October 12, 2022

“All good things must come to an end.” When I bought this house and moved in, the land next to me was covered with weeds over a meter tall. The land is owned by JR East Railroad. They have been buying land along the Hachiko Line to add a new set of rails. Grass cutters would come twice a year to cut the weeds. During spring, summer and fall there were always tall weeds. I thought it was a waste of good land. Motainai! I removed part of the fence and removed a ton of stones to make several gardens. It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed doing it and it was good exercise.

One time, while I was removing stones, the grass cutter boss came by and said, “Yamete!” “… daro!”, “… daro!” “… daro!” etc. “Yamete and daro were the only words I understood. I smiled and said “OK.” Then took a 10-minute break and then continued working.

After a few years, some JR people came by while I was working. I tried speaking with the boss with my broken Japanese. Finally, the boss started speaking English. I asked why he didn’t start speaking in English sooner and he said I was doing a pretty good job. He was a really nice person. He finally said that I could use the land as long as I kept the weeds cut and did not put up any permanent buildings etc.

I have grown many types of vegetables in my JR yard, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, cabbage, broccoli, egg plants, several types of tomatoes, peanuts, cotton, bell peppers, hot peppers, mint, blackberries, asparagus, cucumbers, etc. Many crops were great, but some were not so good. I got many potatoes and onions, they were always small but tasty. My sweet potatoes were so-so, but the huge ones had bugs that ate from the inside out. My best crops were tomatoes. I had tons of them every year.  From last year I tried growing butternut squash. I harvested very many of them some were giant and others petit. They have a mild taste but are great for making soup. Someone said to cut them lengthwise and when cooked to top it with cheese. Another recipe was to bake until tender and coat with sugar and cinnamon.

I used the JR yard for BBQs also. I have so many great memories of them. I’ll never forget the live band shows featuring Sam Ishihara (RIP) and his country music band. Also, many others played different instruments and we all had sing-alongs. We haven’t had a BBQ since the pandemic started.

On last Friday, two people from JR East visited me. They were very professional and kind. We talked a lot about my using the “JR yard.” They were sorry, but because of JR policies and regulations. They explained that the land I am using will be covered by a mesh net to prevent weeds from growing. I must quit using the land by the end of December. I am now harvesting my final crop and weeding the land for one last time. I will continue to have BBQs in my yard, but at a much smaller scale. In the JR yard I’ve had about 50 people or so. I guess from now, maybe 20 or so will be the max.

I’d like to have one last “Sayonara BBQ”. I guess we’ll have to play it by ear. The first photo is of Ichrou (RIP) and FY who were my main cooks for every BBQ. There are so many more photos and memories, but I can't put them all here.