天気予報では今日の午後3時頃から雷雨になり、その後は明日の午前中まで雨が続くというものでした。少なくとも今朝の散歩のときの空は、水彩画のように爽やかな秋空でした（実際には蒸し暑かった）。これはうちの前の坂道を降りていった近くにある空き地。夏草が私の身長よりも高くなっています。
According to the weather forecast, we were going to get thunderstorm at around 3 p.m. this afternoon, followed by rain that would last up to noon tomorrow. When we went out for our early morning walk, the autumn sky looked beautiful like a watercolour painting (it was muggy as usual). This photo was taken from the empty plot near my home - the grass was last cut in early summer, and it is now taller than my height.
Back home, I cleaned the balcony floor so as to prevent the drainage getting blocked. After that, I took these photos. I bought a large Japanese jujube tree last summer, which produced 3 suckers by autumn. I planted them in individual pots before winter, and they started producing fruits this summer. These are two of the 3 suckers. I cut the top of the plants in early summer, since they were growing like grass. Since then, nutrition seems to have been concentrated in growing young fruits. These plants are currently about 70cm tall.
これは右側の苗で、素直に主幹型。
３本あったヒコバエのうちのもう１本はというと、夏の間に地上25cmくらいのところで切ってしまいました。他の２本よりも一早く実が肥大して成長目覚ましかったので、陽当たりが最も良い場所に鉢を置いて期待してました。それが、幼果が育つにつれ、毎日なにかの昆虫に齧られるようになりました。相手の正体も分からずスプレーを掛けているうちに葉っぱが焼けてきたので、思い切ってバツリ。幸い、他の２本のヒコバエは3メートルほど離れたところにあったのに、実が齧られることはありませんでした。
ここで切ったあと、新芽が伸びてきて今の姿になりました。被害にあって元の計画から脱線しても、実験をして学べるので興味が尽きません。
This is the one on the right in the photo above. Its branches are growing around the tree trunk, looking normal.
左側の苗は、枝が左右に１本ずつ垂れてウチワのような平べったい形。
This is the tree on the left in the above photo. It has 2 major branches which hang on either side of the branch, forming the shape of a fan.
これは右側の枝。
This is the branch on the right.
これは左側の枝。
This is the branch on the left.
写真を撮るために苗を移動させていたら、枝どうしが擦れて幼果が落ちてしまいました。
As I was moving the plants in such a narrow space, two young fruits dropped off from jostling.
試しに齧ってみると、酸っぱくてジューシー。酸味もジューシーさも、ナツメの中では非常に稀な要素です。やはり私はこの実のように、熟すと果肉が白くなるタイプが好みです。
I tried the taste - it was sour and juicy. Both sourness and juiciness are rare qualities in jujube fruits. I love this type of jujube fruits, with the flesh turning white when the fruit is ripe.
Of the 3 suckers from autumn last year, one of them grew faster than the above two plants. I had to cut it short at around 25cm above the ground during this summer. It grew a lot of young fruits ahead of the other two plants and I placed the pot in the best spot on the balcony. However, some insects started eating the young fruits in early summer. It was disheartening to find every morning more damaged fruits. I kept spraying the plant without even knowing what kind of insect, and the leaves got the biggest damage. So, I chopped the plant short. Fortunately, there was no damage done to the other two trees, even though they were only 3 meters away.
結局、今日雨が降ることはありませんでした。
This is where I chopped the plant. A new branch sprang out after that. Although it was upsetting, it allowed me to try an experiment from which I might learn something new.
Despite the weather forecast, there was no thunderstorm today - not even a drop of rain.
