In the Field Today

140830Lettuce

August is ending on a cool, wet, very fall like note. The lettuce are happy. And so is the Rucola Arugula, a slow growing, spicy arugula with deeply lobed leaves. This is a arugula which adds a touch of beauty to any salad.

140830Arugula
140830TennouKabu

The Tennouji Kabura are forming their showy white roots which will grow to three to four inches across. You can eat every part of this beautiful turnip. They have a long history and are named after the area around Shitennoji, a temple built in 593. Tennouji is now a ward of Osaka.

140830PotatoFlowers

The last row of potatoes I planted are in full bloom. In the meantime, the earliest potatoes I planted are ready for harvest. The plants have died and look like nothing, but underneath their shriveled stalks are plump, colorful potatoes. They taste better when you get to dig them up for yourself.

140830DeadPotatoe
140830Potatoes

Morning Flowers

MorningPotatoFlowes

Early morning is the time to make my rounds through the fields, checking on how things are growing. The many flowers make it a wonderful time. Potato flowers tend to close at night. They pop open at first light.

Every day now there are more and more white flower beans in bloom. Their soft, white petals dance gently in the morning breeze. The joy of growing food, is that you get to enjoy the blossoms many fruit and vegetable plants have. Every bean you eat at one time was a beautiful flower. Eat a handful of beans and you’re enjoying the results of a huge bouquet of white, orange, pink, purple, and red flowers. Bean flowers come in so many colors.

WhiteFlowerMorningA
WhiteFlowerMorningB