Daytime temperatures haven’t even reached 30°C, and the weather has taken on a distinctly autumnal feel. Autumn and winter vegetables are growing in the potager.
日中の気温も30℃には届かず、すっかり秋の気候になってきました。ポタジェでは秋冬の野菜が育っています。
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.
Daytime temperatures haven’t even reached 30°C, and the weather has taken on a distinctly autumnal feel. Autumn and winter vegetables are growing in the potager.
日中の気温も30℃には届かず、すっかり秋の気候になってきました。ポタジェでは秋冬の野菜が育っています。
It has been 14 years since the ten dwarf apple trees were planted in the potager garden; one has died, and several have lost their vigour. The number of apples set has also decreased compared to the early days. This year, one of the ‘Alps Maiden’ dwarf apple trees bore plenty of fruit in fine health. Some twenty apples were harvested. The tree next to it, having shed all its leaves, has started to produce new shoots this month and is even in bloom. Perhaps due to the harsh, subtropical-like climate in summer, many trees shed their leaves in the height of summer, and it is quite common for them to produce new shoots and flowers again in autumn. However, even if flowers bloom at this time of year, the fruit rarely develops.
ポタジェガーデンの10本の矮性リンゴの木は植えて10数年たって、一本は枯れ、数本が勢いをなくしています。リンゴの実の着き方も最初の頃よい少なくなっています。今年は姫リンゴのアルプス乙女の一本が元気にたくさん実をつけました。ちょうど20個収穫できました。その隣の木はすっかり葉を落とした後、今月になって新芽を出してきて、花まで咲かせています。夏は厳しく亜熱帯のような気候のせいか、真夏には葉を落とす木が多く、秋にまた新芽を出して花をつけることもよくあります。この時期に花が咲いてもほとんど実が育つことはありません。
My second crop of edamame has grown quite a bit. It’s been just over three weeks since I sowed the seeds. I’ve put up a pest-proof net. However, upon closer inspection, I noticed that the leaves have been eaten away quite a bit. I wonder what sort of pest is eating the leaves.
エダマメの二期作目がだいぶん育ってきました。種をまいて3週間余です。害虫よけのネットをしています。でもよく見ると、葉っぱがだいぶん食べられているのに気付きました。いったいどんな害虫が葉を食べているのでしょう。
The intense heat has subsided somewhat, and the weather has returned to ordinary summer temperatures. In the potager, the small ‘Alps Maiden’ apples are beginning to turn colour. The excessive heat makes for a very harsh environment for the apple trees, but every now and then they produce a bountiful harvest. Some of the trees have withered. I’m currently pondering how best to eat these apples.
猛暑は一段落して、普通の暑さになってきました。ポタジェでは小さなリンゴの「アルプス乙女」の実が色づき始めています。暑すぎる気候のため、リンゴにはとても過酷な環境ですが、ときどきたくさん実をつけてくれます。枯れている木もあります。このリンゴはどうやって食べようかと思案しているところです。
In the potager, the dwarf cherry tomatoes—which I sowed a little late—are now bearing plenty of fruit in the square raised beds. Rudbeckia and marigolds are also in bloom in the same raised beds. Some plants withered due to the intense heat or were damaged by pests, so only two plants are currently bearing fruit. As they are a dwarf variety, they produce fruit without growing very tall. I’d been growing small watermelons in two triangular raised beds and had harvested about ten of them. Just when I thought the season was over, they set fruit again, and I was able to harvest one more. It doesn’t seem they’re growing as large as they did at the start of the season.
ポタジェでは少し遅く種をまいて育てた矮性のミニトマトが四角いレイズドベッドでたくさん実をつけるようになりました。同じレイズドベッドではルドベキアやマリゴールドの花も咲いています。猛暑で枯れたり、害虫で枯れたものもあり、実をつけているのは2株だけです。矮性品種なので草丈は大きくならずに実をつけます。2つの三角形のレイズドベッドに育てて、10個ほど収穫できた小玉スイカは、もう終わりかと思っていたらまた実をつけていて、一個収穫できました。最初の頃のように大きくは育たないようです。
It’s been about 70 days since we sowed the seeds at the beginning of June, and the edamame are now ready for harvest. We started by harvesting the very early-maturing variety. Perhaps because we’d been using insect netting since sowing, there was hardly any damage from pests. The harvest was much larger than we’d expected. We boiled them straight away and enjoyed them as a tasty snack with a beer.
六月の初めに種をまいて70日ほどたち、枝豆が収穫の時期を迎えました。極早生エダマメから収穫をしました。種まきの時期から防虫ネットをしていたせいか、害虫の被害はほとんどありません。思ったよりたくさんの収穫でした。さっそく茹でてビールのつまみにして美味しくいただきました。