Rocky Mountains and Wild Sunflowers

My husband and I drove on highway 93 from Golden to Boulder, Colorado this afternoon. Gorgeous rocky mountain, lovely prairie dogs and now a season to enjoy wild sunflowers.

Wildflowers Meadows in Central City, CO

My husband and I had a nice one day trip to Central City, Idaho Spring and George Town today.
We loved driving along with various colored wild flowers in Central City.
They were so pretty.



These Aspen trees were so beautiful with their white trunks and branches.
We had a sudden heavy shower which made the leaves so fresh light green.

Furoshiki Wrapping & Wine Bottles

Instead of buying a wine bottle sized paper bag, a piece of cloth, furoshiki can be a unique reusable wrapping cloth to bring a bottle of wine for a gift.
For the attached photo, I used a Japanese standard sized furoshiki (approx. 35” x 35”).
Can you see I tried to make flower petals around the top of the wine bottle?
As the material of the furoshiki is very flexible, I could enjoy wrapping the wine bottle like doing paper folding, origami.
It is a fun to utilize furoshikis for gift wrapping and creativity is unlimited!

Tornadoes and Hail Storm

The day before yesterday, two tornadoes touched down in Denver metro area and brought a very heavy hail storm.
As we live close to the mountains, weather here is very dynamic and gardening is a challenge.
Unfortunately, the hail storm damaged veggies in my back yard.



In my neighborhood, a huge over 50 years old tree fell down to the ground and cut the power line.
I didn’t have power almost all day yesterday.
No cooking, no computer access, no reading, and etc.
My husband and I were off work due to the power off.

Finding a way to carry daily life smoothly without depending on power too much will be a new lesson for me.

3Rs Reuse: Unfinished Vintage Embroidered Table Cloth

I love antiques and vintage articles especially handmade items.
I purchased an unfinished vintage hand embroidered table cloth and had a fun time to complete it.

My Cats' Favorite Weeds

I have 3 indoor cats.
I picked up the weeds from my garden for them to play with.
One of my cats doesn't show any interests in the weeds.
Two of them just love to eat the weeds so much.
It's a mystery to see each cat's preferences.

Hydrangeas and Rainy Season

Do you know that hydrangeas are native to Japan?

I grew up with enjoying hydrangeas in June and July in Japan.
To me, hydrangeas were blue flowers.
I was surprised to see hydrangeas in pink in the U.S.
It was a new finding for me that the soil makes the different colored flowers.

About 3 years before, I planted 3 hydrangeas in a shady spot under big trees along with a gulch in my back yard.
Two of them didn't come back last year.
The last one came back this year with a few fresh leaves.
For some reasons, squirrels loved to play with the hydrangea, dug up the root and totally destroyed it.
I was so disappointed to lose the hydrangea but could give it up as I knew hydrangeas were not good fit with my dry garden.

The websites below are my favorite places to visit when I go back to Japan.
I would love to share the native Japanese hydrangeas with you!

• Meigetsuin (Meigetsu Temple) in Kitakamakura, Kanagawa,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUoONurKAPc
• Hasedera (Hase Temple) in Kamakura, Kanagawa http://www.hasedera.jp/10_hana/index.html
• Hakone Tozan Tetsudou Ajisai Densha (Hakone Mountain Train, Hydrangea Train) in Hakone, Kanagawa
http://www.hakone-tozan.co.jp/ajisai/index.html

Horticulturist Luther Burbank & Shasta Daisy

A Shasta Daisy in my back yard reminds me of renowned horticulturist Luther Burbank.

I was very fortunate that I lived in Santa Rosa, California and got chances to visit the Luther Burbank Home & Gardens and Luther Burbank’s Gold Ridge Experiment Farm.

I appreciate Luther Burbank for his great development of so many different kinds of plants.
Santa Rosa plums harvested from my own back yard were so delicoius!

I also respect Luther Burbank for his great humanity.
According to a reading at the Luther Burbank Home & Gardens, Luther Burbank talked to cactuses that there was nothing dangerous for them to have thorns. This was how Luther Burbank could cultivate thornless cactuses.

I am going to take great care of my garden with love.
Happy Gardening!

