In March and April I spent a few weeks in Japan. Japan is not only filled with manicured gardens but walking around you always see people finding inventive ways of growing edibles in small spaces especially in the city. 

We were in Japan in time to see the cherry blossoms bloom which is a national obsession. Every news report during this time closely follows the timing of the when cherry blossom season officially begins. Once cherry blossom season is declared Japanese people set up tarps under the blossoms in order to picnic and drink.

I’ve always wanted one of these bamboo fountains in my garden. I love how the moss grows on the rock and I love the sound of the water. I’ve always wanted the shishi odoshi, or deer chaser bamboo fountains. The bamboo gradually fills up with water and then when it is full it clicks down scaring away any deer. One day I am going to have one of these in my garden!

In Kyushu, the southern most island, we saw fields of rice and tea, as well as green houses growing mountains of peas and mikan (tangerines). We also visited the onsen (hot springs). One garden was using the heat from the hot springs to heat up their greenhouse (like the English translation?). The last picture is of a typical vegetable garden. There were fava beans, broccoli, leafy greens, asparagus, onions and garlic planted here. We had several meals of vegetable tempura made from this garden!