Gone a week, come back to a Tokyo windstorm

Last week I enjoyed a 7 day vacation in Hawaii and am a bit bummed to be back to real life here in Tokyo. On the other hand, only 51 more weeks to go until the next Hawaiian weeklong vacation!

I didn't have anyone who could take care of these plants while I was gone, so I did my best and topped them up with water and hoped things would turn out for the best. Unfortunately Tokyo is in the midst of a spring windstorm and there has been quite a bit of damage to some of the plants.

Strawberries devastated by the wind

The strawberries seem to have taken the brunt of the wind. The larger, taller plants are all broken near the soil and any fruits that we might have expected seem to have dried up. It may not have all been a wind problem, as no one was watering them all week, but seeing how torn up the leaves and stems are seems to show that the worst damage came from being battered around in the wind.

Interestingly, the shorter (more delicious berries) on top seem to have done okay. I suspect because they aren't so tall they didn't catch the wind as much and just pushed through the storm.

What I'm not too happy about is that the plants on top are foregoing fruiting and are just sending out runners. Runners are great when you want to make more strawberry plants, but not so great if you want strawberries. I'll have to find a pot to catch the runners in and start them before it gets too hot. They will become next year's plants. I still wish I could get *this year's* berries, though.

Corn seedlings thirsty for water

The corn seedlings seemed a bit better. Although the vinyl covering that protected them was torn off during the windstorm, the seedlings seem to be doing okay. However, because they are in such small pots, the soil was bone dry and a lot of the seedlings were wilting. I gave them a shot of water this morning and hopefully we'll see some life in them. These are for giving away to other veranda gardeners. We certainly don't have room for 16 more corn plants here.

Corn in the planter doing great

Surprisingly, the corn in the planter, directly exposed to sun and wind for a week without anyone to care for it, has done great. All the planted seeds have sprouted and they look great. Sadly, there are too many here and I will have to thin them out. This is always the most difficult part of gardening.

The thinning will be done next Saturday so the most vigorous corn can be identified. Hopefully the strawberries and corn seedlings in the starter pots revive!

The 2013 spring crop

This season we are sticking with a few favorites and trying a new vegetable.

Strawberries

As before, strawberries are always welcome and this year we've got a brand new planter for them.

The planter is terra cotta, which will absorb and hold heat. Also, it is tiered to allow plants at different levels to receive even amount of sun without getting shaded by each other. This kind of planter seems to be very productive, according to the ones I've seen around.

We've got 5 plants of two types planted. In the center are two small akihime plants. This is a challenging type, but the fruits are extremely sweet and fragrant. In the three outer pockets are tough and tall beni-hoppe strawberry plants. This type is easier to grow and should be very productive.

Avocados

In three planters a few feet away, I've started some avocados. I love growing them, and I love eating them. My wife doesn't seem to appreciate them as much as I do, so I had to start these seeds in secret.

The one in the middle has sprouted and is making some vertical headway. The others are still unsprouted. I will not be expecting too much and won't feel too bad if I have to grind these into mulch later if they don't start soon.

The soil they are in is full of uprooted plants from around the garden, which is why it looks like such a mess. It's just extra mulch, as far as I'm concerned.

Sunflowers

Although it's a bit early, I planted a handful of miniature sunflower seeds. During some spring cleaning, I found a package of seeds from eight years ago.

If something comes up, I'll be happy. If nothing comes up, I can't say I was expecting anything from these 8 year old seeds. This planter is actually my mulching planter, so if the seeds are dead they will just get turned into the mulch and will find life as the soil for some other plant.

Corn

The big new crop we're trying is corn. With spring two weeks early in Tokyo, the timing is just right to start some corn for an early summer crop.

This is the main planter with two corn plants expected. Under the surface sprouts are just becoming visible.

  

In addition, I've started a bunch of corn seeds in a starter tray. 

To protect the seeds from the wind and from drying out, I placed the instant shelter over them.

Flowers

Finally, in addition to fruits and vegetables, my son brought home a pot of anemones from school.

These flowers add a splash of color to all the brown soil and terra cotta. It's nice to have something nice in the veranda garden, even if it is only aesthetic. If the sunflowers don't sprout, I've given a bit of thought to getting some other flowers to keep the anemones company.

Thanks!

