tanuki    - small raccoon-ish dog native to japan .
mugen    - infinite
do    - soil

getting the seeds in the dirty ...

the bees have started to venture forth

last years harvested bee boxes . being aired out .
get the smell of the thieving human off them .
you can see signs of the structure where the hive was joined at the top

Phil massaging the galaxy .

the potting mix is a 60 litre cocktail of ...
1/3 sifted worm castings
1/3 coir ( ground coconut husk )
1/3 akadama+kanuma (
a sprinkling of lime
a couple of handfuls of kuntan ( rice hull charcoal )

this is the new tool ! . the GREEN ENDLESS CONE of joy . we have been sifting and screening potting mix , bagging is a breeze . This tool was shown to Phil by the worm compost lady Sekino Teruko-san . She is a goldmine .

the test results are out . phil is not pregnant . 

 

where does old greenhouse plastic go to die ?

its a real question on our minds at the moment . because we have about 4 trucks worth of old rotting , crumbling , crusting , leaching , cracking , plastic to deal with .

we guess the professional plastic greenhouse men take it with them (and ... what do they do then ? is it burned ? recycled ? how much of this stuff do we make a year ? )

certainly makes the next door lovely ladies glass greenhouse appear as a thing of beauty hey

 

the highly medicinal , and particularly delicious Biwa ( loquat ) tree 

appeared happy and healthy from the bamboo and other weeds as we tidy up around the greenhouse

 

Biwa babies , there is about 30 happy little seedlings under the tree 

Full up !!! 500 litres of the finest rainwater chiba has to offer .
Luckily , contrary to those worst scenerio late night doubts , the legs are holding just fine , and the 500kg tank didn't collapse onto the greenhouse destroying it .
its a nice tank .

tsukushi popping up all over the show in the greenhouse
( tsukushi are the new shoots of equisetum, a wild vegetable ( sansai ) in japan )

here is a great image ,
makes me excited to look at it .
click on it and make it big !
imagine the colours ! the smells !
its beautiful .
the netted plants are isolated from insects to preserve  varieties from mixing .

the Preservation Gardens at Heritage Farms , Headquarters of the Seed Savers Exchange
2000 varieties multipied each year .
Photo snapped from this excellent reference of seed saving and growing ...
seed to seed by Suzanne Ashworth

The Hayama Permaculture Gardens ...
Photos from around the house ..
Spring is sprung .
Lots of little things appearing there .
Note the majustic worm tower there ...

a photo of the bath . its a huge old miso barrel .

hey ! some good reading if you have time ...

check out this amazing book about 4,000 year old agriculture in japan, china and korea...

http://soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/010122king/ffc.html

and this document about korean natural farming systems employing local micro-organisms to enrich farmland soils ...

http://www.thenaturalfarmingway.com/home

we have begun the first big project of the year ...

tanuki mugendo !!! 

open pollinated seedling production

and seed savers project ...

in Wada ... south chiba penninsula , pacific ocean side link to google map

by producing our own seedlings
... make them sustainable , organic , and open pollinated
... make them cheaper than we can buy them
… supply other communities with good local , ethically produced seeds and seedlings

well spring is here , as evidenced by the plum trees in bloom ! yay .

that means we must hurry up with our preparations for spring planting ...

tanuki mugendo will consist of this structure ...

family home , seed home , permaculture school , music school , plant processing lab - all in one room 

recently built by Kazu and Chiho , cheers guys !

nice and airy . no kitchen or bath or running water or ...

hey , its a good start .

the rainwater harvesting system is up and at 'em . 4000litres full to the brim .
note the ingenious roof cleaning system , that fat drop pipe on the far right corner ... this will take the first water off the roof before shutting itself when full , allowing anything on the roof to be removed from the water source .

this is the rice fields . well , the weed fields at present . here we would like to try some variable form of perennial aqualculture , mixing various guilds of plans and animals .

here are the greenhouses . 6 in all . the 3 closest in the photo will require complete new skins .

its probably not necessary until next year ,

this is one of the three at the rear . we have cut the grass , removed most of the rubbish ,

the skins will require fairly extensive repairs .

it nice the way the walls are open so it's more like 2 huge greenhouses  

and built enough tables for our goal of 10,000 seedlings this year

water is the next problem ... a low wattage solar pump from the river to store the water high in the greenhouse sounds like the way to go . way to go !

meanwhile 

we are about to start mixing up the potting mix ...

check out these worm castings ! the fine woman was kind enough to show the super scale worm farms , and when we find a good local source of worm food (organic cow poo , or the waste from a couple of local organic restaurants perhaps) we will build our own . this stuff is gold !!!