台風と大雪棗 Typhoon and Big Snow Jujube

 今日の最高気温は30℃だったそうですが、それよりも台風30号の影響で強風がものすごかったです。熱風＝ブロードライ効果、ということで、獣臭を放っていたタイガを午後に洗いました。タオルで拭いただけで出かけたので、毛はボソボソです。

Today's maximum temperature reached 30℃.  Moreover, with typhoon No. 30 approaching Japan, we had strong winds all afternoon.  However, hot gale could be used as a blow dry for a dog after shampoo.  So, I washed Taiga in the afternoon, and we went out only after drying her with towels - she looked like a tramp.

道の脇、金網の向こうに赤い花が咲いています。場所は将来 幹線道路になるところで、土地を確保した今、一時的にアスファルトで覆われています。

As we went along, I noticed red flowers on the other side of the wire fence.  Beyond the fence is a stretch of land covered with asphalt, which will be turned into a major road in the future.

センニチコウの「ストロベリーフィールズ」という品種のようです。種がなったら欲しいなぁと思いますが金網の向こうです。

I think it is a variety of globe amaranth called 'Strawberry Fields'.  Although I have placed an order for seeds of another variety, I would love to get some of these when the flowers are all gone.  Unfortunately, they are beyond the wire fence.

強烈な熱風にあおられて不機嫌そうな顔のタイガ。

Taiga looking annoyed with the strong winds rubbing her coat in the wrong way.

城北中央公園の広場に着くと、強風のせいか人影が疎らでした。

When we arrived at the entrance of the Johoku Central Park, there were few people in sight due probably to the weather.

川沿いを歩いていると仲良しのキリュウ（輝龍）がやってきました。

As we were walking along the river, Kiryu, a male Shiba Inu came to greet us.

キリュウはタイガのことが大好きなのに、今日のタイガはそっけないです。

Kiryu is several years younger than Taiga but has always been fond of her.  Yet, Taiga was not in the mood to play with him today.

無人の広場でぶらぶら歩きまわってタイガが乾くのを待ちました。突風は坐骨神経痛あがりの私の脚には酷で、何度も転倒しそうになりました。

We reached a deserted field where we ambled waiting for Taiga's coat to get dry.  But for me just recovering from sciatica, it was quite a challenge not to fall down in the gale.

たいぶ乾いてきたので帰ることにします。

Taiga is now rather dry, so let us go home.

来るときに通った林、大木の枝が大揺れです。

We walked through the woods that we had passed earlier.

さっきの広場に到着。来た時よりもタイガのコートがましに見えます。

Now back to where we were when we came to the park.  Taiga's coat looks much more decent.

帰りしなに通った草地には夏ミカンが生っていました。

On our way home, we walked through the field where a Japanese bitter orange tree stood.

大きな実が強風で大揺れの様はドラマチックです。夏ミカンの左後ろにあるのが

The Japanese bitter oranges are large fruits, and it was quite a sight to see the oranges and their branches swaying dramatically in the wind.  Behind the orange tree is a Chinese quince tree.

カリンの木で、こちらも沢山生っています。

This tree is also prolific.

根元には1個の実が落ちていました。

A quince fruit on the ground.

ずしりと重い。私はあの臭いが苦手なのでカリン苗は育てたことありません。

It was quite large and heavy.  However, I am not fond of that distinct smell, so I have never grown this tree.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

帰宅して、玄関前でタイガの乾燥の仕上げをヘアドライヤーでしていたら、突然頭上のバルコニーで大きな音がしました。後で２階へ見に行ったら、大雪ナツメの鉢植えがハデに倒れていました。何本もの枝が折れて、実と一緒に床に散らばっていました。

