Strawberries in August!!

This weekend I harvested the first strawberry of the august batch!

my strawberry harvest of August!

I don’t know why, but my strawberries just keep on giving fruit. I was surprised when they gave a batch in November, but now they have been giving since may and again now in august.

I think they might be the ever bearing type, but the label they come with says it is a June bearing. Also they continue to give out many runners, I have to cut some out every week, and ever bearing are supposed to give very few runners. So it's very confusing.

this strawberry was getting big in mid august

Last month after the July harvest I thought that was the end. The plant had given out a very generous batch of several branches and then stopped giving flowers. But this time I noticed some new flowers were about to come out early august. Another week and they were at full bloom. I artificially pollinated the first flower and let the others be as nature intended.

Last week that one strawberry started to ripen and the rest started to get some volume. And finally this last weekend I harvested successfully that one strawberry. It had a very funny pear shape, very different to the ones I got this July.

Pear strawbery

Now the rest of the batch doesn’t look like it will grow more, and they didn't got enough pulp, so I guess I should have pollinated those as well. But well I'm very happy with my one pear shaped strawberry harvest, it was very sweet, one of the sweetest of this year.

I wouldn't be shocked if the plant will try to fruit some more this fall. Like i said before, of all my plants it is the one that continue to surprise me every time

It was very sweet

My grape

Back in my country I have seen many houses with a little wooden deck that oversights the garden and has a grapevine growing along the pergola. I, of course, have always wanted to have a house like that.

Pione grapes from japan

Now I live in japan, in a small apartment on the tenth floor. It's very different from my dream house. But that doesn't mean I can't have a grapevine in my garden.

I learned something very important about growing grapevines from my grandfather. Grapevines can thrive on containers. He used to have one growing on a little bucket on his roof garden, and he had it fruiting many years.

My grandfather past away some years ago, but I always maintain the memory of him working on his garden smiling and offering me some fruits (he grew so many things, including some very delicious strawberries which also inspired me for my garden). So in his memory I wanted to have some grape and I wanted to do it well. I researched on how to grow grapes and set my path to the garden center. There I found it hard to decide which kind to choose and had trouble with japanese kanji, so I wrote down some names and headed back to the internet to look up the Japanese names.

I learned a lot, about grapes, how to grow them, how they grow them in japan, and all the different species.

At the end I decided to set for a pione it is a crossbreed between a Kyoho (a Japanese type) and some other. This kind of grapes are very sweet, very big and have no seeds. Here I have seen they sell them at the luxury fruit food stores. So I think they must be very good, I hope mines can reach that hi-quality.

Also here in japan I had visited some grape farms, they have a very peculiar way of taking care of them wrapping them on a paper bag while on the vine to protect them. I want to try their method with mines.

I visited this pione grape farm last year

I got my plant this august as only one branch so I have to wait for next season to see if I can get some fruit, but I am very hopeful. From the moment I set the plant on its pot it started growing roots like crazy, some of them even reached the edges of the pot and overflown a little, and it is the biggest pot on my garden. I think that with such a nice start it will have a lot of strength for next year. Let's see how it goes.

My vegetables

Back at my country I had grown food many times before. At my parents' house we have lots of lemon and orange trees, papayas, and once we even had a mango and a watermelon. However vegetables are something I had not tried since I was a kid (well we do have a chili pepper bush but it practically grows itself).

Here in japan I was convinced I wanted to try to grow some vegetables in my garden. Apart from my tomatoes here I also have beans and peppers.

My peppers

My peppers finally got some fruit

I have a red and a yellow ornamental pepper. I got them from the trash of a flower shop last fall. I wonder why they threw them away, when I got them they still look good, I think the flower shop just needed the space. I didn't have any problem with them all winter, even though I kept them on their starter pots. They continue to flower and fruit thought the winter and into early spring.

I wasn't sure where to put them, but finally I did change them into a bigger pot. However when I change them I used some leftover banana milkshake fertilizer and I think it was too much because they stop giving fruit after that.

After the re-pot they had a couple weeks of rapid only leafs growth, then they started to bloom like crazy but dropped all flowers with no fruit. They continued doing that all spring and early summer and only until recently the amount of flowers diminished. Still no peppers though, well only one.

