Red Cucumber (Moi) Blossoms

Second floor balcony Red Cucumber (Moi) starting to blossom.

Spring Onion (Blue Onion, Negi)

 

The Blue Onion (Negi) bulbs I planted a week ago started to sprout. If you recall I purchased these from a supermarket.

Bitter Melon (Goya or Nigauri) Fruit

The second floor Bitter Melon (Goya or Nigauri) have two small Goya. It looks like the bee came back.

Pineapple

I planted a Pineapple cutting in between my Watermelon plants and noticed it has new growth in the center.  It survives!

Banana Tree in a Pot with Pups

I have a Banana Tree out front in a pot as a decoration, but I noticed it has a few pups. It's such a lovely tree.

Climbers

All my climbers are doing well, but a little worried about the watermelon. In front is the Red Cucumber (Moi), center is Watermelon and furthest away is Bitter Melon (Goya). I also have Japanese Pumpkin (Kabocha) at the end of the balcony, but cannot see, See waiting on the Moi to blossom. The Moi I have in my side garden started to blossom a few days ago.

Bitter Melon (Goya or Nigauri) Blossoms

My second floor balcony Bitter Melon (Goya or Nigauri) are starting to blossom. When I was checking the blossoms I was pleasantly surprised to see a small bee. Unfortunately, I scared it away, but it will come back.

Seed Stock

Though I buy plants from nurseries on occasion, I generally collect the seeds from the plants I grow. I try and keep seeds from vegetables I thought tasted good. I think it is best to store seeds in paper envelops, but I chose plastic. I do not close the bags tight and store them in a dry location. Actually, the Kabocha (Japanese Pumpkin) I planted this year is from seeds I have had for over five years. 

Bitter Melon (Goya or Nigauri) How to Prepare for Cooking

Start with a Bitter Melon (Goya)

Cut in half

Remove the spongy white stuff and seeds using a small spoon.

Use a spoon to remove as much of the spongy white stuff as possible.

Separate any seeds not damaged during the cutting process from the spongy white stuff. Dispose of the spongy white stuff and save the seeds for planting later.

Cut each side in thin slices and you are ready to cook. 

Goya Champuru

What you'll need:

1. One large Goya (Prepare as described above)

2. 50 grams thinly sliced port or SPAM

3. 10 grams of carrots 

4. One egg

5. Japanese Dashi Power (see picture below)

6. Dash of pepper

7. Olive oil (2 tablespoons)

How to Prepare:

1. Heat skillet and add 1 tablespoon of oil
2. Batter the egg, cook until fluffy and remove
3. Add the meat, cook lightly and remove
4. Add Goya and cook until tender
    (takes about 10 mins, stir frequently)
5. About 5 mins into the cooking add the carrots)
6. When the Goya and carrots are tender add the meat and egg, a pinch of black pepper and Dashi. Dashi is salty, so add gradually and mix until desired taste is reached.

Spring Onion (Blue Onion, Negi)

I purchased these Spring Onions (Negi) from a supermarket today. The store calls them Blue Onions, but the bulbs look like Spring onions, so suspect it is simply a cultural adaptation. Anyway, since they had the roots still attached, I decided to put them in water to keep them fresh as I use the top portion and later plant the bulb. 

I planted four bulbs today. Let's see if they generate new shouts.

Bitter Melon (Goya or Nigauri) Fruit

I love Bitter Melon (Goya or Nigauri) so much I have it planted all over the place. As previously mentioned, I have it on my balcony, in the side yard (wild) and this is in the back of the house along a fence. I got a few Goya from it, but it has not done well this year; however, due to all the recent rain there are now three fruit on the vine. They will be ready to pick in two or 3 more weeks. They can actually be picked once they get dark green like the one in the picture, but better to let them grow larger to get the most out of the plant.

Papaya (Fruit)

Today I was clearing away some of the dead leaves from my Banana and Papaya trees when I found this Papaya on the ground. There was a little damage on one side, but generally in good condition. I will let it ripen inside for a few more days. Actually, I've never eaten a Papaya as a fruit, so curious to see what it tastes like. I'll let you know.

 

I stored the Papaya in the refrigerator for a few days before deciding to try it. It was not so sweet and suspect it needed to ripen a bit longer, but I ate it anyway. I can guess what it would taste like when ripen, which is a mild cantaloupe. I'll try this again, but need to learn when it is ripe.

Rosemary (Herbs)

I have Rosemary growing out front more as a decoration for it's simple beauty.

I have a second bush growing in the side garden as a herb since it is easy to access.

Red Cucumer (Moi) Blossoms

I planted a Red Cucumber (Moi) in my side yard, as well as on my second floor balcony, but the plant in my side yard is starting to flower. I'm so excited. It has attached itself to my fence and growing in all directions. There is also a Bitter Melon (Goya) plant growing on the fence. I did not plant the Goya, but this is the second year it grew. I never got any Goya from it, but it is amazing it continues to appear.

