One Life Japan in March

Photos of the current snow situation. Also, today we picked our first fukinoto for the year, and had our first tara-no-me tempura for lunch (grown in our neighbor’s greenhouse)

Its amazing how much more quickly the snow is melting compared to last year. I have customers coming in five days. Originally I had suggested that we do the trip somplace further south, because I Was worried about snow. Luckily they said they didn’t mind cold and snow, and would rather be someplace a bit more remote, like here. Looks like it will be perfect amount of snow maybe even some flower buds?
Compare to March 21 last year, and first fuki harvest on March 20, but with lots more snow.

My sister-in-law facebooked some photos of niece and nephew chillin’ in the backyard pool with sun-bonnets, Hawaiian shirts, and inflatable palm trees. They are in Michigan. It is March.

Meanwhile, Mona, Tomoe and I took a walk yesterday exploring one of the roads that goes out back behind the hamlet toward the mountain and out favorite sansai (wild veggie) stashes. Usually the road is not plowed until into April, but there is some construction work on a dam up the river, so it is at least passable by Caterpillar.

Mona has come a long way this winter – from crying to be carried when faced with an inch of snow on the driveway in Michigan, to happily struggling the entire way over treacherous snow, even insisting that I let her dig out her own foot when she gets it stuck.

She is also quite the extreme sledder. Even I was afraid of the 40 degree slope (I’m a wuss when it comes to the possibility of bumping the shoulder that got operated on last year)

I have made it a point to upload and post on the same day as taking the photos in the interest of keeping accurate records so I can see next year what date it was this year that we picked and enjoyed eating our first fukinoto of the season.

It was today. They were small, and probably peed on by dogs (quite close to the road), but they were goooooooood.

Fukinoto is the first green we get to eat in the spring. Unlike the wild veggies that grow in non-snowy areas, and grow slowly as the weather warms, ours literally spring out, having been alive, but not growing under the insulating cover of snow. Once the snow melts and they are exposed to spring sun, they grow very quickly, which is supposed to make them taste better. I have never really compared them to non-snow-country fukinoto, but I like to believe it just for the sake of feeling smug as I eat this free treat every day for the next month or two.