Petit English Garden of MARPLE & POIROT

My wife and I started gardening in Fukuoka (Japan) in 2003. There was nothing but muddy clayey sloping land. At the beginning we made several structure such as steps and paths, and planted turf, fruit trees, roses, herbs etc. In 2010, we visited several famous English gardens, including Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Mottisfont Abbey Garden and Hidcote Manor Garden. We were shocked by the glory of those gardens. Since then, we have been trying to make small but glorious gardens by ourselves.

庭の紹介

　夫婦で庭づくりを福岡の郊外で2003年に始めました.　赤土むきだしの斜面にまず階段や園路をつくって芝をはり、果樹やバラ、ハーブなどを植えました.

　2010年にイギリスの有名なガーデンの、シシングハースト、モティスフォントアビー、ヒドコートマナーなどを回り、その素晴らしさに圧倒され、それから自分たちで小さくても素晴らしい庭をめざして庭づくりをつづけています.

10/14/2026

THE OLIVES HAVE RIPENED, SO HARVEST TIME HAS COME (オリーブが熟して収穫)

The olive tree I’ve been growing in a pot in the main garden since the start of this year has borne fruit, and as they’ve started to turn colour, I’ve harvested them. There are just over ten of them, but as it’s my first time, I’m delighted.

今年からメインガーデンで鉢で育てているオリーブに実が付いて、色づいてきたので収穫しました。わずかに10個余りですが、初めてでうれしいです。

I’d heard that they’re too astringent to eat as they are, so I looked into various methods for removing the astringency, but decided to try the one that seemed simplest: drying them. First, I pricked small holes in the olives with a fork, then left them by the window to catch the sun; once the sunlight had faded, I dried them in a food dryer. After repeating this process for two days, they became shrivelled and were quite dry. When I took a small bite, the astringency had almost completely disappeared.

そのままでは渋くて食べられないと聞き、いろいろな渋抜きの方法を調べましたが、一番簡単そうな方法をやってみることにしました。それは乾燥させる方法です。まずフォークで実に小さな穴をあけて、窓辺で日に当てて、日が陰ったらフードドライヤで乾かします。これを２日繰り返したらシワシワになってかなり乾きました。ちょっとだけかじってみると、ほとんど渋みはなくなっていました。