大雪棗の鉢植え苗は、つい最近までヒモでバルコニーのトレリスに括り付けてあったのを、実の陽当たりが良くなるよう鉢の向きを変えたときにヒモをほどいたのでした。「ドライヤーが終わったら、苗をまたヒモで固定しよう」と思っていたやさきでした。薄暗いなかで見たところ、苗の半分以上の実が落ちていました。こんな青い状態の実をかき集めてきても無意味に見えますが、一応自分への教訓を記録しておくためです。

At home, as I was applying a hair dryer trying to finish off Taiga's coat outside the porch door, I heard a thump above my head - it came from the balcony above.  After I finished drying Taiga, I went upstairs to see what had happened.  The Big Snow Jujube plant had been knocked down by a gust of wind.  A lot of branches had been broken in the fall together with young fruits, scattered on the floor.

The pot of plant had been tied to the balcony trellis until a few days ago, but I untied the rope so as to turn the plant around for better exposure of the young fruits to the sun.  This evening, after coming back from the park, I was going to tie the plant again after I finished drying Taiga with a hair dryer, when I heard the thump.  The upshot of it was that the tree lost more than half of the young fruits in the fall.  Now, what is the point of gathering the fallen fruits when they are nowhere near ripe yet, you might think.  I took this photo so as to remind myself of the mistake in the future.

そのなかの最大果を計ると、31g。将来、苗が成熟したらもっと大きな実がなるはず、と思って頑張ろう。

I weighed the largest fruit which turned out to be 31g - it was disappointing.  When the tree becomes mature in a few years, I am hoping that the fruits will be larger and uniform in size.  For that, I must take better care of the tree.

念のため最大果と赤く色づいた小さい実の糖度を計ることにしました。

For the record, I checked the sugar content of the largest fruit and the one that was already red.

最大果のほうは41.1%。甘いけれど未だ水分なし。

The green fruit's sugar content was 41.1%.  When I tasted it, it was sweet but not juicy yet.

赤い実のほうは47.1%と

The red fruit showed sugar content of 47.3% and

46.0%。こちらは熟していたので、甘くてジューシーでした。

46.0%.  Since this fruit was ripe, it was sweet and juicy.

頂きものの柿 Persimmon fruits

 お隣さんから庭で生った柿をいただきました。その木は樹齢数十年の大きな木で、柿の実が色づくといかにも「日本の秋」の風情があります。実の形は四角っぽいので一見 次郎柿のように見えますが、こんにちの次郎とは少し違うと思います。果肉は次郎のように硬いけど、風味が爽やか系です。

My next-door neighbour gave me these persimmon fruits this morning.  Her house was built many decades ago by her late parents and the tree looks it has been there since the beginning.  The fruits are squarish, similar to Jiro.  If the tree is Jiro, it must be of the old type - Jiro is an old variety and it has been improved over the years.  The flesh of these fruits is crunchy like that of Jiro, but the taste and flavour are fresher instead of heavy like the modern Jiro.

過去にいただいたものから総合して、種の入りは少なく0-1個です。

From my experience of eating that tree's fruits over the years, the fruits are almost seedless.

糖度計によるとこちらは42.3%

According to the brix meter, the sugar content was 42.3% with this half, and

こちらは25.9%。とても甘くてジューシーでした。

25.9% with this one.  They were both very sweet and juicy.

多田錦柚子など Tada Nishiki Yuzu etc

 今日も冬の前の草むしり、ユリ球根の植え替え、使用済み土の再生準備などで午後が過ぎてしまいました。秋になって自然光が変化したのか、写真がどれも白っぽくなります。玄関前の菊の蕾が膨らんできました。いつもは玄関ドア前を陣取るタイガが、

Another afternoon spent getting ready for the winter, by tiding up weeds, more lily bulbs repotted, recycling used soil for future use, etc.  With the arrival of autumn, the natural light seems to have changed a lot - plants in recent photos look pale.  

Flower buds on the chrysanthemums in front of the porch are getting ready for flowering.  Today, Taiga is absent from the picture.