My beans

The beans never fully recovered from the drought

I like to grow beans because they remind me of my childhood. I always remember when I was a kid and I used to walk between the very tall bean stalks at my house garden. I don't think they were that tall, but when I was a kid they felt like giants.

Here in Japan I first sow some beans on late June. They grew like crazy, and started to take over the balcony fence, they were growing really good, and I was already counting how many I would harvest. Sadly, the beans were one of the most damaged plants on the week of the draught. Now they are only thin stalks with a couple of leafs. I guess I should get them out and try to sow some more but I haven't had the heart to do it.

For this winter I want to get some more vegetables, something that I can grow in my little balcony garden. I was thinking コマツナ (Japanese Mustard Spinach) and onions but I haven't decided yet, any recommendations?

My herbs

Herbs are easy to grow in little gardens. They usually thrive in containers, and most are very resistant to everything.

My mints were the first herb I got for my garden, but after seeing how they could grow so easy I decided to get some more.

My Cilantro (Coriander/Chinese parsley)

my first batch of Coriander

I had to get this plant because I missed that flavor. For me "cilantro" is one of the basic herbs for cooking, also I know it is native of Asia so I was very surprised when I got to japan and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I went to many supermarkets and food stores but it was nowhere to be found. I only saw it once in Nihonbashi, but when I went back to buy it they didn't have it anymore.

Getting a bit frustrated because I couldn’t buy it fresh I decided to grow It myself. I looked around internet and research about how to grow coriander. It was winter so I had to wait, but the idea was on my mind already.

Next spring, after I moved and I discovered the garden center I got some seeds there, I sow them and waited for some tasty leafs. The plants were growing fine, but then I went on vacation and they suffer quite a bit. When I came back they didn't look good, I water them thoroughly and when the leafs got fresh I harvest them all. They were really tasty.

After that I have sowed some more, I hope they are still on season.

My sweet basil

My sweet basil is growing well

After my success growing mint and my semi success growing cilantro I wanted to get some more herbs. Last month on a trip to the garden center I saw that they had sweet basil for sale, so one more plant for my little garden. I did some research about how to grow basil and set it up.

Now it is growing very happily where the marigold used to be, it is growing quite fine and I already used it for my cooking twice.

I do want to have more herbs, but I am worried I will run out of space, my little garden is really a very little garden. Well maybe one little lavender, it can't hurt that much.

My flowers

Every garden needs flowers. They look great, smell great and help to attract many beneficial insects to the garden.  

My flowers at their best

Having a garden is a tradition that starts with my grandparents. They always had a very full of life garden. My grandpa had grapes, strawberries and even an "amaze everybody he could grew it" pineapple. My grandma on the other hand always had many beautiful flowers, she often woke up early and cut some flowers to adorn her house, filling it all with the fresh scents.

Back at my parents, we also used to have lots of flowers in the garden. Usually we grew petunias for spring, and "Nochebuenas" (Poinsettias) at winter, but we had many others as well, including a huge bugambilia that covers the whole front fence.

My Calla lily blooming this summer

Having a garden here in japan, I could not miss out on having some flowers of my own. I already had a Calla lily, and a Kalanchoe but this spring I got a bunch more.

My torenia

It just keeps on blooming

I bought this one at my favorite garden center. It was quite full of flowers when I got it, but at my garden it went crazy growing and blooming nonstop. They remind me of the full white carpet of petunias that I used to have at my parents' house.

Now it continue to give flowers, but it is not as full after the vacation drought.

My Blue Salvia

I love this purple color

I had seen a lot of this flowers around since last year, but I didn't know much about them. Silly me at first I used to believe this was lavender. I think it's an honest mistake, the flowers do look alike a bit. However when I visited Hokkaido last year and I saw the lavender farms, I realize it’s a different plant.

This spring I spot some at the garden center, and I had to buy them. This deep purple color is one of my favorites of all my flowers.

Sadly this plant got a lot of damage on the week of the drought, and it never fully recovered. Now it still have some green and some tinny flowers but I think it's best to take it out. Next year however, it will sure be on my list of flowers to get for spring.

My Marigold

The flower basquet

This is another flower I got because it reminds me of the flowers back in my country. I wanted to have it because I know it attracts a lot of beneficial insects and because I really like the scent. Sadly I lost it because of vacation drought, maybe next year I can get some more.

