My name is Kurihara and I work at the Kamiyama satellite office.
Time flies, and a year has already passed since I started living in Kamiyama at the end of June last year, with my second summer fast approaching.
Last time, I wrote an article in "Work and Life in Kamiyama" introducing the members working in Kamiyama, but this time I would like to write about the changes in my life that have been possible because of Kamiyama.
A field. It has been cleared.
As the headline says, I am currently clearing some barren land in a garden in front of my house (approximately 6-7 tatami mats) and starting a vegetable patch.
On the left is the garden before cultivation. Weeds are growing out of control. On the right is the current state. The overgrown plants in the center are vegetables.
When I think back to when I first started farming, I think I was looking for a new challenge that I could take on in Kamiyama, something I couldn't experience in Tokyo.
Perhaps it's the atmosphere of the people I have come into contact with, or the flow of Kamiyama... Deep down, I feel something that is unique to Kamiyama rather than Tokyo, something that is unique to life in the mountains in the countryside...
As a result, I think I ended up working in the fields.
The main reason why we chose a field is because there was a piece of land in front of our house that could be used for a field.
Also, around that time, the Food Hub Project, in which Manabe from the Production Department is involved, was promoting "locally produced food" as a keyword and was in the process of preparing to open Kamaya, so I think that with all the conversations about food going on around us, food became something quite familiar to us.
(We will not go into the details of the Food Hub Project’s activities here. For more information, please click here .)
Until now, I had hardly ever thought about food. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, and even when I went to the supermarket, I rarely bought vegetables. Even if I did buy vegetables, there would be multiple identical vegetables lined up from different sources, and when I had to decide what to buy, it always seemed to be based on the cheapest option.
I think now I have started to think at least a little about what I put in my mouth.
I've written this as if I am particular about food, but I have no particular preferences for where the vegetables are produced or whether they have to be pesticide-free, and I don't think I would notice the difference between organic and non-organic vegetables if they were placed next to each other...
The fact that we still base our choices on price hasn't changed much, but I think we now think about where to buy it.
For example, instead of buying cheap vegetables at the supermarket, people may start thinking about buying seasonal vegetables at cheaper prices at roadside stations.
Plus, since coming to Kamiyama, the options for "growing" rather than "buying" have increased.
This is what I grow in my field.
Vegetables from the field. The sandwich in the photo is made with home-grown cherry tomatoes, basil, cheese, and ham.
In the small field known as "Kurihara Farm," we have grown many different kinds of vegetables.
To be precise, it might be more appropriate to say that I planted the seeds.
It is said that farming begins with preparing the soil, but I first sow the seeds, let them grow, and above all enjoy the harvest.
It is said that soil preparation is 99% important for growing vegetables, but it involves the world of chemistry and involves things like acidic soil and alkaline soil, which is a very deep subject, so I couldn't get started.
Things I did included "turning the soil over," which involves turning over the soil deep down, where the nutrients and microorganisms are most abundant, and mixing it with the soil in the shallower parts (this is done by hand, so it's quite hard work), and when I felt like it, I brought leaf mold from the compost and spread it around, doing as much soil preparation as I could.
In these fields, we grow vegetables (fruits) like these.
Convenient to have on hand at all times. Vegetables you can eat every day
- Cherry Tomato
- Perilla
- okra
- Spring onion
- Leaf lettuce
The highest harvest was in August, but recently the weather has gotten colder and the amount harvested has decreased.
For "cherry tomatoes," I buy one seedling, plant it, and grow it. During the growing stage, I periodically thin out (cut) the long branches so that the fruit can get the nutrients it needs, but instead of throwing away the thinned branches, I plant them in the field, and they will eventually take root.
They seem to have a high reproductive ability, and by repeatedly cutting and replanting them, they have become a major force at Kurihara Farm, with cherry tomatoes now taking over most of the field.
Thanks to this, the plant produces a lot of fruit, and I can harvest 5 to 6 ripe red fruits every day.By simply washing and cutting them, I can have a salad, or with a little cooking, I can add color to my table.
"Shiso" is one of the vegetables that I think every household should grow. It can be eaten with Tokushima Prefecture's local somen, Handa somen (which is slightly thicker and chewier than regular somen), or wrapped around pork. Although it may not seem like there are many uses for it, it can be used in any dish.
It's very useful to have vegetables that can be harvested at any time like this. When I get home at night, it's my daily routine to put on my headlamp and harvest the vegetables I'll have for dinner.
Other vegetables
- Corn
- Watermelon
- Eggplant
- Herbs
Corn is a vegetable I've been wanting to try growing this summer.