今日は玄関の中でリラックスして、呼んでも出て来ません。昨日は蚊取り線香の煙を嫌がっていたので、たぶん今日はそれを避けているのでしょう。

She preferred to stay inside the porch, relaxing on the cool tiles.  I think she wants to avoid the incense that I burn in order to repel mosquitoes while I work outside - she hated it yesterday.

秋は果樹の最後の施肥の季節。近所のJAで初めて見かけた肥料を試しに買ってみました。Pが突出しています。骨粉たっぷりの肥料だそうです。これまで果樹のために骨粉だけのものを買っていましたが、結構高い。そこで、リーズナブルな値段で骨粉中心のこの肥料を試すことにしました。

Autumn is the last time I apply fertilisers to my fruit trees.  When I went to the nearby JA, I saw a new type of fertiliser and decided to try it.  I give bone meal to my fruit trees, but it is not cheap.  However, this fertiliser with lots of bone meal was quite reasonable.

さっそく牛糞と混ぜて多田錦などに施肥。この苗は去年買ったばかりですが、今年の春に地植えにしたあと急に枝が繁茂して、現在樹高は1m+。今年の夏はずっと台風の雨続きで、数個の実が裂果して落ちましたが、まだけっこう残っています。

I mixed the above fertiliser with dried cow dung before using it on Tadanishiki Yuzu.  I bought this plant in spring last year.  After I put it in the ground this spring, it grew rapidly and it now measures just above 1 meter.  Due to the long rains during summer this year, several fruits cracked and dropped off the tree, but there are still quite a few surviving.

ほんのり色づき始めた実もあります。

This fruit is starting to turn yellow.

完熟したらマーマレードにする予定。種が殆ど入らないので加工しやすいです。

When these are ripe, I will make them into marmalade.  Tadanishiki is a seedless yuzu which makes it easy for marmalade.

多田錦の隣にはカラカラが植わっています。数年前に地植えにしたあと、初年度に１個だけ実を着けた以外、今までろくに花も咲きません。来年こそ。

ただし、カラカラに高接ぎした星タンゴールの枝に、今年１個の実が生りました。

Near Tadanishiki, there is Cara Cara Orange.  After I planted this tree in the ground several years ago, I had one fruit.  Since then, the tree hardly produces any flower buds even.  Hoping for a better result next year.

However, the Hoshi Tangor Orange branch that is grafted onto Cara Cara has a fruit this year.

栄養を独占してか、星タンゴール本体でも見たことない大きな実になっています。収穫は来年の４月頃なので、さらに肥大するかもと期待しています。

This one fruit gets all the nutrition it requires, and it is already larger than any I have seen growing on the Hoshi Tangor tree itself.  This variety ripens in April, so there is still time to grow.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

健康な食生活のために黒色の食品を摂るべきだそうですが、黒豆は時間がかかるし他に手軽なものはあまり思いつかないので、身近な黒ゴマをおかずに添加しています。今日は黒ゴマ入りの丸パンです。小麦粉400gに黒ゴマ20g (5%)

I am told that for a healthy food life, you should consume black food items, too.  However, I cannot think of many such items that I can take with little effort - black beans take a long time to cook, black garlic is very expensive.  So, I add black sesame seeds to my cooking, and today, I baked buns with black sesame seeds.  I used 20g (5%) sesame seeds with 400g flour.

発酵済みでオーブンへ。

Final proofing done, and to the oven.

もう少しゴマを入れても良かったかも。

Perhaps I should have used more sesame seeds.

キンカンライムなど Limequat etc

 水遣り以外、軒下でほとんど放置状態だったキンカンライムの苗を引っ張り出してびっくり。枝が左右に伸び放題で、こんなに樹形が乱れていました。

This is Limequat growing in a pot.  Apart from watering, I have been neglecting it by placing it under the balcony.  When I pulled it out into the open, I was shocked to see how the branches had grown - they looked out of control.

