Two posts together to try and catch up.
26th September
- The 3m high net that’s kept attackers off our chilli plants so far this year was down in a couple of places. This wasn’t wind and rain – some animal had discovered it was possible to knock it down and get in, and had eaten a few leaves here and there. This isn’t good news – the chilli plants are OK at the moment, but if this goes on it will only be a matter of time before the leaves get eaten off them. That means deer, but the half-eaten pumpkin husk on the ground suggests monkeys. Could it have been a joint effort? Anyway, put it back up with extra guyropes on some of the poles.
- Some small rodent has discovered a taste for our medium-hot red chillies. A few of them were lying on the ground with the inside parts chewed out. My guess is that it’s the fieldmouse I saw running away last week. Monkeys aren’t supposed to like chillies, and deer mainly go for the leaves.
- Looked down on Monday afternoon to see my ankle caked with dried blood. A leech must have been there – you don’t feel a thing while they’re sucking your blood, only afterwards when it swells up and gets itchy. Actually, this time it wasn’t too bad, maybe because I didn’t pull the leech off by force – that’s supposed to squeeze out its stomach contents into the wound and cause all kinds of infection…
- Min temp. 10°C max 28°C
3rd October
- The deer net was down again. Definitely deer this time – there were fresh droppings on the ground. The chillies were still intact, so far… Wearily tried to repair things a bit better than last week.
- That small rodent had been eating chillies again – more this time. They’re quite hot this year, but that doesn’t seem to be bothering him. It’s only the ones near the ground, though, so the situation’s just about acceptable.
- Rain most of the day on Monday, and cold enough to need a sweater – quite a novel experience.
- Drove back to Nagoya through a bit of Autumnal mist
- Min temp. 12°C max 23°C
asazuke 