2016-04-22 21:26 Bitter Melons (Goya)
Y (Kuma's owner)
As autumn approaches, some of the summer vegetables in my backyard are getting smaller. The zucchinis are still growing, the tomatoes are not too bad, but the Japanese bitter melons (Goya) seem to be almost out of season. They are still in good condition but the fruits are getting smaller.
The bitter melon is my favorite vegetable. They are cultivated in Okinawa Prefecture a lot. Okinawa is an island located in the southern part of Japan. The climate of Okinawa is subtropical, the same as where I live, that's why I can grow them well.
The first time I saw a bitter melon, I didn't have a good impression because the surface of bitter melon is uneven and I associated with a sea slug. The taste is, of course bitter. It depends, some people don't like it but I like it very much.
I didn't expect that I could buy bitter melon seeds in Australia, but I found them on the Internet last year. I bought them and started to grow them. Their germination rate was high so they were easy to grow.
One day, I was looking at a seedling of the bitter melon and noticed the difference between bitter melons and most other plants. Most plants have cotyledons, as do bitter melons. But bitter melons have a second layer of cotyledons. There must be a terminology that I don't know. After the germination, the first layer of cotyledons come up and then another layer of cotyledons come up, and finally the true leaves come up. How unique!
The season of bitter melon has almost ended. I'll keep some seeds for the next season.
2016-04-18 10:00 Waiting for autumn
Y (Kuma's owner)
Finally, autumn has arrived and is just around the corner. Yes, I mean it has not arrived here yet. Today is a bit hot. I am still wearing short sleeve T-shirts and short pants, and writing this journal using an electric fan. See, it's not autumn.
I've been waiting for autumn because I bought vegetable seeds that can be sown in autumn. I've got broad beans, snow peas and snap peas. I have some Japanese vegetable seeds as well that I have bought from an online store. How convenient online shopping is!
Australia is a land that has peculiar vegetation and it is very strict to inspection of live plants and animals. So, I'm happy that some gardening nurseries sell Japanese vegetable seeds. If they don't sell Japanese vegetable seeds, I don't think I would have grown them because it takes lots of time and trouble for applying seeds for quarantine.
Since I started my kitchen garden, my refrigerator has not been jammed, because I can pick vegetables when I need them. I don't have to keep them in the refrigerator which is good.
People who love growing vegetables used to say that they can eat safe food. That's right, but more than that, gardening is good for my health. I believe gardening is a kind of sports. Digging holes, carrying heavy soil and heavy sprinkling make it a sporty hobby.
Autumn is coming soon. The busy gardening season will begin.
2016-03-08 02:14 The long garden bed project 2
Kuma
My human J has been working very hard on the long garden bed project. If you have read my previous writing on 23rd January, I think you already knew. My humans decided to make a long garden bed (veggie patch) in their backyard. The timber of this garden bed is spotted gum, it is a kind of hardwood. That makes J more hard to work with.
In the beginning, I thought the project was too hard to complete but J made big progress. He spent almost every Saturday and Sunday on the project. He is now going to set up a water system inside the garden bed frame. Once it was set up, it would be easy to water the plants.
Please take a look at the following photo. This is long, isn't it?
Human Y, who loves gardening, has started to plant some vegetables and flowers. There are tomatoes, zucchinis, capsicums, okra and parsley. She is happy with the garden bed but it is not only her, wild birds are also happy. For example, King Parrots love to eat green tomatoes. Human Y seems to be disappointed a little but she says it is OK. She thinks she is paying tax for nature.
We live in a subtropical area. It is still hot in March. Y wants to grow sweet peas but it is too hot for them. We are looking forward to autumn coming.
