Coconut Banana Corn Flakes

Happy New Year!

I poured a bowl of corn flakes and cut up a banana before realizing we had only a quarter cup of milk in the carton in the fridge. Who does that? Anyway, there was also half a can of coconut milk left over from a coconut banana pudding we made yesterday.... Well, it says milk on the label...

You really should try this. It was amazing. The crunchy cornflakes, the sweet bananas and that coconut.... This is the way corn flakes should be eaten.

Number One Reason NOT To Drop Firewood

First Day- after cleaning it up

The oldest boy and I were hauling in some firewood for the stove Saturday. I wear safety shoes when I split wood- it is only common sense! But we take off our shoes when we enter the house here. I never thought I might need steel toed slippers! My son was doing his best to imitate Daddy and carried a very large load of wood.... and one- of course it was the incredibly dense black locust bolt so large I wasn't sure it would fit in the stove door- fell. From the looks of things, the corner of the behemoth caught me right at the edge of the toenail, and the shock ripped my skin (and maybe a bit of muscle too, a bit too painful to lift up the flap and see). Anyhow, he felt so bad that I had to pretend it didn't hurt in front of him and laughed a bit- until he left to get more wood. The photos don't really do justice to the white hot bolt of pain that made me seriously think I might vomit. A large part of that was that my feet were freezing cold when it happened. It wasn't until about 30 minutes later that I noticed my sock was bloody.
At any rate- it hurt, but after an hour or two, I could walk after a fashion and flex it, so I am fairly sure it is just a bad bruise and a rip. Now the second day, I can walk with just a slight limp, although it apparently breaks the wound open if I overdo it- the bandages are still a bit red...

Second Day after the bath- still bleeding!

Accidents can happen anytime, anywhere, and usually when you are not wearing safety equipment.

Appropriate For Me Tech

(inspired by watching a Japanese office worker buy a 70,000 yen rototiller for a 10'x10' garden plot)

(and by my new bicycle)

I used to buy expensive fancy cheeses with hard to pronounce French names... but I craved colby.
I used to buy imported Belgian beers... but I craved a pilsner.
I used to use an air conditioner in the summer... now I sit in breezy shade.
I used to heat my house with kerosene/electric fan heater... now I burn wood.
I used to crave a rototiller.. now I have a nice digging fork.
I used to drive a RAV4 SUV with all the latest gadgets... now I have a micro-truck with an AM radio.

I used to buy expensive alloy bicycles with thin 28 inch tires, 18 speeds, and suspensions... but I realized I only use three gears. Ultra low for hills, medium for town, and high for flat countryside.
I couldn't find a three speed bike, but last week we got a nice, 6 speed, steel frame, and sturdy brakes. My times have not changed.

Buy tools appropriate to your needs.
If you are a carpenter, buy a very nice hammer. If you need to pound a nail to hang a picture, you can get by with something less.
If you are a lumberjack, buy a top shelf professional model chainsaw. If you want to trim a branch off a tree, use a pruning saw.
If you are a bicycle racer or serious recreational cyclist, buy the top of the line. If you want to ride to work and back again wearing dockers and a polo shirt, buy this bike.

Ok, done ranting for now.

A Peck of Peppers

 One peck is 8 dry quarts, or 1/4 of a bushel.
Yeah, I don't know what to make of that either....

Well, I am not Peter Piper, and the peppers are not pickled, but I probably picked a peck of them this evening with the help of the oldest boy and his flashlight. The cold wind and clear skies spell killing frost to me, so I thought I should get them done ASAP.

Then, I get them into the house, and the wife says- "Where did these come from? It's mid-November!"
So, anyway, since we cannot possibly use them all fresh, I diced up a kilo of them, wrapped them in 100g packets, and put them in the ziplock. The only problem is that if I did all of them except for the 10-15 we might get through fresh, we would have a freezer of nothing but peppers...

Hellooooo neighbors and students!!!! Or if you live in Japan and want to share the bounty, drop me an e-mail.

But at any rate, if you find yourself with a peck of peppers and some freezer space, just dice them up and put them in sandwich bags or plastic wrap, then into a big ziplock and freeze them. You don't need to blanch them, making peppers the easiest garden veggie to freeze for the winter.

