The Garden Update

This is the fourth summer that we have rented a garden space in our town’s family garden spot.  The summer and the growing season are very short where we live.  We are already eating lettuce and onions.  The tomatoes, kabocha, green peppers, and cucumbers are growing, but not as fast as the weeds.  After a few days of rain, the weeds get out of hand.  We also have corn and potatoes and two kinds of beans.

When Ted is away on field trips, I walk out to the garden by myself. I can exchange greetings and comments about the weather with some of the other gardeners. There is one elderly man, Ono san, who talks to me like I am his good friend. Maybe he doesn’t realize I don’t understand most of what he is saying.  He talks and talks, sometime he chops my weeds or moves my kabocha vines. I try to respond with Hai and So desu to show I am listening, even if I’m not understanding it all.