The rainy season is over, and it feels like summer is here! It's swelteringly hot during the day, making it extremely tiring to work outside, so I wake up before sunrise and get most of my work done early in the morning. This leaves me exhausted by the evening, and I get sleepy and go to bed around 9pm. It's amazing how I can still have energy even with such little sleep in the summer.
Recently, a seed talk was held in Pitara Village, featuring Ms. Kana Weaver, a botanist and herb researcher living in California. As a village resident who continues to collect seeds, I, Shuntaro, was given the opportunity to speak briefly to the group. During her talk, Ms. Weaver spoke about the dramatic decline in plant species due to modernization and the importance of protecting various seeds ourselves.
What is happening in the world of seeds is that in today's food production, where mass production of vegetables is the norm, emphasis is placed on disease resistance, uniform shape, and uniform growth rate, and vegetables that do not meet these criteria have been selected and eliminated. As a result, for example, the number of varieties of radishes, which previously numbered hundreds, has drastically decreased to just a few dozen. Furthermore, because seeds are produced using an artificial breeding technique called one-generation hybridization, seeds are not passed on to each other, and diversity has drastically decreased.
Currently, mass-produced vegetables can be produced stably thanks to the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, but what will happen if these materials become unavailable?
No one knows how many of the dozens of surviving varieties of radishes will continue to produce abundant crops without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers. If the number of seed varieties continues to decline and is reduced to just a few, the risk of extinction will increase even further.
Nowadays, there are seeds known as "native species." These seeds have been preserved in each region for a long time, and even today, there are quite a few seeds that are passed down through the generations by a few dedicated people. Originally, vegetable seeds were self-collected and passed down by each household, and even the same radish had as many varieties as there were households. With that much diversity, someone's radish might have a poor harvest this year, but someone else's might have a bumper crop. In this way, risk could be spread within the community, and by sharing what was grown, the entire community could enjoy a bountiful harvest.
As a farmer, I have many reasons for collecting my own seeds, but one is that by doing so, the vegetables themselves become accustomed to the environment in which I grow them. Plants store information about the geology and climate of the field in which they were grown that year, as well as the fertilizer I used, in the seeds and pass it on to the next generation. It takes years, but I continue to collect my own seeds every year, believing that the time will come when the vegetables will adapt to my field and begin to grow freely, demonstrating their true potential. So, as I care for my vegetables, I observe and select plants that are growing well and producing delicious fruit, and then I collect seeds to use them next year.
Taking advantage of this talk, a seed library called the "Seed Library" will be established in Pitara Village. I myself am looking forward to sharing the many seeds I have harvested from my own seed collection with my local friends who have home gardens and are farmers.
Well, here are the contents of this week's vegetable set. Summer vegetables are slowly arriving. We're just a few more days until the all-stars arrive!
This week's vegetable set
Contains 8 to 9 of the following vegetables:
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New potatoes Freshly dug new potatoes! They are a variety called Hokkai Kogane, characterized by their golden color and dense flesh. When fried, they are creamy and fragrant. They don't fall apart when cooked, so you can add them to curry, stew, or oden to enjoy their deep flavor. |
Green beans This is a variety of Koshigaya green beans that has been cultivated for many years. They are large and soft even when harvested, with a moderate texture and a subtle sweetness, making them a traditional green bean. Boil them until golden brown and dip them in miso or mayonnaise to enjoy the aroma of the beans. They are also great in tempura and stir-fries. |
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kale Kale, said to be the ancestor of cabbage and an ingredient in green juice, is a superfood rich in vitamins and minerals. Just like cabbage, it can be chopped and used in a wide variety of dishes, including salads, stir-fries, and stews. |
Korinky It is a member of the pumpkin family, with a striking lemon yellow color. You can eat the skin and seeds raw, so slice it thinly or shred it and use it in salads. It is also delicious roasted or stewed. It has a unique aroma that will become addictive. |
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cucumber Cucumbers are starting to come in little by little! They're a summer staple. They're low in moisture and have a crunchy texture. They're best eaten whole with miso. Chop them, rub them with salt, drain the water, and add them to salads or dress them with vinegar and miso. |
molokheiya This sticky vegetable is highly nutritious and has a great effect on relieving fatigue after a heat-related illness. Remove the leaves from the stems, boil them briefly, then chop them up to create a sticky texture. Mix them with natto or tomato. If you're adding them to soup, there's no need to pre-boil them. They make a delicious, thick soup. |
