大根の初収穫 First Harvest of Japanese Raddish

必要のない水遣りで２、３本腐らせ、細いうちに引き抜いたのですが、初おでんに入れようと一番大丈夫そうな大根を抜いたら、予想以上に立派で思わずパチリ。味もばっちりでした。葉っぱも茹でて味噌汁の具や炒め物に入れたりして、完食。大満足～。
I already pulled a few raddish before that started to rotten because I wartered them unnecessarily. I pulled the biggest and strongest because I need one for oden, Japanese pot dish. It was so much better than I expected that I took a picture. It tasted good, too. I even boiled leaves and ate them all in miso soup and sautee. One good raddish made me perfectly satisfied!

秋の空 Autumn Sky

麗らかな秋の一日、高校時代の恩師と神代植物公園を散策しました。沖縄育ちの私たちは、日本人が普通に知っている植物のことを知らない、ということで意見が一致。美しいと思って写真に撮ったこの木の名前も、プレートをしっかり見たのに私は覚えていません。先生は覚えていらっしゃるだろうか、と考えるのは恩師に失礼でしょうか。
In a beatiful autemn day, my teacher of my high-school days and I took a walk in Jindai Shokubutu Botanical Park. We agreed that Okinawan people born and raised there don't know much about common plants which most Japanese people usually know. I don't even remember the name of a tree which is so beautiful that I saw a name plate and took a picture, and wonder if my teacher remembers it.

ブロッコリーのわき芽 broccoli bud

わき芽が収穫できるから、と残した虫食いだらけのブロッコリー。最初は２、３個で味噌汁の彩りとして小ネギ代わりに入れていたのですが、この頃は小さなタッパーに入りきれないほど取れるようになりました。そして、意外と美味しい。虫がうにょうにょと出て来はしないか、という心配もないしＧＯＯＤです。
指導員のおじさんは、植物は生きようとする力が強いから、虫に食われて瀕死の状態だったのがかえって良かったのかもね、と言っていました。やっぱり、植物の世界は深い。
We didn't fell broccoli because we were told that we can harvest bud afterwards, but first we just got a few buds to be in miso soup for green color. To our happy surprise, we can harvest more buds lately that they don't fit in a small tupperware. They taste as good as regular broccoli and I don't have to worry about worms after harvest, which makes me very satisfied.
Our fileld guide said, "As plants have strong power to survive, maybe worm ridden broccoli produce more buds than healthy ones." Hmm, plant world is more profound than it looks.

フォークナー三昧 Indulging in Faulkner

Sanctuary（サンクチュアリ）、Requiem for a Nun （尼僧への鎮魂歌）に続き、 As I Lay Dying（死の床に横たわりて）を読んだ。学生時代以来ン十年ぶりだけど、面白い～！初期の頃の作品で、サンクチュアリなどはお金のために書いた扇動的な作品と本人が言っているらしいけど、どれも読み応えがあって、後のThe Sound and The Fury （響きと怒り）やLight in August （八月の光）を彷彿とさせるフォークナー作品です。特にAs I Lay Dyingは教養があるわけではなく、むしろ社会の底辺にいるような人々の独白から成り立っていて、話が分かりやすく、一章の長さが比較的短いので、フォークナー初心者にもお薦めです。
After Sanctuary and Requiem for a Nun , I read As I Lay Dying. It's been decaces since I read Faulkner last time, but they are as interesting as ever before. They were written early in his career and it is said that Faulkner admitted that he wrote sensational Sanctuary for money, but they are all well worth reading and as good as later masterpieces such as the The Sound and The Fury and Light in August . If you've never read William Faulkner before, I recommend As I Lay Dying in particular, which is easier to understand because not highly educated, ordinary people confide the simple story and chapters are relatively short.

ぬいぐるみの洗濯 Washing Stuffed Animals

今日は天気が良いのでぬいぐるみを洗濯しました。
本当はもっとやさしくお手入れしなくてはいけないのでしょうが、私はネットに入れて普通に洗濯機で洗濯、脱水したあと天日干しします。手作りのものは縫い目がほつれて、耳や目が取れたりしますが、ちくちくと繕うのも楽しからずや。工業製品は全く大丈夫で、デイジーなどは２５年前！にもらって以来何度洗ったか分かりませんが、写真の通り元気です。
As it is such a fine day, I washed stuffed animals and dolls today. I know I had better handle them more carefully, but I just put them in a net to be washed in a washing machine. Then they are dried under the sun. Sometimes for handmade ones, I need to stitch their ears and eyes afterwards because they become shaky after washing, but sewing is okay for me. Manufacutred ones keep good shape after washing. Daisy has been with me more than 25 years! and I don't know how many times she was washed, and she is still in good shape.

虫との闘い Fight against Worms

ブロッコリーの収穫が終わりました。これからわき芽を収穫できるので片付けないでってアドバイスしてくれるんだけど。。。かなり虫にやられていて、きれいさっぱり片付けたい！でも、わき芽もゆでるとかなり美味しいので、頑張って虫取りします。

We harvested broccoli and our mentors told us to keep it because we can still enjoy buds that will come out one after another. But worms are all over and eat our broccoli as much as they want, so we feel like felling it completely. As we know boiled broccoli is delicious, we keep our worm-stricken broccoli and fight against worms!

秋の畑 Autumn Field

春に植えた落花生がそろそろ収穫時期を迎えました。よく洗って殻付きのまま３０分程度塩ゆでしたら、最高のおつまみです！
We started to harvest peanuts planted in spring. After careful ly washed and boiled about 30 min, husked peanuts are one of the best snacks to accompany alcohol.







防虫用の寒冷紗の中ですくすくと育つ白菜。ちゃんと巻いて立派な白菜になってね～！この冬は自家製の白菜で鍋が楽しめますように。
Fast growing chinese cabbage under a fly screen mesh. I hope they will curl to become a regular cabbage so that we can enjoy nabe (Japanese style hot pot dish) with home-grown chinese cabbage.





間引く前の大根。間引き菜も美味です。
Japanese radish right before thinning out. Thinned radish is also very delicious.