Carbon Neutral Landscape

Article picked up from
National Wildlife Magazine April/May, 2009 Issue
P46 How Green is Your Garden?
National Wildlife Federation

Summary:
“With proper planning, native plants and some appropriate actions, homeowners can create carbon-neutral landscapes.”

Key Points:
• In order to make gardens carbon-neutral, we have to accumulate biomass-to grow a lot of plants and maximize the planting area.
• Reduce the size of lawn and replace lawn with a native wildflower meadow which will provide habitat for wildlife and require no watering after its young plants are established.
• Plant most of your property with low-maintenance native trees and shrubs.
• Use compost and mulch produced from garden trimmings to enrich your soil.

Useful Websites:
• Landscape for Energy Efficiency by U.S. Department of Energy www.eere.energy.gov
• NWF The Gardener’s Guide to Global Warming www.nwf.org/gardenersguide, www.nwf.org/personalsolutions & www.nwf.org/backyard

Ducks Visiting My Back Yard

I live in a small neighborhood few blocks away from a busy highway and main boulevard in Denver metro.
Most houses in my neighborhood were built in 1950's and have many mature trees and shrubs.
Gulches running in my neighborhood provide water sanctuary for ducks.

It is possible for us to provide peaceful sanctuary for wild life in cities.
I treasure wild life visiting my garden so much!

Eco-Friendly Cleaning with Vinegar

It is very humid in Japan.
It is a common problem at household to get mold in the bathroom.
While staying at my parents’ house in Tokyo metro area, Japan, I tried to remove the mold in the bathroom with vinegar and water combination using a hard sponge and a toothbrush. It worked so well.
Besides, the vinegar and water combination made the tiles and bathtub really clean and fresh.

Fortunately, I don’t have mold problems at my house in Colorado due to the dry weather.
With the vinegar and water combination, I wipe bathrooms and kitchen.
With the vinegar and baking soda, I clean up drains.

I am happy that I don’t have to use any more breach for cleaning!

Purple Flowers and Bees

Can you see a bee flying around the purple flower shown in the picture above?
It’s cute to see bees go inside of the flowers and show up again like a hide and seek game.

Happy honey bee garden!

Safe Society and Green Effects

While staying in Tokyo metro area last spring, I didn’t have to have my own car to go out. There were so well developed public transportation systems including trains, subways, buses and taxies.
What amazed me was those public transportations utilize high tech energy efficiency devices.
When I took a big public bus, I noticed the bus shut down and re-started engine automatically at each stop sign.

Besides, I could walk by myself anywhere even at night time without having fears for safety.

I think the safety of the society is a very important element of reducing usage of private cars and gas.
I can’t go out without taking my own car not only because I don’t have well connected public transportation system in my area but also I don’t feel safe to walk even in my own hometown in the U.S.
I have several experiences that I was followed by strangers at parking lots while I was getting back to my car alone. To take my own car is a safety method for me that I have not been able to give up.

Can we make the U.S. is much safer place to live so that we can walk anywhere without having fears?

Love for Birds

When I was sitting on a bench in the mountain park in Japan last spring, I saw a crow was watching me from a tree. After a while, I heard a baby bird voice from somewhere and noticed a light brown crow baby in the nest a little bit far from my bench. The mother crow was still watching me but didn’t fly above my head to let me go. It was a special experience for me that the mother crow let me enjoy watching her baby crow.

I have several big trees in my back yard in Colorado.
I can see doves and red robins make nests and have babies on the big trees in spring.
Today, a dove couple was staying at a bird bath for a long time.
When I went to the garden, I found a baby dove was sitting under the tree bush next to the bird bath.
The baby dove looked so innocent and delicate.
I am so happy to see precious wild life grow in my garden.

Tomato and Yellow Squash

Have you ever tasted yellow tomatoes?
Last summer, I tasted small sized yellow tomatoes from my garden for the first time. They were so sweet like fruits and I fell in love with them.
This summer, I planted 12 kinds of tomatoes mixing red and yellow in both big sizes and small sizes.
We have been having an unusual wet summer and the tomatoes have not been growing much.
I am very happy to see some of the tomatoes started to have flowers.

On the other hand, the yellow squash has been growing quickly.
I expect to harvest some fruits on the yellow squash in a short time.

