Obon & Garden Update

I had planned on trucking the family to Jikoen Hongwanji Temple on Saturday but further reflection with Mr. Pikko resulted in us decided we really did not want to be wandering around Kalihi in the dark at night with two little kids. Instead we went back to the Wahiawa Ryusenji Soto Mission obon that we attended last year. When we got there me and Baby Girl got out while Mr. Pikko and Buddy went to park and the first song we hear is Fukushima Ondo!

I was excited and tried to get Baby Girl to go in with me, but no go. It was just as well, it’s definitely not the same as Hilo style betcho.

The moves are slightly different and of course no one chants the betcho lines back. I started chuckling thinking about what a rude reception it would get should people show up and do it. I could so imagine Oahu obon dancers gasping at kids prancing around screaming, “Aji-aji-ajinomoto, aji… aji… aji nomo boto.” Bwahaha!

Sunday I got a whole lot done, including transplanting all the rest of my tomato plants into bigger pots. Boy did that take a lot of back breaking work!! I also planted 4 corn, 5 shiso seeds, and 1 oregano. You can see from my pictures that a bigger pot made a huge difference.

I’d suspected maybe 3 weeks ago that the reason my poor plants were so stunted was because of lack of room. Plus, with such a small pot area the soil would dry up super fast, practically roasting the roots every day. The plant on the left is the one I transplanted a while ago and the one on the right is how the rest of them look. It took only a few days for the bigger one to take off, so I should have a bunch of healthier tomato plants soon!