Upcoming Japan Trip

Although it won't be cherry blossom season when we go our trip to Japan should still be pretty nice.  The fall colors should be in full swing and the weather promises to be lovely, with the occasional shower burst.
We'll be able to visit with new friends and practice our Japanese. The kids we're going to be practicing with already seem to have better English skills, hopefully they won't be too disappointed with our Japanese skills.  We'll visit a garden or two while there so I should have some nice pictures to put up soon.  The one here was taken last spring during the blossoming time.  Just couldn't swing it then...

Cacao seedlings

Another attempt at getting cacao to grow here in DFW.  Probably not the best time to attempt this since I'll be away from work for a few days (really don't want to go back up just to tend and water it) but you can't be choosy when to plant these fragile seeds.  They're already breaking the surface of the soil so at least I know they're growing.

Saffron Ready to Burst

Fall has come and the saffron I'd pulled from the garden and put in a plastic bag (and the forgot about) has decided it doesn't care if there's dirt or not.  It's sprouting anyway which means I'd better find some dirt pronto to keep my babies going.

It's been a long time since the last post so here's what's gone on since then.
Moved cities and moved from a house to an apartment.  This of course means my dirt area has shrunk to nothing.  I've also lost 2 cats.  Changed jobs but same field.
On the plus side my wife and I have been learning Japanese and are having a good time with it.  Still not too good with the kanji though.  Lots to learn.  Hoping to visit Japan soon to see how well we really can hold our own in a conversation where we can't just hop to English if needed.

In the mean time I hope to get a pretty garden going soon and back to regular posts.

Precious Tomatoes

Most of us well know the prolific nature of the cherry tomato.  They grow fast and put out lots of fruit.  This was of course our best tomato plant last year and so it isn't surprising that the plant that seeded itself was a cross between it and one of the nearby varieties we had.  There are of course less tomatoes than the original but they are also slightly larger.  We haven't had to water it at all this year and it's still making tomatoes in this Texas summer we're heading into.  Now that we've added plant food and are watering it regularly we hope to see even more growth and a productive season.