Home-grown eggplants in the middle of November

自家栽培のナスは美味しかった。十一月にナスが取れるなんて驚いた。

Home-grown eggplants are delicious! I am surprised they can be harvested so late in the year.

Just the other day, another foreigner was complaining that Japanese brag too much that they have four seasons. As if other countries don’t have that. While I agree that four seasons are not unique to Japan, I am amazed at how long spring and fall last here in Tokyo. Just a few days ago, I harvested my last three eggplants from the balcony garden. They were small and delicious in a spaghetti sauce I shared with a friend.

Balcony garden in early November

With cooler nights, fall is definitely upon us. I took these photos in the first week of November to document the passing of the seasons on our balcony garden. Above a dramatic sunset over Mt Fuji illuminates the very end of the morning glory green curtain. As you can see in the photo below, there are still many flowers, including cosmos, murasaki shikibu, cyclamen, geranium, fujibakama, a creamy daisy, and a few other annuals.

One of the satoyama unit‘s plant is flowering now, while some of the deciduous plants are dropping their leaves.

The black pine bonsai I assembled at Kobayashi Kenji Sensei’s class at Sinajina is doing well.

And we put the ojizō-sama made at the ceramic studio into one of the satoyama units.

More photos of fall plants, including lemon tree, ceramics, and more images of the satoyama units after the jump.