Planting Fava Beans the Japanese Way

This year, I thought I would try planting some things the way they say to do it on the seed packets here in Japan. Minus the chemical fertilizers of course.

It started like this after pulling all the weeds and making a compost pile in the corner of the garden.

And with a generous helping of this

donated by them,

I double dug a row one meter wide and six meters long. 

I used a stake and some string to mark the edge, and with my Japanese hoe, or kuwa, I piled the soil from the sides into the middle to make the une, or raised bed. The seed packet called for it to be 60cm across the top.

Ok, what next?

Next, with my helper,

We smoothed out the top with a section of pipe,

And voila! A prepared bed for planting.

(I made another one next to it just after this picture)

After we let the beds rest for a week and let the lime mellow out, I planted two fava beans each, 50 cm. apart.

When you plant the beans, make sure to put the black ends down, and push the seed down until it is just hidden in the soil. 

Here we plant them in late October-Mid November. The packet recommends putting some bamboo branches along the north sides of the bed to provide some protection from frigid North winds. 

I'll keep you updated.

Buckwheat Boy!

Took this picture yesterday, you can see the boy is wearing the same shirt. The buckwheat I planted August 15th has really taken off, and is growing like crazy. I am growing it in the old potato patch. After digging the spuds, I:
1. Raked it into some troughs
2. Added leaf mould in the first and third rows, and well composted steer manure in the second and fourth.
3. Then I raked the aisles over the trenches to give them a slight mound, and planted buckwheat in them.
4. And finally, since it was about a gadzillion degrees with not a cloud in the sky, I covered the mounds with some cut ferns and grasses to give them some shade before watering.

And now, they are doing well. I can't see much difference between the compost and leaf mould, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the compost plants will have extra nitrogen and grow just a bit taller.

Behind the boy, you can see the tower of compost I am making from cutting the weeds around the garden. That is how I pay the rent for it. In exchange for cutting it back twice a year, I can farm it. And I get to keep the compost. That is about 1/4 of the cut weeds, and it is 2.5 meters high...

Rice Update

My daddy is trying to grow some rice...

The rice is flowering! I am hoping for at least some crop. However, as you can see in the picture, there is a nitrogen deficiency problem. About half of  the crop is yellow-green and a bit stunted. After the typhoon passes by I will add some diluted urine to the problem areas to correct that.

Rice should be a much deeper green...

I can tell that the cold spring water has really affected the growth of the rice, it is at least a week behind the neighbor's rice, which was planted the same day as mine.

Already planning next year's paddy, adding another 25 square meters and sealing the bottom with 2cm of clay! And I will somehow find enough compost to give it a good 2cm across the whole bottom. So let's see.... 50 square meters times .02m... One cubic meter of each should be enough. Of course, will I actually have the time to do such a project? Hmm....

Potatoes are planted!

With the help(?) of my youngest, I got 60 chitted potato cuttings into the garden, on top of a generous helping of two year old leaf mould. Whew. Next up, sunflowers!

Nice Day in the Park

Oh, Hi!

It really was a nice day in the park. We took this photo on the 11th, which was "Taiiku no hi" here in Japan. Basically "Phys. Ed Day" in English, and a national holiday. So we went to the park to ride kickboards, bicycles, skateboards, and unicycles. A lot of fun.

A Good Wife

Now, I know a lot of you will think I am being sarcastic, but it's true! My wife is so great she let me bake my own Birthday cake! :D

You see, while the Japanese have mastered the art of not cooking fish, their cakes.... well... they suck. Hard. They look beautiful when you see them in a store, for example. But they don't call them sponge cakes for nothing. They have about the same texture and taste as one. So my wife, in her wisdom, allowed me to bake a yellow cake for my birthday! It is in the oven right now. Leif and I made it while Ewan was chilling on the table in his baby bouncer next to us.

So our house if full of the scent of sweet vanilla (with an undertone of sour milk and diaper from Ewan- I should go take care of that now :) )