My Mini Rose

It finally started blooming again

I love roses. It might seem as a cliché but I think they are the most romantic of all flowers. In my garden I have a tinny yellow mini rose. Well, it started as tiny, the pot it came in was barely half a cup. When it started growing I changed it to a bigger pot but then problems started.

At the beginning it was full of flowers, but after a while it stopped. I assume it wanted some food so I prepared some banana milkshake fertilizer and it started blooming again.
Now it continues to live very happily and it already grew five times its initial size.

My Geraniums

Geraniums for my mom

I got this plants because they remind me of my mom. She loves geranium. I remember once we bought a bunch from a plant nursery and then we felt bad because they where only stems (back then we didn’t know that’s how geraniums reproduce).

In my garden I have a red and a white one. They seem to be ok, but they are growing slow because they got a little hurt from lack of water on vacations. The only problem is that white one seems to be growing albino leafs, I think it got too much sun, I hope it recovers soon.

My Globe Amaranth

Butterflies love Globe Amaranth

I didn't knew this flower before, and so far I had only seen it in japan, but it's definitely one of my favorites. I had seen it growing in many gardens here but strangely I didn't found it for sale last year.

I wanted to have one on my garden because with that shape it looks like it’s the kind of flower butterflies go crazy about. Luckily this week because of a post at tokyodiygardening.org and thanks to @a_small_lab I was reminded of them, so I went to my favorite garden center and I found them there. Of all the displays it was the one with the most butterflies, it think I counted around 14.
So that’s how it become the new acquisition for my garden. I got the one with more buttons, so I can be sure to have butterflies at my garden.

Oh and turns out this flower is native back in my country.


So those are my flowers.
Besides from all of these ones, when they were on season, the tomato, the strawberry, the peppers and specially the mints were full of flowers and add to the flower collection.

Strawberry flowers

My kalanchoe

From what I thought it was a indoor plant, to a plethora of flowers.

My kalanchoe on its second blooming

I got my kalanchoe last winter. They were giving it away outside of a shop close to my old apartment. I had no idea what it was, but the leafs looked interesting so it came back to the apartment with me. By mid winter it had started to get new branches and a lot of flower buttons. It was a real surprise because I had no idea it was a flower plant. By February the plant had buttons on every branch and had grown quite some more. All march it continued to grow even more but none of the buttons opened.

Finally by early April all the buttons opened at once. It got completely full and continued to put out more buttons for another month. It was quite impressive since I didn't even knew it could give any flower at all. In May all the flowers dried and the plant got quite scrawny, it had dropped lots of leafs too, so the plant become a bunch of dried looking branches.

Around that time, because of all the new plants I ran out of space and decided I was going to let that one go. I think it must have heard me because it started to give flower buttons again. By mid summer it had a bunch of new buttons, but it also had grew too big.

I was going to go on vacations so decided I should try to find it a better place to live before that. Not knowing anybody who could take care of it I decided I will set it up on one of little gardens on the first floor of my apartment. My logic was that that garden looked like it could use some flowers, and since my plant had new blooms it look very pretty again, and that garden didn’t look like people took much care of it, so I might get way with it.

And So I did. Some days before my trip I took the plant down, dig a small hole in a part of the garden that look abandoned and protected enough and set up the kalanchoe. I give it some water and my best wishes. I check up on it the days before I left and it was doing fine.

Sadly when I came back from my trip I found out they had taken it away. I have no idea what they did with it, but the most likely is that it went to the trash. I wonder if they took it out because I wasn’t supposed to put anything there without permission, I noticed they only went for the kalanchoe. They didn’t do much more to the garden, they only trimmed some bamboo a little but they didn’t even took out the weed, not even the one next to where I plant the kalanchoe.

I just hope somebody took it because it look so pretty (also turns out this plants are expensive) so now it's being taken care by somebody who loves it and it keeps growing happily like always.

Luckily, before I plant it downstairs I took some cuttings and set them to grow on a little starter pot I had. I figure out the branches are similar to geranium so they must reproduce the same. It worked, now I have tree little kalanchoes growing along with the rest of my plants. They even gave flowers already. I wonder how long they will take to grow as big as their parent.

