An Oversized Bonsai and Onions

I was walking home from my exercise class. On the left side of the road was a large farm area and on the other a solid row of homes. In the farm I noticed this tree. It looked like an oversized bonsai, obviously carefully trained to grow almost horizontally to the ground. I would not be surprised to find such a tree in a garden around a large house, but it is surprising to find one in the middle of a truck farm. When this tree gets a little larger, the farmer will put some wooden braces under the extended branch to keep the tree from falling over.

 Almost directly across the street, I noticed these onions hanging under the roof of a parking spot. In areas with a lot of farming it is not at all unusual to see vegetables hanging outdoors but under roofs or in the sun. Onions and daikons are the most common but you will occasionally see other things, too. Persimmons that have been peeled and allowed to dry are also frequently seen. They become sweeter and chewy, a real treat in the fall. Cardboard boxes full of other vegetables are also common.

If you go near the ocean, rather than vegetables, you will see fish that have been cleaned and hung up to dry. Various types of seaweed are also seen drying in the sun in people's yards.