Almost 5 months have passed since my last garden update. There have been a lot since February and we aren't well prepared this year. We only prepared a few baby plants by ourselves. But that's gardening. Full of unexpected things. I think it will be a good chance to buy plants from farmers and try new varieties.
We bought strawberry plants time by time from a farmer's stand in the city weekly market and have planted nine plants so far. Some more comes 🍓
There are some reasons for planting so many strawberry plants this year. First, it's my daughter's favorite. She eats tons of strawberries over spring and summer. And I wanted to plant them because it is a connection between my mother and us. She always bought large Japanese strawberries when we visited her in spring. My daughter liked them a lot. For her "Tokyo grandma and strawberries". My mother passed away at the end of March. I feel she is there by seeing the strawberry plants in the balcony next to my workspace.
Some flowers dropped petals and started making fruits. We are looking forward to the first harvest.
Talking about berries, we have a blueberry plant. We bought it last year when we found it was almost dying and sold for half the price at a supermarket. It has leaves and looks doing good but no flowers yet. I wonder if it will have fruits this year. Let's see. Anyways I'm happy that the plant recovers 😊
Other than that, we are happy to harvest greens from the balcony. We harvested the last Cavolo Nero (Italian black kale).
Whenever we needed green for soup, pasta, risotto ... the plants gave us their leaves generously over the winter. The plants are winter hardy. We plant Cavolo Nero for sure this year again.
We have Asian salad and arugula now. It's practical to have them in some containers ....... until aphids come.
And I started my mini compost with coffee/tea and eggshells again. It is a good feeling that I can nourish the soil by myself. I remember I learnt to dry and use eggshells in the garden from @mers last year.
That's it. I look forward to writing about garden updates on Sunday like last year.
前回のうちのミニガーデンについて書いてから5ヶ月近く経ちました。2月からいろいろあって、今年はかなり準備不足で、自分で用意した苗は数個のみです。でもガーデニングってそんなもので、準備をしても予想外のことでいっぱいです。苗を買ってきて、新しい品種を試すいい機会です。
今シーズンはイチゴを植えまくっています。市内のウィークリーマーケットの農家からイチゴの苗を毎週少しずつ買ってきて、今のところ9株。子供はまだまだ植えたそうで、そんなのもいいかななんて思ってまだ買ってくる予定です🍓🍓🍓
今年イチゴの苗をたくさん植えているのにはいくつか理由があります。まず、子供の大好物なんですよね・・・春から夏にかけて、彼女は毎年大量にイチゴを食べます。あとイチゴといえば、春のはじめに亡くなった母との思い出ということもあり。春に母を訪ねると、いつも日本の大きなイチゴを買って待っていてくれて、子供にとっては「Tokyo oma（東京のおばあちゃん） ＝ イチゴ」なのです。仕事場の隣のバルコニーのイチゴを見ると、母が見守っていてくれるような気がして、私もなんだか落ち着くのです。早く植えた株の中には、花びらを落として実をつけ始めたものもあります。今月は収穫できるかな、楽しみです。
ベリーといえば、バルコニーにはブルーベリーの鉢もあります。昨年、スーパーで枯れかけて半額で売られていたのを見つけて子供と救出してきました。春になって葉っぱが出てきて順調そうですが、まだ花は咲いていません。実はなるのかな。とにかく植物が回復してくれてよかったです。今年はゆっくりしてもらいましょう😊
今収穫しているのはもっぱら葉物です。冬に大活躍したCavolo Nero（イタリアの黒いケール）の最後の葉を収穫しました。花が咲くと葉がかたくなるのと、夏野菜の場所を作るために株をどけなければならず。場所があれば花を咲かせて種をとるのもありなのですが・・・。
Cavolo Neroは、冬の寒さに強く、冬を通じてスープやパスタ、リゾットなどに緑が必要なときに葉っぱをくれました。今年も初夏から苗を育てて冬にたくさん植える予定です。
今はコンスタントにアジアサラダとルッコラがとれています。アジアサラダはずいぶん雑な名前の種のミックスで、春先や秋にまくと水菜や赤リアスからし菜などアブラナ科のアジアっぽい葉物がはえてきます。春の葉物はアブラムシが来るまでの束の間の楽しみですが、やっぱりあると便利なんですよね。
コーヒー・紅茶と卵の殻のミニコンポストも再開しました。自分の手で土に栄養を与えることができるのはなんともいい気分です。卵の殻をとっておいて乾かして土にまくのはHiveGardeでご一緒している@mersさんに去年教えてもらいました。
そんなこんなです。ガーデニングシーズンのはじまりですね。昨年のように夏は日曜日に庭の近況を投稿しようと思います。
よい日曜日を！
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Harvesting what you have planted feels like a reward. Seeing your growing plants feels like a fulfillment. Who needs to go to the market to buy veggies when it is already in the backyard for free?☺️
Thanks for sharing this!
That's right. It's nice to feel the generosity and abundance of the nature 😊
Looks like you've got a very tidy garden. I wish I could do the same in my soon-to-be new garden.
It has to be in away tidy as it is just 2 square meters 😁 I wish you good luck for your new garden!
Hello! It is nice to see your thriving plants! Thank you so much for the mention....I am now back blogging after an 8 month-hiatus when my husband passed away.
I still gather the eggshells nowadays though I haven´t started doing my pot gardening yet as I will be travelling for many weeks. I will be in Spain to see the property and eventually check on my succulent garden there. At the moment, I only have the blackberries and cranberries which I already have last year plus the two pots of flowering honeysuckles. I hope to see your plants as they develop. Oh btw, do you still gather the used brewed tea and coffee... If you do not have much, try asking from Starbucks for them, I think they are willing to give you some.
Have a nice day and enjoy your port gardening...@mers
My condolences to you and your family. That's why you weren't on Hive ... I really remember your balcony with full of berries and veggies last year. I look forward to read your posts :) Your succulent garden might beautiful.
I didn't think about Starbucks. My balcony garden is too small but it's good idea to ask for tea and coffee grounds for the community garden I will maintain this summer.
Thank you for your reply, appreciate your comforting words. Are you still in Germany? I plan to go again as I have relatives there. Have a nice new week ahead!
Yes, I'm still in Germany. In Leipzig. Have a nice weekend too, @mers :)
Thanks!
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