Last week I had the pleasure of helping some friends work in their parents garden not too far away. Tucked behind the house, the garden sits on a former house lot. When it came up for sale about five years ago, my friend's father jumped at the chance. Open land in Tokyo can be hard to find and expensive, but for a retired professional looking for a little spot to till in the city it was an opportunity to good to pass up. Now, it is a garden to envy. As we came through the gate rose, lily, and peony blooms greeted us with great shouts of color while rows of vegetables stood tidily at attention on the sunny center stage. Small fruit trees along with one of the biggest sansho trees I've seen yet stood quietly here and there. Near waist-high sweet corn, bushy young potato plants, cherry tomatoes, eggplants, and beans were preparing their summer fruits, while a handful of still quite luscious looking winter vegetables like komatsuna, mizuna, and kabu held one last ro
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The Haikus were great.
Michelle Rafter
Bike Lady, Thanks! I think I might like that first one the best, too. Although, the last line of the second one is more than true. Those poor things are just crying for their bigger pot!
Thanks, Kathy! It's been fun growing the rice and seeing what's going to happen. Fingers crossed it carries on through the summer months. I should probably call my blog something like The Nervous Gardener.
Hi Michelle, A tambo is the Japanese word for rice field. Actually, it's ONE of the words for rice field. Mado means window, and no is an article that signifies a descriptor. So, mado no tambo means rice field in a window. (This might be more information than you wanted, but it was a great question!)
Cheers - Dana