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 !!!