Thursday Snapshot: Ume Blossoms

Ume blossoms to cheer any day.

This past weekend I went for a walk in the nearby mountains in search of snow and some solace. Winter is a hard time for me to be away from home. I pine for bitter cold weather that makes the landscape glitter and crackle, for stars that shimmer in a midnight blue sky. So when I saw snow clouds gathered in the west and beginning to shroud the nearby Tanzawa Range, I decided to bundle up and climb to meet an old friend.

I met just a few flakes, none of which stayed long, but I was grateful. For company I had the mountain birds, many of which are returning to start new families and sing their way through the daylight. I also met these lovely ume blossoms, which are not snow, but shimmer with a special life all their own. I was grateful.

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Finding Heirloom Seeds in Japan

Drying pods of heirloom Hutterite Soup Beans. Since moving to Japan eight years ago, one of my greatest challenges as a farmer-gardener has been to find heirloom or open-pollinated seeds. The majority of seeds available are not GMO (genetically modified organisms) as Japan, at this point, doesn't accept this material. Most seeds, though, are nearly all F1 varieties. Heirloom and F1 Varieties In plant breeding, F1 is the name given to the first generation of a cross between two true breeding parents. For example, if I decide to cross an Amish Paste Tomato with another heirloom variety tomato such as Emmy, in hopes of getting a gold paste tomato, the resulting generation of fruit is F1. In order to get that tomato of my culinary dreams, I'll need to choose members of that first generation that are headed in a direction I like - early ripening, medium-sized fruit, good taste - and save their seeds. I'll plant them and repeat the process again and again over time unti

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Satoimo: One of Japan's Favorite Slimy Things

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Japan Farmers Markets

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