庭ネコ

lazy, wildlife-friendly gardening, indoor cats Zone 5b

[niwaneko]

Finally, it’s warm out!

Here’s this year’s first round of crocuses.

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On a side note, I started playing Pikmin Bloom. If I can’t plant flowers in real life, I’ll do it in a game instead.

[niwaneko]

Frost is here and I put away my container garden. There isn’t much left other than cleaning at this point. Maybe I’ll post some older photos I didn’t share over the summer.

[niwaneko]

The morning glories were a bit late to bloom this year, but I’m glad they are flowering well.

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Never thought I’d see the day I say “too many tomatoes”

[niwaneko]

I found a cicada shell on the fence around my potted garden!

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This isn’t a potted garden anymore, it’s a jungle.

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Yesterday’s fuki harvest, which I just sautéed because I didn’t have time for anything fancy.

I’m always thankful for having access to fresh Japanese vegetables and herbs. My parents were not so lucky when they immigrated here back in the 80’s, they had to be pretty creative to have a taste of home.

[niwaneko]

The shasta daisies are doing nicely as usual, I love low maintenance plants!

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The current list of garden endeavors this year: eggplant, cucumber, shishito peppers, zucchini, green onion, and cherry tomatoes.

[niwaneko]

Accidentally broke off a marigold in the garden today. Putting it to good use.

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The boy is back (and I suck at watching where I step in the garden, these flowers are proof)

[niwaneko]

They did it. The flowers are smaller than usual, but considering the first buds were chewed to the ground they did a great job.

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The crocuses are trying their best to make a comeback.

[niwaneko]

So... there are no pretty early spring flowers for me to post this year, because all the new crocuses I planted have been eaten by rabbits and chipmunks.

They literally took a bite off the flower buds so I just have the bottom half left, where I can see what color it was supposed to be.

[niwaneko]

the schlumbergera seems to be a bit confused about what month it is, but I can’t really blame them at this point

[niwaneko]

There’s been an increasing mildew problem over the years with the changes in summer rain patterns. But the cucumbers tough it out and manage to keep producing every time.

[niwaneko]

This is probably the last batch of fuki for this year 😢 The type I grow has thin stalks so the prep is easy compared to most Japanese wild herbs.

The basic process is to boil enough water in a pan to cover the stalks, and simmer the fuki for 1 minute to remove excess tannins. Then just peel the skins and the tougher strings located near the surface. (they are similar in structure to celery)

After that, give them a good rinse and add seasonings, or add them to soups! I like sautéing them with a salty sweet sauce or adding it to miso soup.