Sunday, July 27, 2008

July harvest

Here are some of the veggies I've been picking from my gardens this month.

carrots

Known as ninjin in Japanese, carrots were introduced from Europe through Nagasaki in the 19th Century. They grow pretty much all year round, but my main crop I plant for winter harvesting.

beets

Most people round here have never seen beets, though the leafy variety known as Swiss Chard was introduced in the 19th Century. Hokkaido now grows a lot of sugar beets. As with carrots, my main crop I grow in the Fall, and mostly I pickle them. Pickled beetroot can not be bought in Japan.

toms

Tomatoes were introduced by the Portugese in the 17th century, though improved strains were introduced from the USA in the 20th century. This variety of yellow cherry tomatoes I hadn't tried before. The larger red tomatoes are just starting to get ripe and I'll be picking them continuously until November.
Of course we have also been picking kilos of green peppers and eggplants!

2 comments:

  1. The veggies look wonderful. Hooray for ianaka in the summer. I just got back to the mountains after a week in Kyoto. . .good to be back.

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  2. Used to live in Kyoto.... my wife's hometown like yours :)

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