仔牛近道

短くも、楽しく忙しいこの季節。
今年は3歳の（さ）がよき相棒となってくれるので、一段とにぎやかです。




シソの小さな花が咲いてきたら、もう夏の終わりの合図。花がまだあるうちに、実を指で扱いて集めます。ちょっとこぼれてしまっても気にしない気にしない。自由気ままにシソがそこら中に生えています。器を片手にどんどん扱いていく感覚がとても楽しい様子の（さ）。黙々と集めてくれるので、その間に洗濯物を取り込んだりして、お互いちょうどいい仕事。集めたシソの実は、洗って塩もみ。これを納豆に混ぜて食べるのが（さ）のお気に入りとなりました。さらには、今年の発明一品、「シソの実入り手打ちうどん」。一緒に練り込んで伸ばして切ってゆでて。どの工程もばっちり楽しめるので、これで半日あっという間に過ぎてしまいます。



一緒に蒔いた大根の種は、もう葉の間引きが始まります。間引いて、洗って。これまた水遊びついでにひたすらに取り組む（さ）。ゆでて、自分でマヨネーズをかけてむしゃむしゃ食べます。

そうかと思えば、気づけば庭のミョウガ林が大盛り上がり。泥だらけになりながら這い回ってミョウガ発見隊長自ら、山のようなミョウガを集めます。（さすがにミョウガの味は好きになれないらしいのですが・・・）

週末は姉さんたちも一緒に・・・と思いきや、一緒になるのはおやつの時だけ。それぞれに何やら活動があるお年なので、しょうがないね。毎日が夏休みな、私と（さ）の手料理を召し上がれ。



今年は吊り橋の向こうのトチの実が、たくさん実っているのが確認できました。（ゆ）のツリークライミングの道具も活躍して、落ちて山の動物に食べられる直前の実もたくさん収穫できました。年末の餅つきの重要アイテムとなります。トチの味などまだ知らぬ（さ）ですが、何工程もある灰汁抜き作業には興味があるよう。最終段階で灰の中に投入されたトチの実の独特な臭いも、マスクを駆使して挑みました。



自分が集めた食材が、自分や家族の口に入るまで見届けられるというのは、なんだかとてもしっくりくることですね。このしっくり感ゆえに、3歳児も楽しく関わることができるのかなと思ったりします。時間と水と山がたっぷりある、今の私たちならではの秋時間です。

（わ）



Autumn chores

This season is indeed for a short period of time, but it makes us very busy and excited. Having 3-year-old Saede as company, our autumn chores had become more cheerful and enjoyable.

When you find the tiny flowers of Siso (Perilla) in bloom, it’s the sign of the end of summer. We collected Siso seeds in big bowls. Saede may have dropped some seeds on the ground, but it’s not a big deal because there is plenty of wild Siso here and there around our house! Saede loves this simple work so much, that she showed a tendency to concentrate, and continued for quite some time. Meanwhile I could even finish my laundry. Very productive time for both of us, indeed!
We washed the collected Siso seeds, mixed them with salt, then ate them with Natto, Yes, this is Saede’s favorite way of eating. And also, this year we invented a new recipe that is “Siso seed Udon noodles”. It’s quite simple though- we put Siso seeds in an Udon dough so that we could enjoy the taste and feeling of seeds together with Udon noodles. Saede enjoys every process of these Siso seeds projects, so we could easily spend half the day with Siso!

Looking around our small vegetable patch, it was full of young Daikon (Japanese radish) leaves everywhere, from what we had seeded before. It was indeed a good timing for thinning out. For Saede, everything is part of her play – pulling out, washing, boiling and eating them with her favorite mayo. Here you go!



What about Tochi (Japanese horse-chestnut) collecting this Autumn? It was such a bitter memory last year because we were too late to go to the tree, and all Tochi seeds had already fallen on the ground and eaten up by wild animals. Tochi seeds require a long process for removing its harshness, but it tastes something special when cooked with Mochi. So, this year, we really wanted to collect lots of Tochi seeds. Thank god, there were still plenty on the big tree this year. Yuki utilized his tree-climbing techniques and special tools so that we could get enough Tochi with amazing ease!! Saede was very curious as to how Tochi seeds become something so yummy like many other products she had been working with.



Saede plays with soil, grasses, and water every day. Most of the greens she plays with end up on that day’s lunch menu, so she understands and enjoys cooking and eating them naturally. This is our way of playing in Autumn – with plenty of water, the mountain, and time to relax.

Wakana