Autumn Photos From Saitama

Autumn is turning into winter and I wanted to share some photos.

The first three are from the rice harvest party in Kumagaya. Remember the post I did from June when we planted the green rice shoots? Well, the result was pretty good, as you can see from the first photo.

This is small-scale community-supported farming, and we had a pot-luck party at a local shrine as people could come to collect their share of the harvest.

I loved the pumpkin with azuki beans, and the apple salad was great. Rice, miso soup and tea. The others had a couple of chicken and pork dishes as well. Negishi-san grows soybeans and makes miso, and the bean-and-tomato dish was very tasty.

Negishi-san, Shimizu-san and the others are very concerned about the future of farming in Japan, and we are thinking of how to develop this project further.

Also, some photos from Hanno City, showing the largest local temple, Noninji, founded in 1501. The temple is just next to a small mountain called Tenranzan, a popular hiking spot.

Easy access from Ikebukuro, yet you feel far away from the concrete jungle. Blue Lotus has more from a trip in September, with truly gorgeous photos. Matt at Oak House also likes Hanno! Official website here.

And finally, my amazing mini-tomatoes, that I harvested in December. Yup, they are slowly turning ripe in the sunshine.

I'm not going to suggest that this is due to global warming - the vine is growing against the western wall of my house, and gets a lot of early morning sun. This is the only explanation I can think of that they are still ripening at this time of year.

I also added a bag of 栗 kuri (chestnut) and some mushrooms - foods more considered to be "in season" than tomatoes. The last photo of my neighbour's mikan tree in afternoon sunshine I took just minutes ago. Enjoy!