04 26 よもぎ
春の野に、広がる草があります。ふいに踏んでしまったり手で握ったりするとさわやかな
あの独特な香りが立ち上がります。
【よもぎ】です。
学名は 「Artemisia princeps」キク科ヨモギ属の多年草
日本の野原や道ばた、土手など、身近な場所で見ることができますが、にた草も多くこれが「よもぎ」と見分けるには香りと特徴を知っていないと意外と難しかったりします。
しかしながら、春になると力強く芽吹き、「春の訪れを知らせる草」として古くから親しまれてきました。
若葉はやわらかく、裏側が白い綿毛に覆われているのが特徴。この産毛を精製したものが鍼灸で使われる“艾（もぐさ）”の原料としても知られています。
「和ハーブの女王」と呼ばれることもあり、日本人の暮らしに深く結びついてきた植物です。草餅やよもぎ団子に使われることでも知られていますが、香り成分には虫除けや保存の働きがあるとされ、昔から薬草としても利用され、お灸として身体を温め、古くから人々の健康を支えてきました。
うちの子達は春のヨモギの天ぷらが大好物ですが！春に収穫しゆでて苦いところを抜いて冷凍しておくと年中餅やおだんご、よもぎパンなど作ることも可能ですね～
よもぎの花言葉には、
「平和」「幸福」「不屈の精神」などがあります。
厳しい環境の中でも根を張り、毎年変わらず芽吹く姿に、その意味が重ねられてきたのでしょう。
小さな雑草、冬にはすっかり枯れてしまい姿形なくなってしまっていても、土の下には根を張り、季節が来れば芽吹きます。
私たちの日々の歩みもまた、見えないところで主に支えられながら信仰の根が守られているのだと思います。
春の香りを運ぶよもぎに、新しい日を始める命の力の芽吹きを感じませんか？
April 26 – よもぎYomogi (Japanese Mugwort)
In the spring fields, there is a plant that quietly spreads across the ground.
When it is accidentally stepped on or gently crushed in the hand, a fresh and distinctive fragrance rises into the air.
It is よもぎyomogi
Its scientific name is 「Artemisia princeps」, a perennial plant of the daisy family (Asteraceae).
It can be found growing in familiar places throughout Japan — fields, roadsides, and riverbanks. However, because there are many similar-looking plants, identifying true yomogi can sometimes be surprisingly difficult unless you know its fragrance and characteristics well.
Still, each spring it sends up vigorous new shoots and has long been loved as one of the plants that announces the arrival of spring.
The young leaves are soft, and the undersides are covered with fine white hairs.
These tiny hairs are refined to make もぐさ (“mogusa”), which is used in traditional moxibustion therapy.
Yomogi is sometimes called the “Queen of Japanese Herbs,” reflecting how deeply it has been connected to daily life in Japan for generations.
It is well known as an ingredient in yomogi rice cakes and dumplings, but its fragrant oils have also traditionally been valued for their insect-repelling and preserving qualities. For centuries it has been used as a medicinal herb, and as もぐさmoxa it has helped warm the body and support people’s health.
My own children absolutely love tempura made from fresh spring yomogi!
If the leaves are harvested in spring, boiled to remove some of the bitterness, and then frozen, they can be enjoyed throughout the year in rice cakes, dumplings, breads, and many other foods.
The flower meanings associated with yomogi include:
“Peace,” “Happiness,” and “An Unyielding Spirit.”
Perhaps these meanings come from the way it continues to take root and return faithfully year after year, even in harsh conditions.
Though it may appear to wither away completely during winter, beneath the soil its roots remain alive, waiting quietly until the season comes to sprout again.
In much the same way, our own daily walk of faith is sustained by the Lord in unseen places, where the roots of faith are gently protected and nurtured.
In the fresh fragrance of spring yomogi, can you also feel the quiet power of new life beginning again?
もう少し夏よりの時期になるとスーパーなどでアメリカンチェリーが出始めます。この【ブラックチェリー】も同じサクラ属の仲間ですが、日本のさくらんぼとは少し違います。
日本のさくらんぼが、やわらかく繊細な甘酸っぱさを持つのに対し、ブラックチェリーは濃厚でコクのある味わいが特徴です主にアメリカで栽培される濃い赤紫色の品種群の総称で、果肉がしっかりしていて甘みが強く、輸送にも向いています。
同じ“桜の実”でも、それぞれに違った個性と魅力がありますね。
私はブラックチェリーが好みですが、子供たちは
「幼稚園のさくらんぼうが何よりも一番おいしい」とのことです。
神様の愛がたくさんあふれるこの幼稚園ではぐくまれた「桜ん坊」に他とは比べ物にならない宝の味があるということですね😍
May 3 — Cherries
As spring gently gives way to early summer during this Golden Week season,
there is a tree on Resurrection Hill bearing glossy red fruit.
It is the cherry tree — “sakuranbo.”
Its scientific name is 「Prunus avium」.
A deciduous tree in the rose family (Rosaceae), it is the fruit of the sweet cherry, originally native to Western Asia and Europe.
Popular Japanese varieties such as Satō Nishiki also belong to this group.
In spring, the tree blooms with white flowers that resemble cherry blossoms.
Afterward, tiny green fruits begin to swell, gradually turning bright red around this time of year.
Japanese cherries bruise easily and have only a short harvest season,
which is why they are sometimes called “the jewels of early summer.”
Because the fruits often hang in pairs, gently swaying side by side,
they have long been seen as symbols of “loveliness,” “fruitfulness,” and “small happiness.”
Before Golden Week, the kindergarten children enjoyed tasting the fully ripened cherries from the tree 💕
Picking cherries straight from the branches and tasting their glossy sweetness is truly a special moment.
The language of flowers for cherries includes meanings such as:
“Little sweetheart,” “Good education,” “Elegance,” “Innocent heart,” and
“I offer you my sincere heart.”
Perhaps because cherries are so charming and beloved by children,
many of their flower meanings carry a warm and gentle feeling.
A little later in the season, American cherries begin appearing in supermarkets.
These “black cherries” are also members of the cherry family, though they are somewhat different from Japanese cherries.
Japanese cherries are known for their delicate texture and gentle sweet-tart flavor,
while black cherries are richer, firmer, and more deeply sweet.
The term “black cherry” generally refers to dark red-purple cherry varieties grown mainly in the United States.
Their firm flesh makes them suitable for shipping over long distances.
Even among fruits from the same cherry family,
each variety has its own unique charm and character.
Personally, I prefer black cherries —
but the children say,
“The cherries from our kindergarten are the most delicious of all.”
Perhaps that is because these cherries have been nurtured in a kindergarten overflowing with God’s love,
giving them a sweetness beyond compare — truly a little treasure from heaven.
