Garden Life Japan – Page 22 – Getting Down and Dirty

Garden Envy

My town is 500 meters above sea level located right at the beginning of the southern alps of Japan. Some of the highest peaks in Japan are no more than 50 kilometers away. The land goes up and down with very few houses or buildings to be seen. In the middle of these ups and downs rice fields dominate the landscape. The newly planted rice looks beautiful and fragile in the big fields of water.

I look out the 2nd level windows at my school to see the farmers and gardeners going back and forth busy at work. Then I turn my head back to the computer where I am overwhelmed by the beauty of all your gardens. All your blogs filled with pretty pictures and bountiful harvest makes me jealous.

view of gardens in japan

I feel confined with so much land around me and beautiful blogs at my fingertips I cant help but want to go outside. But I am stuck in a big cement box which is otherwise known as my elementary school. I long to be outside in my garden doing what I love with the warm spring sun on my back. But instead I get about thirty minutes a day during the week and a few hours on the weekend. And the rest of the time I am teaching! Every time I drive around my town I see immaculate gardens with prefectly measured rows, complicated trellisses, and NO weeds. Where do these people get the time? Dont they have jobs?!?! Wouldnt it be nice if we could all just support our families by playing around in the garden? I guess thats part of the reason why I started this blog. Anyways here I am daydreaming at work envious of all you gardeners who are out there all day long!

The “Farm” Amusement Park

We received quite a few free tickets to the local amusement park called Bokka no Sato. So the family and I finally ventured out for one of the first outtings this spring after hibernating all winter in our house next to the heater. Keep in mind we live in the middle of the mountains and I use the term “amusement park” due to the lack of a better word. Half of this park consists of various flower fields. And the other half is dedicated to animals such a horses, cows, sheep, rabbits, and koi. You can interact with the different animals in a variety of ways. You can feed almost all the animals with a small charge, you can ride the horses, milk the cows, cut sheep hair, hang out and play with the rabbits, and throw crackers to the koi. They also have clown shows, fishing, various little contests, and numerous trinket shops spread throughout the grounds.

However, we went because the tulips just came out this spring and since we missed them last year by a week, I was determined to get there early this year! This was also the first outting with baby Noah who is now close to 50 days and his new stroller. Unfortunately, I don’t think he liked the wind very much and wouldn’t stop crying so our little excursion lasted less than an hour before we returned home.

But here are some of the pictures I snapped before our early departure.
Enjoy!