ナツメなど Jujubes etc

 先日の網掛ケージの出来に気を良くして、今度はバルコニーに置いてあったケールも網で保護することにしました。2階のナツメ苗の間に点在していた状態でモンシロチョウがやって来ると、狭いバルコニーを移動しながら追い払っていたのですが、ナツメの枝に服が引っ掛かってしまいがちでした。ケールを一箇所に集約して網掛することでチョウの産卵の心配が無くなります。ポルトガルケールはバルコニーに３株、庭に２株。普通のケールはここに４株、庭に１株。

Having confirmed the usefulness of the vegetable cage that I built a few days ago, I decided to cover the kale plants on the upstairs balcony, by gathering them in one place.  These kales had been placed between jujube pots, and whenever I saw cabbage butterflies, I had to walk sideways chasing the insects.  Every time I did so on the narrow balcony, my clothes got caught by jujube branches.  By covering the kales with a net, I no longer have to worry about green grubs.  Having sacrificed one pot of each variety, I now have 5 plants of each, including the ones in the garden.

庭の棗は、今年の春に地植えにした皇帝ナツメと、鉢植えの日本ナツメ。これ↓は皇帝です。

The jujubes in the garden are one 'Emperor' and one Japanese variety.  This tree in the below photo is Emperor which I planted in the ground this spring.

２階のナツメ苗はおびただしい数の花が咲いていますが、着果の兆しは無し。対して、遅れて咲き始めたこの皇帝は、授粉の確認ができる箇所がたくさんあります。でも、本格的な着果が期待できるのは７-８月の猛暑のなかでの開花です。

The jujubes on the upstairs balcony have tons of flowers but no sign of fruit setting.  In contrast, the Emperor started flowering late but I can see numerous flowers that seem to have successfully pollinated.  However, I must not forget that it is really flowers of July-August, during extreme heat, that result in serious fruit setting.

こちら↓は２年前の７月に買った日本種の苗。そのときは猛暑の時期だったので、そうっと鉢増ししただけで、去年の春に絡まった根っこをほぐして徹底的に粘土の土を洗い落としました。そのショックで去年は全く成長なし。今年の春にやっと新梢が出てきて、それがもう50cmほどに伸びています（赤矢印が今春のスタート点）。

This is the Japanese jujube that I bought in July 2024.  We were in the middle of a heat wave then, so I simply potted it without disturbing the roots.  In spring last year, I washed off the heavy clay soil and cut a great deal of entangled roots.  The shock to the plant was too much and there was no growth during last year.  However, this spring, new branches shot out and they are already 50cm long (the red arrows indicate the starting points of this year).

花数も去年より多い。

And, it has more flowers than last year.

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今日も暑かったですが、夕方は乾燥した涼しい風が吹くなか、城北公園へ向かいました。草丈が伸び始めた草地に座り込んでリラックス。

It was another hot day today.  In the evening, we had cool breezes and we set off to the Johoku Park, where we sat down and relaxed among the tall grass.

タイガが目でオヤツを催促。ヨダレが風に揺れている。

Taiga urging me to pull out the treat, with her saliva swaying in the breeze.

今日のは牛タンの乾燥皮で、完全無添加です。

A healthy treat - dried skin of cow's tongue with no additives whatsoever.

カリカリ音をたてて満足そうに食べています。

She savours it making a crackling sound.

あっ、カンタ。

She spots Kanta in the distance.

カンタはタイガより４歳ちかく年下なのに、タイガはいつも低姿勢で挨拶します。しっぽが完全に右側に倒れている。

Kanta is nearly 4 years younger than Taiga, but she always greets him as if she were his junior.  Notice her tail falling to the right - she likes him a lot.

カンタはシュッとした甲斐犬です。

Kanta is a sharp-looking Kaiken.

紫色の舌班が見えます。タイガの舌班は口の奥に小さなのがあるだけ。

He has purple stains on his tongue.  Taiga's spot is much smaller and is located at the back of her mouth.

帰りしな、タービュレンのルイ君にも会えました。ルイ君はタイガより１歳下の12歳で、幼馴染です。
On our way home, we met Louis, a male Belgian Tervuren.  He is 12 years old, and one year younger than Taiga.  They have been good friends since they were puppies.

家の近くまで来ると暗くなり始めていて、東の空に満月がかかっていました。

By the time we reached our neighbourhood, it was getting dark, and I noticed a full moon in the east.