Global Furoshiki Community

It was great to hear from Mandy and myfuroshiki regarding the former blog, “3Rs Japanese Reusable Wrapping Cloth Furoshiki posted on July 8.

Mandy and her partner run an organic earth tone furoshiki business, “Persimmon & Pine” in Seattle, WA
www.persimmonandpine.com

My Furoshiki and her sister run a cute modern Japanese motif furoshiki business, “My Furoshiki” in England and Australia.
www.myfuroshiki.blogspot.com

It is very interesting to see various furoshiki designs at their business.

It is also great that furoshikis have been rediscovered their eco-friendly value beyond Japan!

Basil with Tiny White Flowers

I planted 6 basils about 1 month before.
They are around 7” tall now.
I found 1 basil has cute tiny white flowers.
They look like baby’s breath and I was fascinated by the pure white color.

I picked up several basil leaves and added to my salad.
Great Taste!

New Artichoke Plants

I had several artichoke plants in my garden in California. It was easy to grow artichokes and had nice fruits.

About 1 month before, when my husband and I saw artichoke plants at a nursery in my area, we were not sure whether or not we could grow artichokes here. One customer who was near to us told us that her artichoke plants have been able to survive snowy winter here and she could harvest tiny artichokes.

So, we planted 4 artichokes in our back yard. We have lost 1 but 3 of them have been growing into healthy plants.

Hope my artichoke plants survive this coming winter.

3Rs: Bring Your Own Utensils

In Japan, there is a campaign, “My Hashi (Bring Your Own Chopsticks)”.
Instead of using disposable wooden chopsticks for outings, Japanese bring their own chopsticks.

While staying in Japan last May, I visited a local public office’s 3Rs center in City of Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. City of Yokohama has been on top of 3Rs activities and has been offering a free public service which loans utensils, dish washer and 2 public workers to local gatherings. This aims to reduce the amount of disposable utensils garbage.

Don’t you think if we bring our own utensils to concerts, fairs, BBQ s, parties and/or any other gathering which use a lot of disposable utensils, we could reduce a huge amount of plastic garbage?

I will start to bring my own utensils in my bag.
Please join me to start “Bring Your Own Utensils” campaign!

Rock Garden

I had a cute lizard friend named Linzy in my back yard in California.
Every time when I did gardening in a raised mint bed, Linzy showed up to say “hi” to me.
She was sitting on the edge of the mint bed and was keeping company with me while I was working.
I found she had very pretty beaded eyes and friendly face.

I was so happy when I found a lizard in my rock garden here in Colorado.
She is very shy and usually runs away from me when she sees me.
Well, I hope she will find me as her friend someday soon.

3Rs: Japanese Reusable Wrapping Cloth Furoshiki

Furoshikis are wrapping cloth originated in Japan. There are various sizes and designs and can be used for multiple purposes such as carrying items, gift wrapping, protecting garments in the closets and etc. They are light weight, easy to carry in the bags and flexible to fit various sized items to be wrapped.

Ms. Wangari Muta Maathai , who has been an ecologist for the Green Belt Movement in Kenya and won the Nobels Fredspris in 2004, was deeply impressed by the Japanese value, “Mottainai” and furoshiki.
“Mottainai” means not to waste.
Ms. Maathai has been introducing furoshiki to the world through her Mottainai Campaign.

For this coming holiday season, can we start to use reusable wrapping materials like furoshiki ?
I am going to change my wrapping materials from papers to reusable cloth or bags.

Lavenders in Bloom

Town of Furano in Hokkaido, Japan is famous for their lavenders.
I wonder if I could grow lavenders in my garden well as the climate in Furano might be similar to the one in Colorado.
I read a lot of books regarding lavenders and planted 4 British lavenders in my garden 3 years before.
I chose the British lavenders as their fragrance seemed to be the best.
Last summer, they didn’t look so great.
This summer, they grew into much established bushes and have been in bloom.

I am happy to see several bees are busy with flying around my lavenders.

Besides providing honey bee friendly garden with lavenders, I am going to enjoy lavenders for myself.
With making lavender saches for closets, I will stop using moth balls.
It will be lovely to wear clothing with lavender fragrance!