This winter's spaghetti sauce will be twice as good due to these beauties.


Now what to do with 2 Kg of green paste tomatoes.... Suggestions?

First Patchy Frost

Woke up this morning, made breakfast for the kids, and took the goats and dog out for their walk. And there, on the windshield of the car, was a thin film of ice. Although it was only the front windshield, which sometimes freezes due to radiating heat into the clear night sky. The grass and vegetation near the house had no frost on it I could see. However, as I took the goats down the valley to their pasture I saw some small patches of frost here and there. We might get a few more days of frost free weather, but I think that this is about the end. Looks like I'm only growing broccoli, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, spinach, beets, onions, garlic, and carrots till spring. Of course, the boars will probably eat that though.

More Fava Beans

I planted my fava beans with our youngest child today. Eleven beans in the packet, so we planted six by the house, and five by the Chinese cabbages in the wild boar danger zone. Hope they make it.

We are in the yellow area of the map, so we plant from early September to mid November.
We can expect to harvest from mid May on.

The beans are from the Atariya Seed company. The variety (for those of you who don't read Japanese well) is "Kawachi" strain of the "One sun (pronounce it "soon") fava bean" A sun is about 3 cm. They appear to be an open pollinated strain- there is no mark indicating it is a hybrid.

A rough translation of the four pink bullets would be:

• Characteristics- The standard fava bean. Soft and sweet 3cm beans are delicious. Very hardy and easy to cultivate, with lots of 3 bean pods, it is well suited to home gardens.
• Planting and Care- Planting from late Sept. to November is best. Dig in 5 handfuls of compost per square meter, and one handful of lime. Plant one seed each, 30cm apart in raised rows 60cm wide. Supplementally feed small amounts of a low nitrogen, high phosphorous and potassium chemical fertilizer throughout the growing season.
• Hints- Planting too early can lead to winter damage. To prevent the plants from falling over, shoulder some soil around them.
• Harvest and Suggested Uses- In May, when the pods have plumped up, harvest like corn on the cob. Shell the beans and use for snacks or with beer. 

Can't wait to see if they work- my whole family loves favas!

My City the Lucky Winner of New Radioactive Dump Site

Yesterday, the Japanese government, in its infinite wisdom, decided to give one hour's notice to our Mayor  before announcing our city was to host the Ibaraki Prefectural Radioactive Waste Dump.

This is from the Daily Yomiuri:

Ministry selects 2nd N-waste candidate site
Jiji Press
The Environment Ministry said Thursday it has chosen a national forest in Takahagi, Ibaraki Prefecture, as a candidate site for the final disposal of radioactive waste from the prefecture.
The decision makes Ibaraki the second prefecture, after Tochigi, to have a candidate site chosen where radioactive waste released from Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant will be dumped. Both Ibaraki and Tochigi share a border with Fukushima Prefecture.
Senior Vice Environment Minister Katsuhiko Yokomitsu informed Ibaraki Gov. Masaru Hashimoto of the ministry's decision when the two met at the prefectural government office.
Yokomitsu said the ministry intends to carefully explain to local residents why the site has been chosen and reassure them of its safety.
Hashimoto said he will make his own decision after hearing what residents have to say.
After the meeting, Yokomitsu told reporters that the ministry has no plan to provide subsidies to regions that host final disposal facilities.
However, he said the ministry wants to discuss the possibility of providing subsidies if requested by local authorities.
Takahagi Mayor Yoshio Kusama said at a separate meeting with Yokomitsu that the city will not accept the ministry's decision and strongly opposes it.
The mayor added that the city finds it difficult to trust the central government as it made the decision without prior notice.
As of Aug. 3, the prefecture had 1,709 tons of waste, such as ash, contaminated with radioactive cesium of more than 8,000 becquerels per kilogram.
The government is in charge of the disposal of all such waste found in the stricken Tohoku region.
(Sep. 28, 2012)

I know somewhere has to accept it, but it sure feels like garbage problems are following me around. First the hazardous waste disposal site proposed up the road, now this.....

Because it is a national government project, protesting it will not make much difference, but I plan to anyway.