Also last month I was lucky enough that I spot some kalanchoes at my favorite garden center. Thanks to that I learned their name. And also that they come in so many different colors.

My tomato

Tomatoes, one of the favorite crops of all gardeners around the world.

My tomatoes early in the season

 
Of all my plants, my tomatoes are by far the plant that has taught me the most.

It all started on a small trip to the garden center this spring. They had the whole entrance dedicated to only tomatoes. So many varieties. I was instantly convinced and bought a small seedling for my garden. 

This time I tried to be more prepared. I wanted to be able to harvest something so I research online how to take care of tomatoes. I got some basics, but as I found out later, there is so much to master if you want to have nice tomatoes.
I got a mid size pot and some support trellis. Set up the tomato and hoped for the best.

Being a completely newbie on tomatoes, I struggled from the start. I learned the hard way that tomatoes suck up more water than other plants. I usually water every two days in spring, but my tomato wanted water as much as two times per day.

My first tomato

So after that initial struggle my tomato settled in and then it started growing like crazy. From a little seedling it developed a nice thick stem and bloomed some flowers very fast.

Watching how that little flower become a tomato was one of the most rewarding things I had on my garden. It soon become a little green ball. And many other flowers appeared as well. But then, nothing..., the flowers keep dropping and no new tomatoes. I didn’t know if I do anything wrong, I even went and buy some fertilizer to help, but still nothing.

So I went back online to see what was going on and found out tomatoes need help to be pollinated. With me being on the tenth floor and in the middle of the city bees are quite scarce, so I had to try artificial pollination. I use some old electric toothbrush and voila! More tomatoes.

 My tomato growing like crazy

Early summer, I harvested that first tomato in all happiness and continued to take care of the plant. Also around those days I had some trouble with the rain. After a couple rainy days, some of the leafs got diseases, I just prune the plant a little and then it was all good again.

After that my tomato kept growing more and more, the new flowers all turn into fruit and become bigger and bigger every day it was all happy. But then… I went on vacation... My backup watering on vacations plan did not work and that week become the dread week of the vacation draught. When I came back, my poor tomatoes were showing all signs of dehydration. The lack of water stunt the growth of all the fruit that didn’t dry and also all new flowers died. From more than 15 possible tomatoes only six remained. And they where not in a good shape.

My tomato got big scars from lack of water

I did as I could. Watered thoroughly, fertilizer and lots of attention. The plant start to look better but never fully recovered.

At the end I did manage to harvest those last six tomatoes. They did not grow big, they where between a cherry tomato and a normal tomato. But they sure tasted delicious. We even try a test, ate a store bought tomato (it was good) then eat my little garden in japan tomato (it was very good!) and then try again the store bought one again (where did the flavor went??).

Many lessons learned. Be careful with the water, use bigger pot to have more moist, pollinate, keep away from rain, etc.

All in all, even if it was not the best crop ever it was most rewarding. Now the season is over for me. I still haven't got the heart to put down the plant but I probably will do it this weekend. I can't wait for next year to see what the new season will bring.

Early august harvest

My japanese maple

Maple trees are one of my favorite plants. I love them since i was a kid and used to call them star leaf tree.

New leafs on my Japanese maple tree 

I got this maple as a gift last year. It is one of the most stable of all
my plants because it develops very slowly. I have had very few problems with it.

This particular batch is actually four different trees. At first I though they where just branches of the same tree that were covered by too much soil, but as it has grown and developed more, the distinction between the leafs on each branch became very obvious. I am not sure how I can try and separate all four trees, so I think what is best is to just choose one and raise accordingly.

Now I'm just waiting for October to see the turning colors and depending on that I will pick one branch to raise. I already sort of choose one because the shape of the leafs is my favorite, but maybe the colors this autumn will change my mind.

Last year I missed on the turning color of the leafs because a small vacation drought accelerated the effect and they turned brown immediately. Also not all the branches were fully developed so many had only a few leafs.

The only problems I had with the maple tree had been a moth caterpillar that ate a bunch of leafs when I wasn't looking and a very mild case of powdery mildew, probably from the strawberries. Other than that it is a very happy tree. It also resisted very well this summer vacation drought, so everything is good.

My Japanese maple posing next to my Kalanchoe

I hope I can keep growing it in that pot while I try to prune and train into a nice shape.