Japanese Sweet Potatoes (Satsumaimo) New Containers

My Sweet Potatoes (Satsumaimo) are starting to grow so I added a new container on either side of the container containing the runners for the potatoes to root and grow. If you recall I have two verities of potato in this container. The left is from a clipping from a neighbor, not sure of the variety, but I hope it is Beniimo, and the right side is the standard Japanese Sweet Potato, called Satsumaimo.

Also, so many runners came from the potato I buried, I already clipped some of the ends and planted them in the right container.

Strawberry Tower First Strawberry

First Strawberry since building the tower (yeah!). There are many flowers, but since there are not a lot of insects on the balcony to pollinate them, I will have to help them out.

Strawberries do not have separate male and female flowers, but rather the flower contains both the male part (stamen) and the female part (stigma), so I'll use a Q-tip to help out the pollination process.

Watermelon (Suika) Blossoms

Watermelon (Suika) in full bloom. Balcony gardening is a paradox. The good and bad thing is few bugs. Few bugs to eat your plants (good), but also few bugs to pollinate your flowers (bad). 

Some flowering plants, like Watermelon, create both male (red arrow) and female (blue arrow) flowers in which pollinators, like bees, pollinate them as they travel about gathering nectar, while the flowers of some other plants contain both male and female parts, like Strawberries.  

With regards to the Watermelon female flower, fruit develops with a flower on the end waiting to be pollinated. If it is not pollinated, the fruit will wither up and fall off. Today, I found a number of small fruit falling off and realized they were not being pollinated, so I removed a male flower, pulled the petals off and rubbed it on the female flowers. This generally works, but I'll have to monitor the situation and be a little more attentive.

Green Onion, (Scallion, Negi)

Green Onions and Scallions are the same thing, but called differently as they mature.

I use a lot of onions in my cooking, but do not use the bulb. I simply cut off the top portion of the onion, which will allow it to regrow.

I harvest the seeds, but never used them yet.

Iris Flower

My wife and I visited an Iris field open to the public a few months ago. It was so amazing.

Iris field.

I purchased Iris flowers for my home.

Mikan Orange Tree

Mikan are a type of Mandarin, but resemble a Tangerine. Mikan are sweet, juicy and easy to peel. Mikan are mostly seedless, but there are occasional seeds in them. I planted a few earlier this year and a few sprouted. I am not sure if they will ever produce fruit, but they are beautiful trees, so I will keep them trimmed small, like I do with my Kinkan tree and enjoy their beauty. 

Second Mikan Tree about five months old.

I planted some basil in the same pot and hope it does not stunt the tree's growth. I like to cross-utilize my planters when possible.

(5/14) Mikan growing well

Green Peppers Album

I bought this plant from a nursery a few months ago. Initially it looked like it was going to die, so I cut all the leaves off and added some nutrients to the soil. About a month later it bounced back and started to produce incredibly. I have harvested four green peppers and one red pepper so far, and I counted about 15 more peppers growing. I moved the plant to the shade to slow down the pepper's growth so I can pick them when I need them. I've been about to harvest peppers from this plant for over a month now. 

I will harvest this plants seeds and try and grow my own, but I have found many seeds from peppers sterile, but I will try anyway.    

I got a red pepper from my green pepper plant yesterday. Green peppers will turn red as they mature and generally sweeter.

These are the first three peppers I picked.

Japanese Sweet Potato (Satsumaimo)

My Japanese Sweet Potatoes (Satsumaimo) are about four weeks old and growing fast. As a reminder, the plant on the left was grown from a vine I got from a neighbor and the plant on the right was from a store bought potato I planted. You can tell by the leaves they are different plants. I know what type of potato i planted, but not sure what they neighbor gave me. Kind of excited to see what I get in four to 6 months.

Satsumaimo have red, pink or purple skin and white inside, but after cooking they will turn yellowish. They are healthier than white potatoes and high in antioxidants.  

Tomato

I grow all types of tomatoes, but generally I buy them from a nursery; however, I tried something new my wife suggested. We had a tomato in the refrigerator that went bad, so instead of throwing it away, I sliced it up like I would for a hamburger and planted each slice in a pot. I planted these two weeks ago. We'll see how they turn out.

I harvested some seeds from some tomatoes, but it is painful. I suppose there is a technique, but need to study up.

Banana Tree Album

 

I purchased and planted a banana tree nearly two and a half years ago. From this one tree, I have propagated over 25 trees and have them growing in four different pods. 

My tress typically flower in late summer and I harvest the bananas in March or April. After the bananas are harvested the tree will be cut down since it will not produce bananas again. But don't worry, it will produce many pups to takes it's place; however, do not keep more than two or 3 pups around the mother tree, since they will steal the nutrients. Pups a foot or taller can be transplanted to a new location or just cut down.

I try and keep the bunch on the tree as long as I can and cut a hand off to ripen up inside, but when the tree gets weak and can no longer hold the bunch, I cut it off and hang it up in the back. I just cut a hand off and let it ripen. The bunch stays fresh for weeks hanging up.

This is a pup I transplanted and it's yield below.