SUMIKO WORKED WITH her mother in their vegetable garden every day. The produce from their garden was sold at the farmer’s market. This is how they made their living. Sumiko’s job was to make sure the daikon radish plants were never too dry. Each day Sumiko would push her finger into the soil to test for moisture, then carefully water any plant that needed it. Sumiko helped her mother tend the garden in other ways, too, so the vegetables would be healthy and ready for the market. Sumiko often pretended the plants she tended were beautiful chrysanthemums, like Mrs. Higaki’s prize flowers.
“Foolish girl!” her mother scolded. “Flowers can’t be eaten!”
“But Mother, people buy flowers.”
“City people. No one