My mints

Today is all about mint

My mints are by far the most successful of all my plants. They simply never stop growing.

My mints growing happy as always

I've always had wanted to have mints even before coming to japan, but back then I was never able to get hold of a mint plant.

Here in japan I found them. The first time I saw them they were selling some at kichioji station but I didn’t buy them at that moment. I didn't have enough money and I was already carrying a lot, so no extra hand to carry plants.

Much later in early winter, on a second trip to kichioji with more drive and some luck I was able to get some. I got two, one apple mint and one peppermint. They were very small and fragile.
That winter because of improper care from my part I almost lost the apple mint (I didn’t water for four days) but then I change them to a bigger pot and they start growing like crazy.

They simply didn’t stop growing, I try to harvest some cuttings now and then but they overwhelm me completely. I was lucky because as usual I did not have any clue on how to take care of mints.
By the middle of spring they both measure more than 1 meter and were by far the biggest plant in the garden.

The only problem I had with them was some yellow leafs but it was nothing serious.
I decided not to cut them and wait for the flowers. I had never seen mint flowers so I was very curious, also I wanted to take advantage of the beneficial insects they attract. They continued to grow a little more to finally bloom in early summer. They give beautiful light purple flowers one after the other.

They were very happy until that week of the dreaded vacation drought. When I came back all of them were dry. Not even a couple green leafs remained. I did what I could, I cut all the dead branches, watered thoroughly, and wished for the best.

A couple days later, some green new sprouts come out and then more and more. Now it is again in a state of never ending growing like if nothing happened. I love my mints they are such a hardy herb.

Also, now I have found several ways of avoiding being overwhelmed by the continuous growth. So it's all perfect.

My strawberry

This time I would like to introduce my strawberry.

My strawberries growing nicely

This was the second plant I got in japan. I bought it at a supermarket one time I went grocery shopping. They had them on sale close to the exit. It seem nice and easy to grow so I could not resist them.

Little did I know that this will turn out to be the most complicated and full of surprises plant I ever had.

This is another case of me not really knowing what to do, but after some research I was able to find how to take care of my strawberry.

At first all was perfect. I got them in September, put them on a small pot and they thrive for a month or so, they overgrew the pot really fast so I went and bought a big one. I change them to the big pot where it continue to growing and start to multiply. By late October they started to bloom. I found this a little odd because they were supposed to bloom only in spring, that’s what it says on the label. Of course I was excited about having a successful crop and of course I wasn't going to complain about some extra strawberries, so I let them continue.
But then the problems started. After some continuous days of pure rain the strawberries got some strange white velvet fungus. It turn out to be powdery mildew but I didn’t know that back then. Sad news the crop was lost. I tried to do what I could, water properly, more sun, cut the infected part, all I could, but the strawberries didn’t recover until the end of winter.

At that time I moved from Tokyo to Yokohama and the strawberries started to look better, they grew very healthy and in spring they started to bloom. It was all great until I had to travel abroad for some time, when I got back problems started again. The powdery mildew was back. No crop for the spring.

Besides from that the fungus I also had to deal with aphids, beetles, vacation drought, and many other problems.

It sure has been hard work all the way but my strawberry has surprised me all along. For example after finally being able to deal with the powdery mildew in June they bloom again and I managed to get some very delicious July harvest.

And the biggest surprise is that after dealing with beetles and a second vacation drought my strawberries are blooming now! At the end of August. I will make sure I write another post about that.

This was the result of all the hard work

In the end my strawberries have been the most rewarding of all my plants. I can't wait to see what next year will bring.

My calla lily

Ok, this time I would like to start introducing my plants. First my Calla Lily.

My calla lily also known as Zantedeschia

This flower was the first plant I got here in japan.

Back then I had been wanting to get some plant for my apartment but I couldn’t decide what to get. One day I was walking to the supermarket to do some grocery shopping and I saw old man selling plants out of the back of a van. I saw this beautiful purple calla lily, but unfortunately couldn’t decide to get it back then. Of course, later when I was back at home I regretted and wanted to buy it.
So for weeks I tried to go on that same road again to try to catch the man selling plants, I did find him once but no calla lily.

