photo by Nozomi Nishi https://www.nozominishi.com/
The temperature in the mornings and evenings has dropped considerably, and we are finally beginning to feel that autumn has arrived.
The sky is high, the breeze is pleasant, and it's neither hot nor cold. Autumn has finally arrived! Farm work is progressing well during the day, and since it gets dark at 6pm in the evening, the nights are long, allowing for more handicrafts and office work. Using this time, we are currently working on creating new shop cards and new gift cards.
However, the sunlight during the day is unusually hot. Rather than the temperature being high this year, I feel like the sun's energy is incredibly strong. Speaking of which, I haven't heard much about the "ozone layer" lately. I remember there was a lot of talk about it when I was in elementary school, but maybe it's gone now...?
Upon investigation, it appears that the ozone hole over Antarctica still exists, and that international restrictions on CFCs are in place and it is expected to recover by 2066. However, the fact that the ozone layer is so thin that it will take more than 40 years for it to recover could be the cause of this intense sunlight.
This summer was hot and dry, resulting in a massive infestation of stink bugs, creating extremely harsh conditions for vegetables. Stink bugs infested all our summer vegetables, sucking the juices from the fruit, resulting in a significant amount of vegetables returning to the soil before reaching you. Cabbages and broccoli planted in August were also affected by stink bugs. The cabbages' leaves were sucked from young plants, preventing them from growing and causing them to wither. The broccoli grew vigorously, but the stink bugs sucked too much of it, turning it yellow and brown and making it inedible. Furthermore, the number of honeybees and carpenter bees that help pollinate vegetable flowers was extremely low. Beans, especially green beans, were sucked dry by stink bugs rather than bees, causing them to wither before bearing fruit. Although the vines and leaves grew lush, we only managed to harvest about 10 beans throughout the season, meaning we were unable to deliver any of them.
We haven't changed our basic cultivation methods from last year, when they were working well, but after the damage this year, we've been thinking about how to grow healthy vegetables in this climate change, and we feel that bolder changes and cooperation with neighboring organic farmers are very much needed.
That said, the crops that grow well are truly healthy, and I'm really glad that we're able to farm in this style, growing and delivering a variety of vegetables. Organic farming is becoming increasingly difficult, but I want to continue researching, practicing, failing, and succeeding so that I can continue to deliver vegetables to everyone from this land of Hokuto as steadily as possible, and above all, so that I can continue farming as an Amedori farmer without interruption.
photo by Nozomi Nishi https://www.nozominishi.com/
Well, it's autumn! It's rice harvesting season. We grow rice for our own consumption all year round, and it's grown well, and this year we had a bumper crop! We harvested the bountiful rice.
photo by Nozomi Nishi https://www.nozominishi.com/
Starting this year, I've been working in the rice fields together with fellow immigrants who live nearby. We all work in the same field and share the rice we produce. We all coordinated our plans for the rice harvest, and on the day itself, the sky was slightly cloudy and it was a perfect day! With a cool breeze blowing, we were able to work smoothly.
photo by Nozomi Nishi https://www.nozominishi.com/
A rice harvester called a binder harvests, bundles, and ties the rice (this is typical Japanese agricultural technology!), and if the binder fails to tie the rice, old straw is used to tie it up.
photo by Nozomi Nishi https://www.nozominishi.com/
Everyone carries the clothes and hangs them by hand on clotheslines called "haza."
photo by Nozomi Nishi https://www.nozominishi.com/
Starting at 8am, we ran around the rice fields all day until it got dark in the evening, and somehow we managed to finish harvesting! Everyone had incredible concentration! The reason we were able to work so hard was because we had worked so hard, starting with sowing the seeds, planting the seedlings in the fields by hand, weeding in the hot summer, and cultivating the rice as our food. It's like an instinct that's engraved in the DNA of all Japanese people.
One of the joys of the experience is being able to create this beautiful, atmospheric landscape with your own hands. It stands out against the rural landscape.
And after a day of activity, a bath and a beer is the best. We're just a few days away from the delicious new rice harvest!
