The weather was cold 寒かったand cloudy曇り, but it was a lot of fun to hang out and kick a soccer ball around for some hours. Lots of BBQ’d goodies and an American football and we were in business. Left there at five pm to get back to Kurume 久留米by 7, but arrived 20 minutes late. So, from the train station Sawako 沢子and Naoko尚子 picked me up and we drove into the night (3 hours) to get to Amakusa天草. Sawako and I had kayaked there in April and made friends with various folks, including the owner of the guesthouse, who happens to be an organic farmer. We stopped by Keita’s awesome restaurant/bar for a Curry course and then arrived to Chez Nousチェヌー before midnight. Crashed for a bit and woke up early for the Sunday 日曜日adventure.
(Here is the field)
Taue田植え, or rice planting, is a very important part of Japanese culture日本文化. As it is THE staple food here, its production is very highly valued and respected (I can only assume based on how much it costs!) Well, it used to be at least… such is the way of all agriculture nowadays- folks have disregarded its importance. And most people probably will until there is no food available in the grocery store…
(Each sprout may turn into a rice-yielding plant)
We planted organic riceお米, by hand手で, in his rice field田. It was a muddy, wetぬれた, rad adventure. There were seven of us and it took damn near six hours 六時間to plant the area. I can’t gauge the size, but it wasn’t THAT big… and it certainly wasn’t too small either. We had a nice afternoon break 午後休みto eat onigiri おにぎり(rice balls) and pickles漬物… all organic stuff that had been produced by Tobase-san and his farm(s).
(getting down and dirty)
My experience planting rice… “ewww, this is soo slimy! Ahhh” Stepping into mud and water until my feet finally settled with the surface of the gooey rice field up to my lower knee. And pulling each leg slowly out of the sludge to replace it a little bit more forward every minute or so, in order to get to the next row, about 30 cm further along. It was slow and tedious to peel away one rice stem from the patch of turf that I held in one of my muddy hands.
(Representin!)But each step of the process was a meditation: step in, slowly, right foot. Peel 1, plant 1、peel 2, plant 2, peel 3, plant 3, peel 4, plant 4, slowly out with the left and back in the sludge (breathing deeply) peel out one, two, three, four… back out with the right and step forward (mind the frog!) 1,2,3,4 and now move the left (keep your balance) 1,2,3,4. (Make sure to breathe as you go forward with the right) 1,2,3,4 and (oh my god what IS that red flatworm-like thing swimming around) now one, two, three, four. Stand up straight, enjoy the sunny weather (yeah I am definitely getting burned, I will put on sunscreen when we take a break) one, 2, three, 4. (This is tediously enjoyable) …2,3… (Jeez, what is THAT bug?!! Why is it getting so close to me?!) 1, two, 3, four. (Settle into the mud, settle into the planting rhythm) 1,2,3,4. (Where did I leave off again?) Count it out loud: 1,2,3,4. (I am right on track now, wow this mud is gooey.) 1,2,3,4. Ok. 1,2,3,4. 1,2,3,4. 1,2,3,4. (Whoa, nearly slipped there) 1,2,3,4. 1,2,3,4. 1,2,3,4. (Tobase-san: “Are you ok?” 「大丈夫ですか？」Me: “Yeah, everything is ok!” 「はい、大丈夫ですよ」) 1,2,3,4. 1,2,3,4. 1,2,3,4. 1,2,3,4. 1,2,3,4…
(Tobase-san is just super cool)
Awesome. When I explained this to some teachers, they commented, “David it seems you are more Japanese than Japanese people.” I just think it was a lovely day to spend outdoors learning how to work with the earth.
I got back shortly after midnight on Sunday and of course stopped by Mos Burger モスバーガーon the way home. A nice way to cap off an action-packed weekend.
(Naoko, Sawako and Mika after a job well done!)
I write this on the Wednesday following that Sunday. I still haven’t averaged more than 6 hours of sleep a night… the sun is just up for too long!
I harvested the potatoes I planted in March. I have about 60 left which isn’t bad considering I brought 80 to school to give away last week and another 30 to my Japanese teachers last night. Actually the numbers are not real, but I can tell you that I have had quite a few of them…
(potatoes for teachers)
Turns out, I got sick from all of the field work. Though I enjoy the soil and the growing/harvesting process, perhaps I am not cut out for this type of work. A small garden should be fine, but my current soil is really strong and it has caused me to get sick a couple of times. Perhaps there is a mold or fungus growing in the soil, but I am battling off this sickness using the old technique… try to kill myself with as much activity as possible and collapse into sleep to kill off the rest of it! So far so good! If I were farming every day, then I might not have a problem with the soil… but it is only once or twice a week and that isn’t enough for my body to adjust to the new microorganisms.
(Another angle of the rice field)
I made mashed potatoes last night. Potatoes and garlic from my garden, and fresh rosemary from Shibata-sensei’s 柴田先生sister. Add butter, salt, pepper, milk and the special secret ingredient… and mash it all up and mix by hand… and there you go. And I will continue to eat that delicious recipe for the rest of the week…
(Tobase-san marking the field into square plots. We planted the stalks at each intersection)
Once again, I have reconciled a dream that I had had when I arrived here about living off the land. This year “on the farm” (not really) has been a great learning experience and something I am really glad to have had tried. I hope to start another garden at my new apartment and to enjoy the fruits (and veggies!) that come with the labor of tilling the soil. Just enough to add some flavor to my meals and to give me fresh stuff to eat.
(Mari-chan used her free-time wisely!)
I have been practicing resourcefulness and waste management too. So far, with the exception of a half-carrot that I let sit in my fridge for just too long, I haven’t wasted any of the food that has entered my apartment since I got back from Thailand nearly a month ago. All of the organic waste goes one place and all of the edible stuff goes into my belly. From there it gets sent back to the earth and then the food process starts again. By slowing down and getting dirty with the aspects of this process, I have managed to use all of the resources that I am allotted. It’s easy to go to conveyor belt sushi,回転寿司 but I am keenly aware that I have two eggs 卵in my fridge that will go bad… and in an effort to not waste, I have to forgo the sushi. Nope, I can eat it! And make the eggs quickly to box them up for lunch. YOSH! I am on this no-waste kick and it’s my small part to ensure my peaceful action towards the earth.
(... and so did Yuko-chan)
I have gardened: planted, harvested, weeded; composted: with my household waste, prepared the soil with fertilizer; cooked: experimented with various recipes and styles of cooking this year; jammed: made strawberry jam twice!; reused: purchased and used recycled soap instead of industrially-produced stuff; been “eco” by riding my bike every day… only driving a car one day (in Hawaii in March) during the past 10 months. In essence, really learning how to live self-sufficiently and efficiently.
(Workin hard! Yeah!)
All of this boils down to the following: It means taking action with each and every moment of life. Being engaged with my actions and living a lifestyle that really does what I feel is best for the earth. Not “buying organic” or “purchasing carbon credits” or “green automobiles” but living each day in the most effective way of living in harmony with the earth. Riding one’s bike in the minus 2 degree winter sucks, but using a car sucks a lot of gas. Riding a bike during rainy season is a wet experience, but with board shorts and a raincoat it means that every trip is an opportunity for fun. The time is now to live an “Eco” lifestyle. And any excuse is a lack of commitment to do so. It’s not easy to treat the earth well, but it is certainly worth it…
Wow, I got completely off course with that one… well, onto a different course than I had intended to steer. YOSH! 頑張りましょう ばい！
1 comment:
your step-by-step account of trudging through the mud made me giggle... it sounds JUST like me!
why were there so many gross creatures??
Post a Comment