皇帝ナツメなど Emperor jujube etc

 昨日も一日中よく降りました。今朝の散歩前に庭の様子を見ると、桃花ヒガンバナも咲き始めていました。

It rained all day yesterday again.  When I looked into the garden before this morning's walk, I saw the pink spider lilies starting to flower.

桃花ヒガンバナは繊細なイメージです。

Unlike the Lycoris radiata, flowers of this pink variety are delicate looking.

対して、リコリス・オーレアはハデハデ。

In contrast, the Lycoris aurea flower is very showy.

今年の春に地植えにした皇帝ナツメは、木の成長を優先して実があまり着かなかった上に、その希少な幼果の多くはコガネ成虫に齧られて汚損果になっていました。今朝の様子を見たら、たぶん雨に打たれたせいで2個の実が落ちていました。しかも、この１個は齧られている。

I planted the Emperor jujube in the ground in spring this year.  The tree concentrated its energy in growing branches, producing only a few fruits.  Sadly, many of those precious young fruits were nibbled at by Japanese green beetles.  This morning, I noticed two fruits had fallen from the tree.  This one had been partially eaten.

傷跡からして、野鳥が突いたのではなく、落ちた実を野ネズミが齧ったようです。

Looking at the damaged surface, I think the culprit was a rat rather than a bird.

もう１個のほうは生き物による害は受けていないけど、多少のキズはついています。

The other fruit seemed free of damage by creatures, although it had a few scratches that naturally occurred on the tree.

不思議なのは、昨日の夕方までここ↓にあった最大果が見当たらないことです。でも、その実はコガネ被害が最悪で齧られた跡が黒く縮んで実全体的にボコボコだったので、惜しくはないです。

I was puzzled to find that the largest fruit of this year was gone without trace - it was here until yesterday evening.  That fruit had the worst damage from the green beetle, with black streaks running the side of the fruit, which produced a bumpy appearance, so not a  great loss.

齧られていない方の実は試食しても大丈夫なので、重さを測ったら38gでした。今朝になって行方不明の最大果は重量を計る目的で木に残していたので、実際にはどれくらいだったか興味あります。来年以降、摘果しながら育てれば大実が期待できそう。

The bite-free fruit should be safe for tasting.  It weighed 38g which is not bad.  This makes me curious as to how much the missing largest fruit might have weighed - the only reason I had left it on the tree was to weigh it eventually.  Anyway, from next year onwards, I will take better care of the young fruits by picking and thinning them in order to promote the fruit size.

恒例の糖度測定。あくまでも糖度計の数値ですが、切り離した部分は46.3%。

As always, check the sugar content - the piece on the left showed 46.3% (if we believe the gadget).

種の入っている本体部分は46.2%でした。ただし、食感は水分が少なすぎ。過去２年の試食から言うと、もっと色づいてからのほうがずっと美味しいです。

また、皇帝ナツメは硬い果肉のせいか、１月以上ほぼ毎日雨が降ったあとでも裂果が見られないのが嬉しいです。

The other piece with the stone inside showed 46.2%.  Both are extremely high figures, but the fruit lacked juiciness.  From the tasting of this variety over the last 2 years, I know that it should taste sweeter when the fruit is more than half brown on the outside.

Another thing to note is that, in spite of the rains we have had almost every day for more than 1 month, there is no cracking on the fruit, probably because of the hard flesh of this variety.