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carrot The carrots are growing slowly this year. They are small, but fragrant and packed with sweetness. These soft, crunchy carrots become even sweeter when cooked slowly. They are delicious sautéed, roasted, or coated in batter to make carrot cutlets. |
cherry tomatoes This pack contains two varieties: the red fixed variety "Stella" cherry tomato and the dark pink black cherry tomato. Due to shipping restrictions, some tomatoes may not be fully ripe, so please wait until they reach their delicious color before enjoying them. Enjoy them as they are, add them to miso soup, or simmer them down to make a tomato sauce. |
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Perilla leaves Perilla leaves look similar to shiso leaves, but in Korea, they are used to wrap grilled meat. Wrapping grilled meat and sauce in fresh leaves is sure to double your appetite. Place fresh leaves in a storage container with enough soy sauce to cover the leaves and leave for about three days to soak in the soy sauce. This makes them a great addition to rice. |
Green shiso This is a classic Japanese summer herb. Enjoy it chopped as is as a condiment. Pickled in soy sauce, it goes incredibly well with rice! |
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Green peppers and manganji This year, eggplant, bell peppers, and manganji peppers are starting to harvest a little late. They're finally starting to come in! We want to deliver them to you as soon as possible, so we're bringing them in little by little. Bell peppers have little bitterness and are delicious eaten raw! They're also delicious stuffed with meat or stewed. Manganji peppers are a staple at our barbecue. Grill them whole and drizzle with sauce to enjoy their sweetness and aroma. Some of the peppers in this set have changed shape during the home-seeding process, but they're still delicious. |
Young corn This is young corn from Koshu corn, a type of corn native to Yamanashi that is grown together with pumpkins. It has a soft, sweet taste and a crunchy texture. It is delicious sauteed, in ratatouille, or as tempura. The hairs can also be eaten, and are good for your health. You can also use it as an ingredient in soup or in kakiage. |
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Bonus: We've grown seedlings from seasonal flower seeds, and we've included a small selection of the various flowers we have. Please enjoy placing them in a vase. Since they're organic, you can also sprinkle the petals in your bath for a soothing experience. |
The state of the fields
Since the rainy season ended, the weather has been extremely hot, and vegetables seem to be struggling with the sudden dryness and drought. Cucumbers have been particularly affected, with their leaves, which were usually firm in the cool mornings and evenings, drooping as soon as the sun rose. Powdery mildew, which causes the leaves to become powdery, has also begun to appear, so I sprayed Sutochu on the leaves three days in a row early in the morning. Sutochu is a liquid made by dissolving a small amount of vinegar and shochu in water, and has long been used to treat vegetable diseases and pests. We have our own original blend, which includes horsetail vinegar made by soaking horsetail in vinegar, shochu, and calcium wood vinegar, made by dissolving calcium in wood vinegar with eggshells. This may have worked, as the droopiness during the day has decreased somewhat, and the plants are continuing to produce fruit healthily.
The cucumbers are sown in three batches, with the first batch currently in full bloom, having been sown in May and grown and planted after seedlings. The second batch was sown earlier this month at the base of the pea plants and is currently growing. Weeds are cut and laid around the plants to protect them from drying out. I love the dignified posture of the young cucumber seedlings as they prepare to grow.
Preparations have also begun for the autumn vegetable fields. After the fields have been left to rest, weeds have grown, so we cut the grass into small pieces with a shredder, and then used a cultivator to strain the finely ground grass into the ground. The strained grass will return to the soil in about two months. Once the grass has decomposed and soft, mineral-rich soil has been created, seeds will be sown and seedlings will be planted to grow autumn and winter vegetables such as turnips, spinach, and Chinese cabbage.
notice
-We are currently selling organic garden bouquets, which are popular as gifts.
You can find it in the [Products] tab on this page. It can be bundled with the vegetable set. Please take a look.
Without chemical fertilizers or pesticides
The main focus is on seasonal flowers grown in a field with a variety of vegetables, grasses, and insects.
We will deliver an organic garden bouquet with herbs, perennials, and branches, along with the scent of the soil and wind of Hokuto City.
There are many types of flowers that you don't often see in flower shops,
The main focus is on small flowers that are not too conspicuous but are like a microcosm, and flowers that look natural.
This is a bouquet that can be displayed casually in your everyday life.
・We accept single item purchases of vegetables that are harvested in abundance.
We're currently experiencing a bumper crop of freshly dug potatoes. You can purchase more from the [Products] tab. We hope that these generous servings of vegetables will further enrich your everyday cooking.
We are now accepting new orders for our vegetable set subscription.
We still have spaces available for our popular vegetable set subscription, so please share it with your friends, family, and colleagues.