Finally after a month of looking I found the van and a calla lily, this time a pink one, I almost didn’t buy it because I was looking for a purple one but I manage to overcome my pickiness and bought it.

Back then I had no idea what kind of flower it was. I didn’t know the name or anything about it. I tried to do the best I could to raise it but I have to say it was mostly luck.

It flourished very nicely and got full of flowers. But then it started to get some yellow leafs and also my roommate didn’t like it because it attracted a couple fruit flies. So I had to move it outside, I also change it to a slightly bigger pot. There it continue to bloom until late September and then in autumn started to fade away. Back then I didn’t know anything about this plant all I know is that it kind of look like a bulb plant.

So I took a risk and dug them out and here is where the lucky part begins. I dug them around October which was too early for that, also I broke the bulb apart too much because I didn't have a clue and it hadn't grow big enough. And then I put them back in the soil and continue to water them all winter. Now I feel so lucky because none of the bulbs got rotten and this year they all grew into very healthy plants and bloom fully.

Some calla lily cuttings from this season

Even with more luck this spring I saw some Zantedeschias at my favorite garden center and learn their name, and after, thanks to google I learned finally how to take care of my calla lily properly.

Update! I submitted this post to How to find great plants, by Appalachianfeet

My plants

Here is a small ever-changing list of the plants on my garden.
I will try to update this page accordingly to my current garden status. All my plants are now on the "my garden" page

 

• Mint: One apple mint and one peppermint
• Beans: No idea what kind I just try to sow some I didn’t eat
• Grape: It's a Pione, I just got it this month 
• Cilantro: Now on the second sow, I hope they are still on season
• Basil: Sweet basil, I want to try to cook with it
• Japanese maple tree (紅葉): The pot actually has four different kinds I'm waiting for autumn to see which one I keep
• Kalanchoe: Pink, donated by a shop
• Strawberry (苺): In memory of my grandfather 
• Tomato: On the end of season
• Pepper: Rescued form a garden shop trash
• Torenia: White, so many flowers
• Blue Salvia: Beautiful purple flowers
• Zantedeschia: My first plant in japan
• Rose: A little yellow mini rose
• Geranium: White and red for my mom
• Globe amaranth*: For the butterflies  

 

All of my plants have been an adventure on its own, some have worked some have not. Also besides from this I hope to acquire some tulips and maybe some other plants along the road.

*Updated 27 Aug 2010: A brand new globe amaranth

My little garden location

Hello again, this time I want to start introducing my garden. To begin here is a little description of what I have available.

 

My garden is currently in Yokohama, Japan (before, I was living in Tokyo) we have a subtropical climate with hot and humid summers and cold enough winters. The seasons are very marked; you can definitely tell when one season is over and the next starts. It only snows a couple days a year and the temperature rarely drop below freezing, also summer can be quite hot and humid but it’s not that bad. In general I think it is perfect weather for gardening, I can plant almost anything I want and it will very possibly thrive.

 

I live in an apartment facing west but because I live on 10th floor my plants get nice light from 4-5am to 6-7pm and a very generous direct sunlight of around 7 hours average. I consider this a blessing for a garden in the middle of so many skyscrapers.

 

My little balcony is only 80cm by 2.5m so I have very little space to work but I consider that a nice challenge.

 

Also I am a student, and things here in japan tend to be a bit expensive so I need to be careful how I use all of my resources.

 

I hope that this blog helps to inspire other people to try out gardening. I wish to show that you can have a nice garden and have lots of fun even if you have a little balcony and few resources.

 

My little garden in japan

Hello world!

 

My name is Fernando. I'm an engineering student living and studying in japan.

 

Living abroad has been an experience that has taught me so many new things, but above all it has helped me to learn about myself. I have learned what makes me happy, and what my passions are.

And one of the most important things I have recovered is my love for gardening.

 

When I was a kid my dad introduced me to gardening, we used to have huge bean plants growing in the garden, and later when we moved to a different house we had fruit trees and lots and lots of flowers. I have always look back to that time as one of my happiest memories.

 

Luckily here in japan I was able to recover my hobby. I decided to start my own garden, learn and relearn everything I need to make it flourish and be able to enjoy it.

 

Now, with this blog, I will try to make a journal about how it is to have a small garden in a very little balcony in one of the biggest cities of the world