Nou-En

In rural Japan, as in many areas around the world, small communities are suffering from rapid population decline as young people flock to the cities. A self perpetuating cycle develops in which rural communities lose their youth to entertainment and work opportunities in the city, which cripples the local economy by leaving behind small towns and villages lacking an able workforce.
Here in Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture, the evidence of this can be easily seen on any walk or bike ride around the valley. In some villages more than half of the houses are vacant. Many fields have been abandoned and have begun the rapid transition back to a more natural state. Elementary schools with great facilities are being forced to close due to low enrollment. At our local elementary school this year's First Grade class has three students. Village elders possess a lifetime of priceless skills and knowlege that is not being passed on because of a lack of interested youth. Looking forward in time, it is worrisome to imagine the state of these communities if current trends continue.
Seeing these things, we here at Nou En have been motivated to work for positive change. Our aim is to encourage young people from around the world to return to rural communities. We organize enthusiastic volunteers (mostly through the WWOOF organization, http://www.wwoofjapan.com) to help local farmers in exchange for healthy food and invaluable local knowlege. We network and assist local organic farms with vegetable and rice production on a regular basis. We try to enthusiastically jump in and help local villagers whenever we can. In addition to these projects, we also have our own fields and gardens as well as chickens and goats that we care for.
Because part of our aim is encouraging people to want to live in the country side we also take time to enjoy the benefits of country living. We go hiking in the surrounding mountains, swimming in ponds and streams (especially during the hot humid Japanese summer!), barbecues with friends on weekends, kendo lessons at the local gymnasium and much more.
Mostly we try to provide a communal living environment where we work, learn, and grow together, all while striving to benefit and elevate the local community.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

potato planting.... finally!

We got our way (for once!) with the weather and spent this morning digging out trenches, planting potatoes, and doling out manure and rice hulls for each little potato. All in all we planted 20 kilograms each of Kita Akari and May Queen which will be ready to harvest in early summer. We also had a little time before lunch to plant some carrots, beets, daikon radish, spinach, small Japanese leeks, and a trio of rosemary plants.

These are supports for our pea plants which we made from our fruit tree prunings.

This is our wheat. Some of it is growing lush and beautiful because we added lots of manure when we planted it last fall. The rest of it is lagging a bit, but hopefully with the regular addition of the compost tea we've started making it will catch up soon.

Aidan and Kenya gathered some wild edibles from the banks surrounding the field: a mysterious, sour, delicious and abundant salad green that we love but rice farmers hate, plus some tangles of nobiru, which are sweet wild Japanese spring onions. They made a dressing of kumquat and vinegar which we enjoyed with curry udon and venison liver sausage just as the rain started to fall-- perfect timing!

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4 comments:

  1. vieveMarch 28, 2010 at 7:53 AM

    hooray! i love reading about the work - we've done a lot of planting this past week as well. hopefully we'll get potatoes in before easter. here's to a beautifully productive spring for all of you!
    xoxo, genevieve & calder

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  2. Leecie&StevieApril 12, 2010 at 5:50 AM

    Hi all - so lovely to read of your news updates all the time!

    Just a quick question - is Aidan still about? i'd love to get in contact with him (little sister here) so if someone could point me in the right direction it would be muchly appreciated :)

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  3. michael lodico srMay 4, 2010 at 7:16 AM

    Time for an update to the Nou En blog!

    Michael Lodico

    ReplyDelete
  4. dirty birdMay 17, 2010 at 12:06 PM

    Hello! it would be great to see more photos of the farm! - if I am able to WWOOF with you this summer, I would also love to take photos and blog about it.
    -Jen (w11642)

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