Tag Archives: Japan

Pickled Daikon Radish Recipe

Posted on by rhondacarrier

Our school garden produced large white Japanese radishes (see School Garden Harvest). Most of the students took their share home, but three students gave me their portions. I mentioned how much I loved Japanese daikon when I lived in Japan. I was willing to try to pickle the daikon we had grown. Three students were interested in trying the pickled version.

The recipe is from the Food Network for Sweet Pickled Daikon Radish. I haven’t contacted my friends in Japan to see if this is close to what they do with daikon, but the taste will be the main indicator of the authenticity of the recipe.

Tonight I peeled and sliced the radishes and mixed them in a colander with 1/4 cup of salt. The colander was placed in a bowl to collect the water that came from the daikon radishes.

Japanese daikon radish

Japanese daikon radish

Peel, slice, cover with salt and train for an hour

Peel, slice, cover with salt and train for an hour

While the daikon was draining, I boiled 1 cup rice vinegar, 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar and 1/4 tsp. tumeric. Once the mixture boiled, I took it off the heat to allow it to cool.

Boiling vinegar, water, sugar, tumeric

Boiling vinegar, water, sugar, tumeric

After 1 hour, I the rinsed the daikon thoroughly with water, then dried it well. I placed the daikon in a sterile container and covered with the cooled water/vinegar/sugar/tumeric mixture.

Daikon covered with pickling solution

Daikon covered with pickling solution

It should be refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight. I will divide it into three portions and will take it to the students in the morning. I hope they like it!

Ohanami – A Cherry Blossom Party

Posted on by rhondacarrier

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The scene above is at Sakurashukugawa in Kobe Japan last spring.

Ohanami celebrates the passing of winter and the renewal of life each spring.  Ohanami, meaning flower viewing, can be a quiet, reflective stroll beneath the sakura (cherry blossom), but it is also party-time in Japan. Office workers and families stake out territory in prime locations to celebrate. Vast quantities of food, beer and saki are shared, games are played, and portable karaoke machines turned on.

Ohanami photographersPhotographing sakura is another common activity. Everyone gets in the act with camera equipment ranging from mobile phone cameras to serious cameras with massive lenses. My friends in Japan are posting sakura photos on Facebook and commenting about ohanami celebrations, causing me to reminisce about spring in Japan. Spring here in Tampa is beautiful also, more beautiful than I anticipated, but I miss the ohanami. it is a true celebration when an entire country goes on a picnic to view flowers.

Azaleas, the Right Place in Japan and Tampa

Posted on by rhondacarrier

AzaleaAzaleas are blooming in many of the neighborhood gardens here in Tampa, making me nostalgic for the azaleas near our house on Rokko Island Japan. (photo at left) Most of the streets on Rokko Island are lined with azalea bushes, so in the spring when they bloom the streets appear to be lined with ribbons of pink. Here in Florida, the azaleas are often located near houses and mixed with a variety of plants rather than placed in isolated stands as I saw in Japan.

Azaleas need a soil that is slightly acidic, well-drained and well-aerated. I haven’t received the results of the soil sample I sent in to be tested, so I’m not sure how acidic the soil is or isn’t, but since so many neighbors are growing it, surely the soil in my yard is close to the necessary range.

I visited a local garden shop today to investigate what was available. He has some salmon-colored and some slightly lavender-colored azaleas. I’m going back to his shop on Monday, which gives me several days to think about where I would plant them in my yard. I have to keep thinking about the Florida-Friendly “right plant in the right place” concept because it is important to consider the best environment for each plant. I’m trying to restrict the plants in the front of the house to those that won’t need weekly watering but will survive on the natural rainfall. Azaleas should be watered regularly, so they might not work in the plan for the front yard. The front yard also gets the brunt of the winter winds so the plants in that area are more likely to have frost damage. I’d hate to lose the azaleas to frost next winter. I’m working in the backyard tomorrow, so will see if I have a spot in the backyard for them.

Awaji Eye Landscape

Posted on by rhondacarrier

I know the eye is a stretch for my backyard landscape plans, but I love and envy the long, lovely cypress eye lashes.

Awaji Eye

(Awaji Japan 2009)

CypressThen there is reality. This scraggly row of cypress trees came with our house. Apparently, the previous owner’s goal was to line the backyard with them. Two of the trees on another wall actually look healthy but most of them are a dismal and droopy lot. I fertilized them a month ago and they have greened up a little; interestingly, they are greening from the top down, not the bottom up as I expected.

The question is, what should I do with them? I hate to cut a tree of any kind, but they don’t add anything to the landscape. Am I just not using my imagination enough to find a solution?

Growing Camellias

Posted on by rhondacarrier

We moved from Kobe, Japan to Tampa, FL last June. Gardens in Japan are designed to highlight each season. Spring was my favorite season with its waves of camellias, cherry blossoms, azaleas and hydrangeas. I’m starting to plan a garden in Tampa and I’m looking for knowledge and inspiration to help me convert a lot full of weeds to a garden beautiful throughout the year. When I realized the Master Gardener topic at the Charles Fendig Library was on camellias, I joined the group to learn how to grow them in my Tampa garden.

Eileen Hart, Master Gardener and presenter, had a table covered with beautiful blooms to highlight her discussion of camellia history, use, insects and diseases, plus propagation of the plant. The cluster of stamen at the center of a camellia is a key characteristic, although there are variations. The formal double flowers, for instance, have a tight center of petals that hide the cluster of stamen. Camellia flower sizes vary, and colors range from white to pink to red.

The camellia is a short day plant, blooming when there is less than 12 hours of sunshine each day. When purchasing a camellia plant, Eileen advised determining when it will bloom, since different species bloom from November to March. It grows best in the understory of other plants, so provide another plant to shade it during the hottest part of the day. Eileen suggested fertilizing camellias with 2/10/10 fertilizer between Feb. – Mar and 12/4/8 in June to stimulate growth and blooms. An encouraging fact for those of us that lost plants to the freezing temperatures in Florida recently, is that the camellia can tolerate freezing temperatures for short periods. Some of the leaves and blooms may be lost due to frost, but if the plant is well established, the roots and stem should recover. Another environmental consideration is its water requirements. The plant can survive a drought, but it needs at least an inch of water each week to bloom. It does not tolerate having “wet feet”; that is it does not grow in waterlogged and poorly drained soil conditions.

I was reminded today that the camellia is not just beautiful, it also has economic importance.  Camellia sinensis is the basis for most types of tea with a history stretching back over 5,000 years. Green tea has significance to us since my husband and I took tea ceremony lessons while in Japan. I will think of Eileen’s presentation, and enjoy sipping Camellia sinensis, the next time my husband makes me a bowl of tea.

I will carefully tend the seedling that I received from Eileen today. Hopefully it will develop into a full blooming camellia bush in my garden in a few years.