3Rs Reduce: Pencils

I started to use pencils instead of pens so that I can reduce the amount of plastic garbage.

Starting Honey Bee Friendly Garden

While staying in Japan last May, it was a serious issue that the population of honey bees has been decreasing.
After coming back to the U.S., I saw an advertisement regarding the honey bee crisis placed by Haagen Dazs Ice Cream.

I started to pay attention whether or not I would be able to see more bees in my garden.
With the honey bee friendly garden instruction by the Haagen Dazs, I planted marigolds and cosmoses. There seems to be some snails or insects in my garden which love to eat their leaves. Especially, marigolds have troubles to survive after they lost their leaves.

Unexpectedly, I saw many bees flying around the clovers in my front yard today.
Could it be a honey bee friendly garden to have wild clovers?
I wonder if I could help to provide honey bee friendly garden not only with making a new flower garden but also with preserving wild clovers in my garden.

By the way, my new finding while staying in Japan was Japanese honey tasted differently from honey in the U.S. To me, the Japanese honey seemed to have lovely violet fragrance. That was a happy surprise in my mouth.

3Rs Reduce: Self-Winding Watch

When my watch with a battery stopped working, instead of replacing a new battery, I re-started to use my self-winding watch.
The wind-up watch was my first watch given by my grandfather in 1970’s. I didn’t use the watch for 30 years or so but works just fine.
I am going to use this self-winding watch so that I can reduce the amount of consumption of batteries.

Organic Compost Pile

The photo above is my organic compost pile in my back yard.

My husband has an uncle who owns a huge orange farm in California.
He just followed his uncle’s way to dig a huge hole in the ground and put garden remains and kitchen garbage.

Without using any compost bins, this compost pile works fine for us.
We have never put any earthworms into the pile but there are so many earthworms living there.
We put all kitchen garbage except meats. Fortunately, We don’t smell anything bad nor don’t see any flies swarming on the pile.
We just love to smell the earthy dark soil.

3Rs Cloth Napkins

Reduce Household Garbage:

My husband and I stopped using paper napkins and started to use cloth napkins.

Peony Bushes

Several years before, I read a newspaper article regarding a Japanese non-profit group which helped China to grow trees in order to stop an expanding desert.
What they did was to fly above the desert and dropped several kinds of seeds of trees from the sky to the desert. The expert said if the trees’ nature fitted with the climate of the desert, they could grow there and would make a native forest.

With this reading in mind, I have been trying to figure out what kinds of flowers and trees could be happy with growing in my garden.
This early summer, I was so happy to see 2 peony bushes that I had planted about 3 years before could give me flowers.
They are very low maintenance and look very healthy.

In Japan, peony trees are classified as “Botan” while peony bushes are classified as “Shakuyaku”. Peony trees can have much bigger flowers than peony bushes. I have not been able to find any peony tree roots available at any nurseries in my area.
What good to have peony bushes is to be able to divide them into multiple bushes after they mature.

My new finding regarding peonies is peonies can survive in very humid climate as well as very dry climate. Their flowers look very delicate but they seem to be one of very tough plants to survive in multiple weather conditions.

Starting Simple Eco Life

I recently returned from a 6 weeks trip to Japan.

It was a real WOW to know that the Japanese public offices, companies and individuals have been working so hard to contribute to the global warming issues.

Every day, there were full of topics regarding the green effects in the newspapers. There were visitors from Africa, Europe and Asia to Japan in order to exchange information regarding the global warming issues. There were so many eco-friendly activities held by the Japanese governmental offices and the individuals on daily basis.

Frankly speaking, I felt the U.S. is so behind regarding the contribution to the green effects.
Do we get enough information from all over the world regarding the global warming issues?

In Japan, garbage services are local public services.
While staying in Japan, I followed the details requirement how to sort my household garbage every day.
It was another surprise to know that the Japanese local offices have been recycling more than 90% of the household garbage collected. After achieving the high percentage of recycling, the Japanese public offices have moved their focus from recycling to reducing the amount of gargabe first.

After coming back home in the U.S., I sincerely wanted to start to contribute to the global warming issues.

I am going to live simple eco-friendly life and plant more green.

Wishing our mother earth be green and peaceful for the coming generations.