Rainy Season Work

During the rainy season which begins around the middle of June lasts for about a month.We  are very busy with the preparation of the Ume- Boshi(Dried salted plums),Ume- Liqueur, Pickles of Rakkyo(Shallot bulbs) and ginger and my most favorite juice of perilla!.It's the season of all of them here and now.We may not get any of them next month.So I am perparing  them to keep with enjoyment and haste!!

 1. Ume-Boshi  The ingredients are only  slightly riped plums , salt and perillas
http://macromacrobiyoko.blogspot.jp/2012/02/ume-boshi-pickled-plums.html

                                                   

                                                                 

                                                             

                                                                   

                                                     

                                                               

                                      After adding salt, it needs to be kneaded.

                                      After pouring the liquid that I got out from the salted plums, the color  of the perillas changes. 

                                         mix with salted ume and perillas

                                                         

After rainy season is over, they will be dried under the strong sun for 3 days!

                               


  2. Ume-Liqueur  We need very green and hard plums  for Ume-liqueur.
                           I did not have rock sugar  so later  I added it. Keep at least 6 months.

                         
              

 3. Pickled ginger with vinegar I marinated sliced and salted ginger without perilla. This light pink color  is natural .  

                                           young ginger

    4.  Pickled red ginger   I marinated ginger with salted perillas and liquid  of salted plums.                

                        *  2 types of pickles of ginger    

           5. Rakkyo (shallot bulbs marinate with vinegar )                    

                                 

                                       *  The crisp is very important for this  pickles.                

     6. Perlilla Juice After boiling perillas , I add sugar and citric acid or  squeezed lemon juice.                  

                                            

                                                                         

                                                           

                                * This juice contains polyphenol so very healthy.
                                  I missed it a lot in Singapore!!!

7.Plum Drink I mixed plums and  rock sugar into vinegar.
                  When we drink we add some water.

                                           

8. Plum Miso for seasoning I put Miso and  sugar on the ripe plums

                                               

The typhoon hit us!

 The typhoon number  4 hit my town in Kanagawa Prefecture at  midnight  today..This typhoon has come  much earlier  than previous years as it's still the rainy season now.There was a  big storm ,so  I was worried that our roof would be  blown off in the gale.! Actually we heard the sound of  the bluster , it was very scary.

During the storm for a few hours  I was thinking how harsh  Mother  Nature is towards us..
We 've earthquakes,tornadoes and typhoons ,too.

I heard that even after the terrible earthquake and the  tsunami in the Tohoku district  , the local people were courteous without  a panic then foreign people admired their good manners..
Personally I think we have just been  accustomed to reconcile  to the severe nature which is beyond our ability.

 This morning I found some of the bamboo trees nearby and the seedllings of the tomatoes I had planted at our small garden  fell down ..I am afraid the price of the vegetables are going up.

Today it is  34 degrees in Hachioji , Tokyo, which has the highest temperature in Japan is experiencing summer now .
Sadly, the typhoon number  5 will be attacking  soon !

                                       20.6.2012

                                        20.6.2012

                                      20.6.2012

                            20.6.2012 ( plum tree) Amazingly most  fruits were still on the branches!

                                       3.3.2012 ( plum tree in  full bloom)

                     

Hydrangeas along the roadside

The rainy season has set in here so the hydrangeas are in bloom now.
I think the soil and the moisture here is very  suitable for the flowers.
The florist said that the alkaline soil  may color them rather red  and the acid one  may do them blue..
When I stayed in London during the last summer for 1 month,I saw the hydrangeas in the neighbourhood of my daughter's house but did not think they were the same kind of flowers as their colour was too pale.
In Karamara,there is a temple named 'The Hydrangeas Temple',as it has so many flowers in the precinct and also in the garden.

                                           

      3.6..2012                                  

                                     

                                         

                                         

                                             7.6.2012

                                       

16.6..2012

                       

                                           17.6..2012