Compared to other vegetables, it has shown remarkable growth and has grown to about my height, but it is not producing any fruit...
After asking around and doing some research, I found out that it seems that pollination is necessary. Normally, bees pollinate the flowers, or pollen falls naturally, but I decided to go ahead and artificially pollinate them. (I just shook the ear of the flower to make the yellow pollen fall onto the pistil.)
After a while, the corn began to bear fruit, and although it wasn't exactly the most productive, it was very, very sweet.
We almost always harvested them on the spot, peeled them, and ate them raw, so we almost never had them at the dinner table.
A photo of the first watermelon fruit. It was 3-4cm in diameter.
The watermelon seedlings were brought to me by a neighbor mother who asked me to grow them for her.
Soon after planting, the watermelons bore fruit and grew beautifully, but when I returned from a business trip to Tokyo and went to check on the watermelons, there were no fruit left. A watermelon thief.
It's still a mystery to me, but I imagine it must have been difficult for any animal to carry a watermelon that was about 20cm in diameter.
After that, we continued to pollinate the plant, but the fruit did not grow, and it was only recently, as summer was coming to an end, that new fruit began to appear.
If I were to write about all the vegetables, it would get too long, so I'll stop here.
I would like to conclude with this, but what I feel after growing a few kinds of vegetables myself in a small garden is that it was worth trying.
When the fruit comes out it's really moving, really moving.
Stems that have been silent for several months may suddenly produce fruit, and as soon as it gets hot, their growth rate may suddenly increase.
Every time I look at the fields, I see many changes and am deeply moved. It may sound a bit exaggerated, but it's true...
I have come to understand a little more about the process of growing and harvesting the vegetables I eat, and I learned a lot by experiencing the difficulties and hardships involved in growing vegetables. I am truly grateful to the farmers.
The biggest thing I learned was that the vegetables I grew were very "delicious" (laughs).
A very appreciated gift
Not only do I grow my own vegetables, but my neighbors also bring them to my office or even to my home.
We are very grateful that the vegetables have grown big and plump. Not only are they big, but the quantity is also plentiful...
Since I was given this gift, I try to digest it all day long so that I can eat it all, but unfortunately, humans have a tendency to get bored. Gradually, I lose the will to eat.
Cucumber.
The cucumber is especially spicy. Actually, only cucumber is spicy.
When I was in elementary school, I loved cucumbers so much that I would answer questions about my favorite vegetable, but now I hate them.
Last year, I received a huge amount of cucumbers from various places and ate them every day by dipping them in mash. I got tired of them and ended up eating them all out of a sense of duty.
(The reason is that the repertoire is too small.)
Despite this trauma, cucumber season arrived once again this year.
Although not as much as last year, I received cucumbers from my neighbours, went to Kamaya for dinner and they served cucumber dishes, and I received a package from my parents' house and when I opened the box I found cucumbers inside, surrounded by other ingredients (this was the hardest part), so this summer I was able to really feel the cucumber season.
I think the trauma from cucumbers will remain with me for a few years, but I enjoy eating other vegetables very much.
The vegetables we eat are grown in our own garden and are pesticide-free, so they have a strong flavor and are really delicious.
Thank you to all our neighbors for your continued support.
Vegetables in season.
Recently, I've been talking with members of the Kamiyama satellite office about vegetables, asking questions like "How are the tomatoes?", "Have they sprouted?", "The aphid damage is terrible?", and "Are you coming to eat some corn?" - conversations I never would have imagined having when I joined Monosus.
Until now, it was common to go to the supermarket and get onions, cucumbers, cabbage, lettuce, and tomatoes all year round, so people didn't shop with the intention of buying what was in season.
Now that I live in Kamiyama, I receive vegetables from my neighbors and have started growing my own, so I can't help but feel the seasons.
In-season means "the time when food tastes better than other times."
Even if you don't pay attention to the season, delicious food is still delicious.
By learning about and eating seasonal foods, I feel like I have a higher chance of encountering more delicious food, making new discoveries and broadening my food horizons. I have also become more aware of the seasons.
In this article, we'd like to introduce you to life in Kamiyama, where you can find such discoveries and changes.
Summer is over and it's already chilly, so I'm currently planning what to grow for autumn and winter. Also, sudachi (Japanese citrus fruit) is coming up in season, so I'm looking forward to harvesting it.
Just as I was writing this article at the end of August, I harvested my first watermelon.
Although it is out of season, the watermelon we harvested is very fleshy and has a strong flavor.
The first watermelon harvested (without vertical stripes) is served with the ever-popular cherry tomatoes and okra.
KURIHARA Tsutomu