"autumn harvest"

minori no aki

Things that went well in my garden

1. Tomatos. I planted Italian cooking tomatos and I've made ratatouille, pizza, and tomato sauce for pasta. Yay!

2. Edamame. I planted edamame seeds straight into the garden and pretty much forgot about them all summer until they produced small but tender edamame. The only thing wrong with planting edamame in your garden is, if you and your family like them, there is just no way you are going to be able to grow enough. I had five plants and the Pumpkin Princess was always asking me for more.

3. Jalapenos. I bought seeds from an online company and planted them in pots. Not very many of them germinated, and the ones that did were eaten by aphids. I moved the surviving seedlings to the garden, and they didn't fruit until recently, but I have lots of chilies now! I'm freezing them for future use the way my internet friend Jilly taught me.

Things that did not go well in my garden

1. Zucchini. I thought zucchini were supposed to be the prime example of vegetables that out-produce the grower's needs. The plants have grown and bloomed, but so far I have had zero proper zucchini. My friends, the Tomato family, report similar results. Perhaps they're just not meant to be grown in Japan.

2. Cilantro. I bought something like a total of six cilantro seedlings. Two reached maturity and gave me an abundance of cilantro for about four weeks, and then went to seed. So now, I have jalapenos and tomatos but no cilantro. How is someone supposed to make salsa?