Beans

Lately, the volunteers have spent much time with the local kuromame beans. We have been harvesting, gathering, sorting, selling, eating and talking about beans all day long.

Importantly, we have had an insight into the Sasayama community and the lifestyle of many of the local people. To work alongside farmers, their family and friends as part of the harvest, and to see the pride they have in their produce has been most rewarding.

Autumn

Slowly the seasons are changing in Sasayama, with the afternoon sky slowly moving from peach to violet as night time arrives. The morning fog arrived last week, making the occasional morning worthy of wearing a second layer.


The past few weeks have been busy, both with maintaining the fields at Tsuji and continuing to assist local farmers through Nouen. The famous Sasayama bean harvest has just begun, which will keep our 19 volunteers very busy over the next few weeks as well as a number of local festivals.

The goats have been happily playing in, and eating away the rice field next to Kasugae, whilst Seth, Toby and Aidan work alongside to notch the beams for the new house.

We're just like Bugs Bunny!

Over the last few weeks, we have noticed that more and more of our seedlings are falling prey to the dreaded caterpillar, a worthy opponent of the Organic Farmer! We have recently been informed that a blend of crushed carrot leaves and water can be sprayed on the plants as a natural deterrent. Thus far it seems to have made a noticeable difference. We have also been using tobacco water on some of our younger seedlings which seems to be helping.

This particular remedy has an upside for both the plant (less caterpillars) and the WWOOFers (better night vision), in order to keep the carrot concoction in good supply, we need to eat carrots every night! It still amazes us how many different meals can be cooked with the same ingredients, from soup to stew to stir-fry, there is no end to the versatility of our beloved carrot.

Here at Tsuji we are constantly looking for natural remedies for common problems. We are learning more and more each day about ways to sustain ourselves without the need for non-organic solutions. Sometimes it can be quite a challenge maintaining our lifestyle, but when you have so many great people living under one roof, there's always something interesting to talk about.

If you haven't planned to yet, book your flight, get on a bus, or make your way here on a tractor if you must, and when you knock on the door and you want to come in, say these three words after you've been dropped off by Gen... What's up Doc!

Nic

mochi making

Habe-san had all the WWOOFers over for mochi making and a barbecue to celebrate the first day of autumn. Habe-san lives up the road from Tsuji house and they were the first Nou En farmers we helped out last year. We still work for them often and in return they have made us part of their family. I think that most WWOOFers who get to know them come to think of them as grandparents, they are that welcoming and generous.

So for those of you who don't know, mochi is pounded rice paste made from special glutinous rice. The rice is steamed, placed into a hollowed out stump, and whacked a hundred times or so with a big hammer until it becomes smooth and taffy-like. As you can see in the video, it's a two person job. It can become a wrapping for anko (sweetened bean paste) to make Japanese sweets, or it can be left to cool in various shapes. Then it can be toasted until it's puffy and melty inside and put into soup, or seasoned with a little sweetened soy sauce. It's totally bland but strangely addictive.

Nou En Camp Video

Nou En Recipe #1: Shiso Pesto

Many people who come here have never heard of Shiso (perilla frutescens). It's a versatile herb, showing up often in sushi, salads, and as a garnish, and you see it all over Japan. It's about 10 yen per leaf at the grocery store so the bill adds up quickly if you want to use it in any quantity. It's a vigorous, somewhat weedy member of the mint family (it will re-seed and come back with a vengeance next year) with a flavor that combines mint and basil with hints of anise, clove and maybe even cumin.

Last year, there were lots of little baby shiso seedlings popping up everywhere and someone decided to plant a row of it. The little plants quickly grew into bushes. A few hundred leaves turned into thousands. They flapped in the wind. We wondered what to do with it all.

Not wanting to see a good thing go to waste, I stripped all the leaves off one of the plants and made a batch of pesto, replacing the basil with shiso. To my surprise, nobody complained at lunch, and actually most people really liked it. So shiso became a new staple. We made batch after batch and ate it all through the year... and here we are now, finishing up our last bag right as we're harvesting this year's shiso.

This is a good example of of how growing your own food and eating locally can challenge you to be more creative in the kitchen. This, combined with the sheer number of WWOOFers passing through, each bringing in different approaches to the same ingredients, means that I am always on my toes and constantly learning. I like learning how to deal with large amounts of one ingredient (I'm thinking back on how we ate turnips every meal for quite a while last winter) just as I like learning how to cope without ingredients I'm accustomed to using because they're not in season or not available in Japan.

Shiso Pesto

a few cups green shiso leaves
a handful of nuts (pine nuts, walnuts, cashews, or whatever you've got)
a few peeled garlic cloves
half a cup or so parmesan cheese
olive oil (add enough to make it a nice smooth consistency)
salt to taste

Blend everything in a blender. Serve over pasta.

p.s. This year the recipe has devolved quite a bit-- we've nixed the nuts, cheese, and olive oil (I know, it hurts!) because they aren't locally made and they're somewhat expensive. Not as good as the original but it still does the job.

Camp Tsuji

This summer has been chock full of fun days hanging out with kids from the area. In early August we held an overnight camp at Tsuji house and around ten kids participated. We explored the vegetable fields, went swimming in the river, ate a gigantic pot of Japanese curry cooked over the wood fire and ended the evening with songs, thanks to Hanno and Faye. The next day the kids made pinwheels out of plastic bottles, swam some more, and painted an awesome "thank you" sign together before going home.

Next we held a day camp for our English school. The kids arrived and began stretching out balls of pizza dough and topping them which we then baked in our bread oven-- a total of 40. Then, WWOOFers paired up with the kids for a treasure hunt, we played a big game of hide and seek, and took a walk up the valley to visit the goats. We came back to the house to cool off a bit before digging in to some curry, followed by music around the campfire and fireworks.

Today's event centered around playing in the river and a curious contest devised by Seth. The kids teamed up with the WWOOFers to make a balloon-powered vehicle out of plastic bottles. Attached to the bottle is a sharp pin, as well as a drinking straw through which you thread a string. Letting the air out of the balloon propels the bottle along the string, hopefully to the pop the balloon at the end of the line. Got it?

What made these events unique was the interaction between the kids and the WWOOFers. It was great to see the kids playing and working together with foreigners and having a great time, despite the language, culture, and age barriers. I loved seeing the faces of the WWOOFers as they remembered how incredibly fun it is to get silly with kids. I loved seeing the faces of the kids as they took on new challenges with gusto and did things well outside their daily routines. These events were truly symbiotic! Good vibes all around. I'm already looking forward to next time.