仙台 えいごの教室

  What do you think these balls are? Believe it ot not¹, these are the berries of a plant. 

  I saw these for the first time² when I visited my doctor’s office³. They were displayed with other flowers on the table in the waiting room. I thought they were fake, but strangely they had vines⁴ which looked real. I carefully touched them. THEY WERE REAL! 

 Right away I googled⁵ them by typing "a plant whose berries are like small watermelons". Bingo! It showed exactly the same berries!

  They are called Okinawa Suzume Uri. Gourds⁶? Really? … but I could tell when I opened the berries that they are in  the gourd family.

  Later I found them on Merucari and got them cheap. Look! Aren’t they cute? As time passes by⁷, they turned⁸ from green to red. The perfect display for Christmas! (but be careful — red berries mean they are ripe⁹ and they will get soft soon.)

  The description says they are poisonous¹⁰. Seeing their bight red color I half feel they are cute, but half feel they look a bit scary.

  I took some seeds from the old berries. Next summer I will try to grow them in my garden. It’s going to be interesting!

  Now that have been these berries in this blog, I’m sure you’ll notice them somewhere. I think they are getting popular this year. When you go downtown, look around and enjoy these Okinawa Sparrow Gourds!