Last weekend, Pitara Village had its Autumn Festival, and with all the busyness that followed, we were unable to update the Amagumo Newsletter.
I'll pick myself up and continue writing this week!
The weather in Hokuto has started to get colder suddenly, and I'm looking forward to daily baths, hotpots full of vegetables, and roasted sweet potatoes on the wood stove.
Around 50 people gathered at the Pitara Village Autumn Festival held on November 16th, and many people involved in the ecovillage exchanged ideas. The festival included rice cooked in a traditional Japanese kamado (traditional Japanese hearth) using the latest rice grown by the farming team, dishes made with plenty of vegetables, and even a stone mill to pound rice cakes. Freshly pounded rice cakes were also served.
There will be vendors selling their own creations and food, as well as specialty drinks, sweets, and handmade items, as well as a massage and singing bowl treatment corner.
There was a talk about global warming from a farmer's perspective, and the finale was a performance of the Kurokawa Sansa Dance, which the Pitara members have been learning for many years. We also participated as drummers and dancers. My two-year-old daughter, who attends every lesson with us, was also showing off the results of her practice next to us.
As the festival came to an end, after such a rich and fulfilling time, I was filled with a sense of fulfillment for having made it through the year and gratitude to the many people who helped me.
Thanks to all of you, we were able to work hard at what we had to do for the past year. We are truly grateful. We look forward to your continued support next year.
This week marks the temporary hiatus for this year's regular delivery. After the shipment of our special end-of-year vegetable set and rice cakes on December 27th, we will only be updating the Amagumo newsletter until we resume in June. If you have any requests, please feel free to contact us by email, and we will do our best to accommodate them.
This week's vegetable set
Contains 8 to 9 of the following vegetables:
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Wasabi greens It is a leafy vegetable with a beautiful frilly leaf shape and a tangy spiciness and elegant fragrance. It can be eaten raw in salads or as a side dish, or it can be quickly boiled for just one minute and drizzled with soy sauce to bring out its spiciness and make it very delicious. |
Crown chrysanthemum This year, the unusually hot and dry weather has made it difficult for the shungiku to grow, but as always, they are soft and not bitter, and are delicious enough to eat in salads. Please enjoy them raw. They are also great in miso soup, or boiled briefly and dressed with white or sesame sauce. |
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Mizuna Mizuna, a staple in autumn and winter, has thin white stems and a crunchy texture. If you boil it briefly, you can enjoy its spicy flavor and unique texture. On cold days, it is great in a chicken bone-based hot pot. |
Red Rias Mustard Greens This mustard greens has finely cut leaves and is characterized by its pungent spiciness. The beautiful leaves are soft and add a vibrant color to salads. It is similar to mizuna, so it can also be used in stir-fries and hotpots. |
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sweet potato You've all been waiting for this! It's that time of year again. We're bringing you the deliciously sweet Beni Haruka. We send you sweet potatoes that have been aged for two weeks after digging. They're absolutely delicious when baked, so we recommend them. You can also make them into a paste and use them to make sweets. They also go well with coconut milk stews and miso soup. |
Japanese white radish This is a thick, short type of radish. Its flavor is enhanced by the cold weather. Slice it into rounds and use it in stews or roasts. After boiling, brown it in a frying pan to make juicy steaks. Slice it thinly and use it in salads or hot pots. |
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Yacon Although it looks very similar to a sweet potato, it is a root vegetable native to the mountainous regions of South America. Since it is freshly dug, please leave it wrapped in newspaper for about a week before eating. Just like sweet potatoes, it will develop a sweet flavor. Its subtle sweetness and crunchy texture are almost like a pear. We recommend peeling it, soaking it in vinegar water, and eating it raw in a salad. It is also delicious in tempura! |
taro The taste of autumn. Introducing freshly dug taro! Boiled taro is sticky, and deep-fried taro is fluffy and sweet. The skin of freshly dug taro is soft, so you can enjoy its deep flavor by deep-frying or steaming it with the skin on. |
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Turnip We deliver beautifully grown turnips! The skin is soft, so cut them in half and enjoy them in a stew or saute. The leaves are also highly nutritious, and you can get a lot of vitamins and minerals from them in salads, mixed dishes, blanched dishes, or stir-fries. They're perfect for this time of year when colds are more likely to occur! |
green onions As the temperature drops, the sweetness increases. Matsumoto Ippon Leek is a native variety of Nagano Prefecture that is suitable for cooking. Enjoy it in hot pots, simmered dishes, or roasted dishes. It can also be eaten raw as a condiment. |
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Red core radish The outer skin of this round radish is green, but underneath it's a vibrant pink! Take advantage of its color by slicing it thinly and adding it to a salad. It's also great roasted or sautéed. It's also vibrant when simmered. |
Shandong mustard This year, all of our Chinese cabbages were attacked by insects, but our Shandong cabbage, which doesn't form a head, grew well! It doesn't keep as long as Chinese cabbage, but it has thick white stems and light green leaves, and tastes just like Chinese cabbage. It can be enjoyed in a variety of ways, such as in light pickles, hotpots, and stir-fries. It's also delicious when coated with potato starch and used in shogayaki (ginger pork)♪ |
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Golden turnip A member of the turnip family, this turnip has a firm texture and little moisture. Its sweetness comes out when cooked, so it's recommended to stew, steam, or grill it. It's also delicious in Western-style stews and pot-au-feu, as well as steamed and grilled with seafood. |
Red turnip This turnip has a strong fragrance, a beautiful crimson skin, and a slightly colored white interior. It has long been popular as a sweet and sour pickle, but the skin is also soft and juicy, so it can be enjoyed in the same way as regular turnips, by simmering or grilling with the skin on, or in salads or marinades. |
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spinach As winter approaches, the cold weather tightens the leaves and makes them sweeter! The trick to boiling spinach is to boil it for three minutes in boiling water and then soak it in cold water for one minute. This removes the bitterness and allows you to enjoy the soft texture of the spinach. Add soy sauce and bonito flakes. Spinach and wakame miso soup and Western-style dishes like quiche are also good. |
Chinese cabbage A classic Chinese vegetable♪ Grown with minimal fertilizer, bok choy has a subtle sweetness without any bitterness, and its crunchy texture is its true essence. Enjoy authentic Chinese cuisine in stir-fries and soups. |
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Bonus: Apple mint
It has an apple-like scent and a refreshing coolness. Mix it into salads, steep it in water to make mint water, or boil it to make apple mint tea. The scent will last even if you hang it up to dry. |
The state of the fields
After a much warmer-than-usual mid-November, the usual cold weather suddenly arrived after the start of winter. Morning temperatures are dropping below freezing and frost is occurring more frequently, so it's about time to protect leafy vegetables from the cold. Root vegetables such as radishes, turnips, and yacon will also freeze and eventually rot, so they are dug up and stored underground.
The Nozawana will be pickled in Nozawana pickles, which I pickle every year. After harvesting the radishes and turnips, I plan to dry them and make them into sweet and sour pickles and pickled vegetables in rice bran.
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.
We are now accepting orders for our New Year's special vegetable set and smooth rice cakes. They will sell out quickly, so please order early.
