Wet laundry being dried in the room, a chorus of frogs from rice paddies, small tadpoles in the nearby pond and rivers, hydrangea flowers in the neighbourhood’s front yard.  These are my memories from late spring to early summer rainy season called “Tsuyu 梅雨” in Japan.

While we grapple over lack of rain here on Gabriola, Japan is getting into annual summer rainy season called Tsuyu, which means plum rain.  This seasonal rain comes to part of East Asia including Japan, China and Korea, and the word “Tsuyu” or plum rain came from China since the timing of the season happens to be around when plum fruits ripen in Yangtze river region.  Meteorologically speaking, around this time of the year, humid southern summer weather system collides with cold northern spring weather system and form rain clouds along the border. As long as the power of the two systems are balanced, the rain clouds stay. Eventually, southern system strengthens itself as summer season progresses, and the border gradually moves up to the north. In Japan, usually Tsuyu starts in the southernmost islands in May and ends at the northern main island at the beginning of July.  It brings up to quarter of annual rain fall to some regions and is very important for farmers in Japan, particularly rice growers.  However, for non-farmers like my mom living in western part of main island, it is hard to do anything outside since its hot and humid (almost 30 degrees with high humidity)…  

By the way, one vivid memory I have from my childhood during this rainy season is me with a small bucket in my hand and being captivated by small fishes in the nearby shallow river under the train overpass, and when my mom came to bring me back home and called my name, I stuck my head between the tracks to find her…  How furious my mom became, fearing for my safety if the train happened to pass that overpass!!  Now we laugh at this episode every time I visit her, but I still clearly remember keeping my head down while she was scolding me all the way to our home!

Good news in our garden is many vegetables are now growing fast!

Bad news is despite the wind break cloth installed along the fence, some collards and kales have been damaged.  I hope they grow quickly to the size strong enough to withstand the wind around here!

We brought Shungiku (edible chrysanthemum) to the last Saturday market for the first time.  

Some home gardeners may have grown this citrus-tasting green since its seeds are available at some seed suppliers. Shungiku is popular green in Japan and often added to hot-pot or eaten as tempura. It is full of vitamin A, C, calcium and iron, and it’s fragrance relaxes our autonomic nervous system. When it is lightly cooked or eaten raw in the salad, it adds citrus flavour to your dish. I still have difficulty germinating them and they tend to bolt before it grows to mature size, so our supply may be limited. Please try some whenever its available at the market.

Our market schedule is as follows:

• Island Roots Farmers’ Market: Beban Park, 2300 Bowen Road, Nanaimo, 3 – 6pm on Wednesday
• AGI Market: AGI Hall, Gabriola, 10am – 2pm on Saturday

Thank you for reading our newsletter. Have a wonderful week!