Now Out: Essay 1289 on 栽 (planting) and 6 New-Monics

The 261st essay has posted! Essay 1289 on 栽 (planting, cultivating) is now available for purchase. Here's a preview:

The Japanese excel at farming. Find out what they're up to with organic and pesticide-free cultivation, particularly since 2011, when the Tohoku disasters made people anxious about food safety. See where the Japanese have experimented with growing olives. Learn how to coax secrets out of bonsai. And read plot summaries from the TV show "Weeds” about growing marijuana!

Using the accompanying game on the Character Home Page, you can practice the vocabulary in the essay after reading it.

Also, Ulrike has produced the following new-monics (which are free!):

重 (311: heavy)
動 (362: to move)
種 (503: seed)
働 (558: to work)
勲 (1191: outstanding achievement)
腫 (2028: swelling)