世話しなくても良く実がなる品種で、しかも粒揃いです。

This plant produces lots of fruits even with little care by me.  Also, the fruits' sizes are quite uniform.

１個だけ、色づき始めたものがあります。

One of the fruits seems to be maturing.

もう使えそう。料理やお茶など、ほんの少しだけ香酸類が欲しいとき、使い切りサイズなので便利です。

It looks ready to be used.  When I need only drops of citrus juice in cooking or for tea, I find this very handy by using the whole fruit.

今年は早めにユリ球根の植え替え作業をしました。うちには紅筋山百合がありますが、その中で２つのタイプに分かれています。

こちらは去年の夏に練馬の渋谷園芸本店で買ったほうで、比較的安価でした。去年の冬の植え替え時に肥料をたっぷりやっておいたので、今年の開花は去年買った時の花よりも大輪。

This year, I am repotting the lily bulbs earlier than usual, while it is warm and pleasant to work outside.  I grow Red Yamayuri and they are grouped into two types as below.

These are the ones I bought in summer last year, from a shop in Nerima, and they were inexpensive.  The flowers were small then, but after giving the bulbs plenty of fertiliser when I repotted them last winter, this year's flowers were much larger.

これ↓が今日 掘り起こしたときの球根で、それぞれの上根に１個ずつ子球ができていました。

When I dug them out today, I found each original bulb had a baby bulb among the upper roots.

こちらはヤフオクで買った球根からの花。球根は高かったけど、本格的な紅筋山百合です。

These are the flowers from one of the bulbs I bought on an auction site.  The bulbs were expensive, but the flowers are authentic Red Yamayuri, and different from Dizzy Oriental Lily.

今年花をつけたのは右の大きいほうの球根だけでしたが、今日の状態を見ると左の小さいほうも来年は咲きそうです。右の球根は買ったときよりかなり大きくなっていて、上根も沢山出ていました。

This year, only the bulb on the right produced flowers.  However, looking at the smaller one, I think it has grown mature enough for flowering next year - it has grown much larger than when I bought it, as well as having lots of upper roots.

この２個の球根には上根に子球ができていませんでしたが、まるで球根が分裂しそうな箇所はありました。ユリ栽培に慣れた人なら、うまく子球として取り外すことができるでしょうが、私は自信ないので、そのまま植えておきました。

Although these bulbs had no baby ones among the upper roots, each of them has a potential baby that seems ready to be detached.  A person with enough experience might be able to separate the baby and make it an independent one, but I am too scared to do it.  So, I simply repotted them as they were.

大きい球根のすぐ横に支柱を立てて越冬です。来年の春、だいたいどのあたりから芽が出るか、予想がつきやすくなります。

I placed a prop next to each of the large bulb, ready for winter.  This way, I would know where to look for the new buds in spring next year.

売れ残り苗を買ってきたパッションフルーツは、８月下旬のこの状態から

The leftover passion fruit plant that I bought in late August has grown from this state

いまは２個の実をつけています。

to this currently, with two fruits growing on it. 

最初に着果した下のほうの実と

Of the 3 flowers that appeared, the lower fruit is from the 2nd flower.

次に結実した上のほうの実は、だんだんと同じサイズに近づいてきています。明日の朝の最低気温は15℃の予想で、来週の後半には15℃を下回るようなので、そろそろ２階の南向き部屋に取り込む時期になりました。

The upper fruit is from the 3rd flower, and its size is getting close to the lower fruit.  Now, the expected lowest temperature for tomorrow morning is 15℃, and the lowest temp is forecast to fall below 15℃ in late next week.  I will be taking this pot to a south-facing room upstairs soon.

同時に買ったビラフランカレモンも順調に育っていて、大きいほうの実が若干黄色くなってきました。

The leftover Villa Franca lemon that I bought at the same time has also been doing well.  The larger fruit has grown a lot, and it is starting to turn yellow.