Thank you for coming back to the Veranda Gardening blog. It's been a while, definitely. I am looking forward to learning about how corn grows this season. If things go right, I'm hoping to have a weekly update of all the plants around the garden!

Strawberry: Crows

This morning a crow landed on the veranda and looked at my strawberry lustfully. I scared it away, but if it knows where the strawberries are, it will most likely come back.

Here's the biggest strawberry. It is looking really good. In a week or so it should be fully ripened and ready to eat.

I guess if the crow eats it, this picture will just be for posterity...

Where did I put that greenhouse?

Strawberry: Pink, it's my favorite color

I've got a bunch of little strawberries growing now, but the oldest one is definitely the most interesting.

Since I added the strawberry fertilizer, the plants have become much healthier and the fruits are much bigger than usual. The biggest fruit is plump and just beginning to turn red.

Typically, every year I get one nice fruit like this, and then a few scraggly fruits that make it half way to ripeness and then rot on the vine. But maybe it's the fertilizer or the extra attention it is getting, but the fruits are forming very nicely and the plant doesn't seem to be stressed at all.

We've had some pretty cold days lately, but the strawberry plants are handling it very well. This particular strawberry may be ready for picking in a week or so.

Strawberries: Quick update

New strawberries are forming like crazy. By last count, there are 10 fruits forming, and that is leaving out small ones that may or may not actually form into actual fruits.

The first strawberry is still growing. The shape of the fruit of this particular plant has always been a little weird, and this fruit is no different. A little crumpled up on the end and fat in the middle. These would never sell at the grocery store!


I went back to the home center and bought another bag of strawberry fertilizer. The next day, they called me to tell me they had found my lost bag of fertilizer. I need to visit them ASAP to see about getting a refund.

Strawberries: First fruits of the season

This spring hasn't quite begun, it seems. The past couple days have been in the low teens (°C) and the forecast is rain and cold until mid-week. Although very cool, it hasn't dropped below freezing, so the plants in the veranda garden are pushing through.

It's been almost a week since I last blogged and there has been quite a bit of growth all around. The potatoes are growing like crazy, the broccoli is gaining height and new leaves are coming in, and most exciting is the tomato sprouts that have broken through the soil. I'll save those for another day when pictures are better.

Strawberries are looking great. There are lots of flowers this year, a stark contrast to last year when there were only a handful of flowers all season. I can't wait for fruiting season!

Speaking of fruiting...
Hid underneath a big leaf was a little strawberry just getting started! In this picture, the fruit is about 1cm from stem to tip. I've never measured how long it takes for my strawberries to ripen, but I'll definitely do it this time.

On another note, yesterday I bought some strawberry-specific fertilizer at the home center, but when I looked for it this morning it was nowhere to be found. I went back to the store to see if I might have left it at the register, but no one had turned it in to the lost & found. I'm bummed.

Strawberries: The small green house

Strawberries are an incredibly hardy plant, and year after year they can fruit. Three years ago I bought a small strawberry plant on a whim and had several garden strawberries that season. Store-bought strawberries are picked early, so the fruit's sweetness and flavor is not fully developed. The difference between store-bought and ripe-picked is like night and day.

Another great thing about strawberries is that they can produce fruit a couple times a year. Typically strawberries will produce fruit in the warm summer months. However, if you can keep the temperatures right, a winter crop is also possible. In fact, this past February I was able to pick a winter strawberry. (only one, sadly)

To keep the strawberries warm in the winter, I bought a plastic greenhouse for them. The strawberries sit atop the air conditioner and the greenhouse fits right over the planter and A/C unit as you can see in the following picture.

Yesterday we had very strong winds which ended up breaking some leaves on the broccoli, but the strawberries were just fine inside the greenhouse.

I didn't expect it so soon, but the strawberries are flowering! Each flower can become a fruit with care. For such a delicious fruit, strawberry flowers are very plain.

The yellow area in the middle, if properly pollinated, will grow into the strawberry fruit. The small yellow parts sticking out are full of pollen and are waiting for some nice bee to spread the pollen around. Unfortunately we don't have bees here, so I use a soft makeup brush ("borrowed" from my wife) to manually pollinate each mature flower.

My experience with these strawberries has been that they are not very prolific and the fruits are quite small. I think this may be related to soil quality, so this season I'll be keeping a close eye on this particular aspect.