西の空は夕焼け。明日も暑くなりそうです。

In the west, there was a shepherd's delight, indicating another hot day tomorrow.

ナツメ新苗など Jujube new plant etc

 新疆棗王の苗が春になっても芽吹かなかったので、４月下旬に先端20cmほどを徐々に切ってみたら、芯まで乾燥していました。そこで写真とともに販売元へ事情を説明して替わりの苗を送ってもらえることになりました。その苗が今日届きました。

The Xinjiang jujube tree that I bought in November last year never budded.  So, in late April, I made cuts to see if the tree was alive or not.  After cutting about 20cm from the top little by little, I saw that the trunk was completely dry.  I contacted the seller immediately to explain what was happening.  Having seen the photos I sent them, they agreed that the plant was not viable and offered that they would send me a replacement tree with new buds actually growing.  The promised replacement arrived today.

今日は朝から雨で涼しく高湿度なので、苗への負担を考えると植え付けに最適な天気です。ビニールポットを切るのはもったいないですが、根っこを痛めないように犠牲にしました。

Today was a rainy day all day.  Being cool with high humidity, it was an ideal weather for the plant to be potted, in order to minimise the burden on the young plant.  I cut open the plastic pot so as not to damage the roots.

白い根が出ています。

I could see some white roots.

継ぎ目がスムーズなので分かりづらいですが、たぶん、このあたり？

The fusion point from grafting is not obvious - perhaps somewhere here?

直径30cmの鉢に植え付け。元肥には牛糞と鶏糞を少し入れました。枝葉の成長具合を見ながら、そのうち配合有機肥料も入れたいです。

I used a 30cm diameter pot.  I mixed cow manure as well as chicken manure into the soil.  As the branches grow further, I will be adding organic mixed fertiliser, too.

継ぎ目は、たぶんこれで地上に出ていると思います。

I hope I got the fusion point above the ground.

よーく見ると、既に恒常的な枝が全部で３本出ています。

On closer inspection, I realised that the plant already had 3 permanent branches growing.

こちらは春になっても芽吹かなかったほうの新疆棗王苗。念のため今日まで水やりしてきましたが、もう代替苗が来たので、思い切って根元付近で切ってみることにしました。

This is the Xinjiang jujube plant that never budded.  Just in case it had some hope, I have been watering this like other jujube plants.  Since a replacement has come, however, I decided to make a bold cut to learn what was happening.

これがその結果。形成層に水分が無いだけでなく、芯が古木のように空洞になっています。

I cut the trunk close to the fusion point.  Not only was the cambium layer dry, but the core of the trunk was hollow like an old tree.

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雨のなか、フェイジョアが咲いています。昔はフェイジョアに力を入れていたけど、実の品質にバラツキがあり過ぎるので今では隣家との目隠しにしています。今日は一日中雨なのでヒヨドリが来ていませんが、つがいで毎年やってきます。

The feijoa trees are in bloom.  I used to be passionate about these fruit trees.  However, the quality of fruits was not consistent, both in texture and taste.  These days, I use them as the shield between my neighbours' gardens and mine.  Normally, Japanese bulbuls come in pairs to pick the petals, but not today due to the rain.

ここは陽当たりが悪いので、「オニヒカゲワラビ」を根元に植えています。うちに来てもう15年くらい経ちますが、深山の植物なので暑い練馬の住宅街では増えません。でも、タイミングよく新芽を摘むことができれば、非常に美味しいワラビです。アクが無いのでまるでコゴミのような食感の一方で、風味はしっかりワラビです。

This spot is in the shade of my neighbour's house, and I keep a rare variety of edible fern.  I have had it for about 15 years, but it does not multiply.  Its natural habitat is deep in mountains and, even there, this fern is considered a rare find if you ever come across it.  With edible wild ferns, normally you have to remove the harsh taste before cooking, but that is not necessary with this variety.

雨あとの棗 Jujubes after rain

 昨日から降り出した雨は今日の午後３時過ぎに止んで、４時頃には青空が広がりました。本当によく降った。おかげで棗の新芽が成長しています。

これは２階南向きバルコニーに置いてある無核金絲棗。新芽が30cm超えになりました。

We had heavy rains over the last 2 days.  It stopped raining after 3 p.m. today and, by 4 p.m., the sky cleared up.  Thanks to the nurturing rain, new shoots on the jujube trees are growing well.

This is Seedless Gold Thread jujube, which is on the upstairs balcony facing the south.  The new permanent branches are now longer than 30 cm each.

