August 4, 2014

New Potatoes/新じゃが

New potatoes, that is, freshly harvested potatoes, are called shin jaga (short for shin jaga imo) in Japanese. New potatoes have thin skins, contain more moisture, and are much tastier than regular potatoes.
New potatoes、つまり新たに収穫されたじゃがいものことを日本語では新じゃが(新じゃがいもの略)と言います。新じゃがは皮が薄く、通常のじゃがいもより水分が多く、ずっと美味しいです。

This spring, I was given some potato seedlings from my father-in-law, which gave me an opportunity to grow potatoes for the very first time.
今年の春は、義理の父(義父)からじゃがいもの苗をもらったので、生まれて初めてじゃがいもを育てるチャンスができました。

My rented field on May 11
借りている畑、5/11
I had already made all preparations (digging the soil, adding lime, manure, and chemical fertilizer, and laying mulch).
準備は全てしてありました(土を掘り、石灰、堆肥、化学肥料を入れ、マルチを張る)。

And, I had already decided to grow the potatoes in one ridge, where the mulch was removed by strong wind.
それに、強風でマルチが剥がれたこの畝(うね)でじゃがいもを育てようと決めていました。
20+ (23?) potato seedlings, given to me by my father-in-law.
義理の父からもらったじゃがいもの苗20本以上(23本?)
I placed them about 50 cm apart.
約50 cm離して植えました。
Then, I covered them with 5-8 cm deep soil.
それから、土を5~8 cmかぶせました。
The single ridge was not enough to place all the seedlings, so I placed the remaining ones near the west end of the field.
この畝だけでは、苗を全部植え切れなかったので、残りは畑の西側近くに植えました。
I later learned that I should not have covered them with soil because they were seedlings (pieces of potato that had already sprouted). Luckily, they survived and grew well, except some.
後で、苗(芽が出たじゃがいも)なので、土をかぶせてはいけないと知りましたが、運よく、生き延びてくれて、よく成長しました(例外を除いて)。

June 15
6/15
August 3
この日に全部収穫しようと決めていました。
8/3
I had decided to harvest them all on this day.

Before:
ビフォー:
After:
アフター:

These are all the potatoes that I harvested from the 1+1/2 ridges.
畝1本半から収穫したじゃがいもはこれだけです。
Shown on the lower right corner are bocchan kabocha. I planted two seedlings of bocchan kabocha. These were harvested from one of them. Little too early to harvest them. The truth is that I accidentally pulled the root of one seedling, so I had to harvest them!
右下にあるのは、坊ちゃんかぼちゃです。 坊ちゃんかぼちゃの苗を二本植えたのですが、一つの苗から採れたものです。収穫するにはちょっと早いのですが、実を言うと、一つの苗の根を間違って抜いてしまい、収穫せざるを得なかったんです!
I have recently found this great gadget from a 100-yen shop.
最近、100円ショップでこのすごい装置を見つけました。
A very clever gadget that turns your normal glasses into sunglasses in an instant!
通常のメガネを一瞬でサングラスにする、賢い装置です。
I have wanted to have such a gadget for a very long time.
こんな装置をずっと前から欲しいと思っていました。

I boiled small ones and the ones I had accidentally damaged with the hoe while harvesting.
小さいのと、収穫時に鍬(くわ)で傷つけてしまったのを茹でました。  
Naturally, they tasted just great!
もちろん、すごく美味しかったです。

6 comments:

T Square said...

Looks yummy of those potatoes.
And is bocchan kabocha similar to pumpkin?

Hiroyuki said...

T Square: Yes, they are very yummy.

As for bocchan kabocha, I posted about them here:
http://hiro-shio.blogspot.jp/2012/07/bocchan-kabocha-tempura.html
They are small, but contains a lot of protein, beta-carotine, and sugar.

Sissi said...

Congratulations for the harvest ! Young potatoes bring me childhood memories... I find them excellent with some melted butter and fresh dill (though they might be good also with chopped green onions if dill is difficult to get).

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: Thanks! My daughter had some with mayo and others with margarine, while my son had his with no seasonings, saying that they were the best that way. He also said, "You have rice without anything, right? The same is true of potatoes." He was right. I had mine with no seasonings, and I found them incredibly tasty!

Fräulein Trude said...

This year is the worst potatoe year in our region since long and we are a main potatoe farming region. The prices are high because lots of the plants got sick with the blight and there is no harvest of young potatoes at all (all rotten), thanks to the very rainy but warm early summer. Lucky you are!

Hiroyuki said...

Kiki: Ah, sorry to hear that!

I wasn't lucky with okra and malabar spinach. I have to talk about this in the near future.