup seedlings as they have grown almost twice the size of some I already have planted on the roof garden!

The broccoli are growing without any problems and I find myself with two batches to eat up!

The peas are growing so well that I had to thin out half of them!

The carrots are coming out in the back right-hand side triangular raised vegetable garden.

I will have to thin out the spinach in their container soon.
I acquired a Japanese hybrid apricot tree that I will plant tomorrow.

2013 April 21st

Last night saw some heavy rain but the garden held well enough.
I planted the apricot tree nest to the currant trees in the front left-hand side tree and flower bed.

The flowers of the blackberry tree are starting blooming.

2013 April 22nd

I decided to replace the bitter gourd/goya in the far left container at the foot of the green curtain to find out if it would work. I’m trying to revive the replaced seedlings back in the seedlings nursery room.

After transplantation.

The snack N02 peas being so strong I transplanted five of them near the painted mountain corn in the back left-hand side T-shaped raised vegetable garden and one more in a solitary pot!

2013 April 23rd

Victimized bitter gourd/goya!

The bitter gourd/goya are apparently still suffering from the cold wind as well as the suyo cucumbers.

Desperate case for the cucumbers!

Very disappointing but a good lesson still. So it is back to the seedling nursery room where I started new seedlings for bitter gourds/goya as well that I will transplant next month when the weather has warmed up!
I also started a new batch of violet basil seedlings to replace the first ones which never materialized.
I sowed liberally green and violet basil seeds over the tomato raised beds just to see what would happen.

The spinach before thinning!

The salad spinach seeds have done very well in their container and I had to thin them out.

The first row after thinning!

The first flowers are blooming on the blackberry tree!

RECOMMENDED LINKS FOR ROOF GARDENING

Containerized: My Garden Blog
Gardens by Mike Palmer (Dorchester, England)
Best New York Gardening Blogs
Battery Rooftop Garden Blog (UK)
Green Roof Growers (Chicago)
Mitsukoshi Roof Top Garden – Ginza by Tokyobling’s Blog
NYCFARMER’S BLOG
The Tattooed Gardener
Town and Country Gardening
My Botanical Garden by Tamara
My Food and Flowers
Vienna Roof Garden
Leaf and Twig
Ekostories by Jack Yuen
My Food And Flowers
The Japans
Photography Art Plus
LOSTINTHOT
Spy Garden

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES

BULA KANA in Fiji
Kraemer’s Culinary blog by Frank Kraemer in New York,Tokyo Food File by Robbie Swinnerton, Green Tea Club by Satoshi Nihonyanagi in Shizuoka!, Mind Some by Tina in Taiwan, Le Manger by Camille Oger (French), The Indian Tourist, Masala Herb by Helene Dsouza in Goa, India, Mummy I Can Cook! by Shu Han in London, Pierre.Cuisine, Francescannotwrite, My White Kitchen, Foodhoe, Chucks Eats, Things that Fizz & Stuff, Five Euro Food by Charles,Red Shallot Kitchen by Priscilla,With a Glass, Nami | Just One Cookbook, Peach Farm Studio, Clumsyfingers by Xethia, PepperBento, Hapabento, Kitchen Cow, Lunch In A Box, Susan at Arkonlite, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Bento Lunch Blog (German), Adventures In Bento, Anna The Red’s Bento Factory, Ohayo Bento,

Must-see tasting websites:

-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Beering In Good Mind: All about Craft Beer in kanzai by Nevitt Reagan!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery

Non gastronomy must-see sites by Shizuoka Residents

HIGHOCTANE/HAIOKU by Nick Itoh in Shizuoka City