u/ChugChugUmacco

Two months after my last update, my hibiscus has finally produced its first bloom!

It's the fastest-growing hibiscus I've ever had, and it has also produced the biggest flower I've ever grown.

It spent the winter in a 5-inch pot. After it started growing vigorously in spring, I quickly repotted it into a 7-inch pot. Before long, it was drying out so fast that I eventually moved it into a 10-inch pot.

It has completely taken over one corner of my balcony, but I'm looking forward to seeing a new flower open every morning for a while.

I'm not sure whether it's okay to recommend a TV program in this subreddit, but I hope you'll forgive me.

Tomorrow at 8:00 p.m., NHK BS will air an episode of Shin Nihon Fudoki (New Japan Landscapes) about gardens in Tokyo.
https://www.web.nhk/tv/an/fudoki/pl/series-tep-X8R36PYLX3/ep/M989Z4Y9RZ

As it happens, a member of my family was involved in the production of this program.

I hope it might give you some ideas or inspiration for your own garden.

How did everyone spend the Geshi (夏至), summer solstice yesterday?

Where I live, the rain from the previous day left the air heavy with humidity, making it a rather uncomfortable day.

Interestingly, June is also known as Minazuki (水無月) in Japanese.
It's written with the characters for "water" and "none," which makes it sound like "the month without water."
Rather strange, considering it's the middle of the rainy season, isn't it?

As for me, I got up at dawn to watch the earliest sunrise of the year.
Then I fertilized my plants, applied insecticide, and repotted a hibiscus that was drying out far too quickly. (I even found a leaf-roller caterpillar on it!)

It had been growing so fast that it seemed to be crying out, "Water! I need more water!"

My Daiso Black Cherry tomato kept growing, so I transplanted it into a larger pot and decided to try growing it in a hanging method like many of you do.

It has grown so quickly that I think I will need to lower and lay down the main stem near the base before long.

Meanwhile, my Kagome tomato... you sure that's enough armor?

These are my new pruning shears!

For years, I used a pair of forged pruning shears that originally belonged to my mother. They served me well, but I eventually got tired of the regular maintenance and decided to try a stainless steel pair instead.

I have been very happy with them so far. They are easy to care for and stay nice and sharp.

What is your favorite gardening tool or piece of gardening equipment?

According to the traditional Japanese calendar, today is Bōshu (芒種), the time of year when grains such as rice and wheat were traditionally sown.
The old calendar does not quite match the modern one, of course.

It also coincides with the start of the rainy season, bringing more humidity and rainy days.
This is the time to prune back vigorous plants, prepare for wind and heavy rain, and get ready for typhoon season.

And, as a fun activity during the rainy season, I made umeboshi.

I am making umeboshi with small ume plums for the first time in several years.

I started salting them on May 19 using 18% salt, and they were fully covered in ume vinegar within about three days.

Today I bought some red shiso at the market, prepared it, and spread it over the surface of the plums.

Over the next couple of weeks, the plums should gradually turn a deep red. After that, I plan to sun-dry them for a few days to finish them.

Sorry for the very unphotogenic post.
I wanted to share a simple Japanese instant takuan-style radish pickle.

Put 500 g of quartered daikon radish in a zip-top bag.
Add 100 g sugar, 2 tbsp vinegar, and 1 tbsp salt.
Massage it briefly and leave it in the refrigerator for two days.
It is ready when the daikon is fully submerged in its own liquid and starts to wrinkle.

This is not true takuan, but the sweet and salty flavor goes well with curry.
It is also good chopped into tartar sauce.

I missed the chance to repot my 春蘭 Shunran orchid (Cymbidium goeringii) after it finished blooming, and now the oxalis has started taking over.

For now, it is just a cycle of pulling it out and watching it come back until the weather cools down.

The Shunran is not giving up though. New shoots are still growing.

Every year Kagome, the company known for tomato products and vegetable seedlings, does a giveaway for tomato plants and potting soil.

I was lucky enough to win again this year.

But for some reason they sent me two tomato seedlings this time, and the note says to plant only one in the included soil.

Meanwhile, I also have a black cherry tomato plant on my balcony that I grew from a Daiso seed pot.
Even if I give the extra seedling to my neighbor, I still need to buy another bag of soil to go with it.

Hello, fellow pickle lovers!
Someone in a r/fermentation recommended this subreddit to me for non-fermented pickles.

Young ginger started showing up at the market, so I made gari, the sweet pickled ginger you get at sushi restaurants.
Every household has its own method, but this is how I make it.

I used a sweet vinegar mix of 2 parts vinegar and 1.5 parts sugar, then let it cool first.

The ginger was salted with 2% salt and rested for about an hour before a quick 1 minute boil.

After patting the ginger dry, I packed it into a jar and added the sweet vinegar.

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Update : Thanks everyone for the comments!
I wanted to reply, but AutoMod keeps removing my comments, so I will answer here instead.

For the pickling liquid, sweetness really depends on taste.
Maybe try 2 parts vinegar and 1 part sugar first and see how you like it.
More sugar can always be added later.

Now that the umeboshi work has settled down for a while, I made sweet pickled young ginger, the kind called “gari” at sushi restaurants.

First, make the sweet vinegar using a ratio of 1 part sugar to 1.5 parts vinegar, then let it cool.

Slice the ginger into thin pieces and larger blocks coat it with salt, and leave it for about an hour before boiling it for one minute.

Pat the ginger dry, pack it into a jar, and pour in the sweet vinegar.

Every household has its own method, but this is how I make it.

Update : You can see the progress so far here and here

The salt at the bottom of the jar has fully dissolved, and enough plum vinegar has come out to completely cover the fruit, so I removed the weight I had been using (a plastic bag filled with 1000 cc of water).

Now the plums will rest in a cool dark place for about a month.
I will check on them from time to time, but until then, it is goodbye for a little while.

By then, the rainy season will probably have arrived in Japan.

My aunt lives in Wakayama, one of Japan’s famous plum-growing regions, and she actually hates eating umeboshi.
But for some reason, she loves making them.

These are some old umeboshi she gave me.

According to the traditional Japanese seasonal calendar, yesterday (May 20) was “Shōman” (小満), marking the transition from spring to summer.

Since autumn-sown wheat ripens around this time, this season is sometimes called “mugi no aki” (麦の秋, “barley autumn”) in Japan.
There is also a poetic term, “mugi arashi” (麦嵐), for the wind blowing through golden wheat fields.

For people, it is also the season of changing clothes and fabrics.
I finally packed away my winter and spring fabrics too.

Now the rainy season is just around the corner.

Two days after salting the ripe plums, this much plum liquid has already appeared.

One reason ripe plums are often used for umeboshi is that the fruit becomes submerged in plum liquid quickly, which helps reduce the risk of spoilage and mold.

Umeboshi can also be made with green plums.

The plum liquid takes longer to develop, but the finished umeboshi usually has a firmer texture and a lighter taste.

I think these plums were still green when they first appeared in the store.
They sat there for a few days and started ripening, then I bought them and let them fully ripen at home for a few more days.

The marigolds I grew from seed for the first time (White Gold Max) have grown this much already!
I planted them into two long planters and two slit pots of different sizes.
I hope they keep growing well before the rainy season starts.

I managed to get some beautifully ripened little koume plums, so I decided to make umeboshi for the first time in years.

The plums are washed, dried, and packed in salt now.

Next step is waiting for fresh red shiso leaves to show up at the market.

I love colorful things like Babar the Elephant, so I stood there looking at them for quite a while.

How many did I buy?
I’ll leave that to your imagination.