節の間隔が長い品種のようです。

This variety has elongated branches with nodes wide apart.

元気に成長する苗の新梢の付け根の太さは、前の年の枝より２倍くらいになるのが棗の特徴。

As a healthy jujube tree with robust growth, the new shoots are twice the size of last year's branches.

蕾も育っています。

Flower buds are also growing.

同じくバルコニーで、物干し場所を挟んで向こう側にあるのは、手前から蟠棗、冬棗、早脆王です。無核金絲棗同様、これらは全て栽培2年目の苗です。

A few meters away, there are 3 other varieties.  From front to back, Panzao, Winter jujube, and Eary Crisp King.  Along with the Seedless Gold Thread, these are all in their second year of growing in my place.

蟠棗は皇帝に次いで最も遅く芽吹き始めました。この品種は梨棗の枝替わりを選抜して扁平な実がなる品種として確立されたそうです。梨棗（Lizao）は米国およびオーストラリアで根強い人気がありますが、日本では私が棗に興味を持つ前に販売されていたあと今はその名前を聞きません。でも、うちの皇帝の木や果実を見ていると、海外の梨棗にそっくりです。

蟠棗に話を戻すと、去年は１個だけ生っていた実をいじっているうちに落としてしまいましたが、今年こそは収穫して皇帝の実と比べたいです。

Panzao started budding last of all, preceded only by Emperor jujube.  Panzao variety was developed from a bud mutation of Li jujube.  Li jujubes are well established in the US and Australia.  In Japan, they used to sell Li (well before I became interested in jujubes), but I never come across the name these days.  However, observing my Emperor jujube (the plant and fruits), it looks very similar to Li overseas.  If indeed Emperor is Li, then fruits of Panzao should be similar in taste to those of Emperor.

Anyway, I hope to taste some fruits of Panzao this year.  Last year, the tree had one fruit growing but when I was fiddling with the young fruit, it came off, the branch and all.

冬棗は去年の夏に購入したあと勢いよく育ちました。去年のうちにＶ字型の樹形にしたあと、今はそれぞれの先端に新芽が伸びています。

I got this Winter jujube in summer last year and it grew rapidly.  I trained the branches to grow in a V-shape and, this spring, a new permanent branch is growing fast on each old branch.

１年限りの細かい枝がびっしり生えています。この品種は節の間隔が非常に狭いので、樹形を低く保ちながら収穫を期待できそうです。ただし、冬棗は若木のうちは実をつけさせにくい品種だそうです。

These dense branches are non-permanent branches.  The nodes are very close to each other, so I am hoping to harvest fruits keeping the whole tree compact.  However, initial years of Winter jujube plants are said to be not very productive.

でも、蕾がたくさん出ているので、今年こそ着果するのでは？

Nevertheless, this plant has lots of flower buds and I am hoping to taste a few fruits this year.

早脆王は去年に続いて最も早く芽吹きました。去年は２個だけ実が生りましたが、今年はどうなるか楽しみです。

The Early Crisp King started budding ahead of other varieties, as it did last year.  I had two fruits on this tree last year and am looking forward to seeing this year's performance.

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今年の春に庭に下した皇帝は、ここ数日で新芽が育ち始めました。

This Emperor jujube used to be in a pot, but I planted it in the ground this spring.  The recent rain has brought out the new buds.

地植え初年度なので、栄養は木を大きくするために集中して実が殆ど生らないかもしれませんが、数年後に充実した木になれば実のサイズも幾分大きくなるのでは。

Since this is the first year of growing in the ground, the tree may concentrate on growing taller, leaving little nutrition for fruits.  When the tree is more mature in a few years, I am hoping the size of the fruits will be larger than they were when growing in a pot.

しっかり蕾が出ています。

Flower buds have come out.

こちらは３年目の日本ナツメ。去年は実がコガネムシの成虫に１個も残さず齧られてしまいました。今年は木酢液を薄めてスプレーしてみるつもりです。

This is a Japanese jujube, in its third year of growth in my place.  Last year, scarab beetles nibbled every one of the young fruits.  This year, I am going to try spraying diluted wood vinegar.  The strong smoky smell of the vinegar will hopefully deter insects.

バラのハンザもぼちぼち咲いています。近くの植物を見回っていると芳香が漂ってきます。

More flowers opening on Hansa bush.  When I walk about looking at various plants nearby, I can smell a beautiful scent.