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2010/12/28Summary of 2010
End of year summary,December 2010
Wow, what a busy year.We have many people to thank for their help and support.You know who you are.You have helped us tremendously.Our CSA members were great and understanding to help us get through this first year garden.We all have learned a lot about many things.We started this years garden from an abandoned pasture and made raised beds with the help from Tatsuo Homna-san and his son Masa and some volunteers.We had some great volunteers from W.W.O.O.F.,andsome "couch surfers" that were introduced by our freind Piyo-san and some some people just passing through.I won't mention all the names it would be too long a letter,but we sure do appreciate their help and they are welcome to come back next year.Some have said that they will return.What a great way to tell the world someone is doing Bio Dynamics in Japan.None got hurt but some got some blisters and did not complain,in fact they were quite proud of them.Some got to do things they would not have done any where else.Some got a first hand experience with Bio Dynamics and some got to use tools and equipment for their first time,while helping us do our farm work.What a great experience for all of us.
We had 4 new baby jerseys.We had 10 at on time but now we have 6.Ichigo our oldest died Sara went to a farm in Date city for retirement and maybe we will get her back out of retirement when we get in a better situation.We butchred our two steers and their beef is for sale now.We will keep Betty,Tomi,Baby,Honeychild for milking and Homeboy and Buddy for beef next year.We are milking Betty and Tomi now.We have started a cow share program for them.How it works is we have supportors to pay us for a share of a cow and we return to them milk,other dairy products and meat from the steers.Similar to our vegetables CSA.More about this in another letter.
Back to the garden.We dug the raised beds with a shovel and now have 36 beds, each one about 4'x32' and will dig more in the spring.Trevor did a good job keep everything going while i was doing many other things on the farm.We made a compost pile 36 feet long for use next fall.We sprayed the garden and most of our pastures with our Bio Dynamic preparations we made here on the farm.We made a lot of preparations for giving away to other farmers and for us to use next year.I'd like to have a tractor sprayer and spray the feilds and pastures of other farmers as well as ours.In the beginning of the year we were hit with our greens bolting and a caterpillar infestation but we made it through with the help of the watchful eye of our dear Trevor.Trevor deserves a great deal of thanks for his dedication and love for his work.Thanks Trevor.We harvested our vegetables on Thursdays and I made our deliveries to Obihiro and Konomi delivered to Kushiro.We had 22 CSA members this year and have expanded our garden for 60 members next year.We are renting some land for more garden and hay for next year.We plowed and harrowed a plot about 70 meters by 30 meters for things like 8 row sweet dent corn,(a Japanese heirloom)wheat,rye,pumpkins,beans,soy beans,buck wheat,potatoes and asparagus.We saved a lot of our own seeds,but we will still need to buy many more seeds and continue to save our own seeds in the future.All in all we are happy with our first year garden and can see many things to improve upon.Such is the life of a gardener.Always looking to have a better garden next year.To be Demeter certified or to stick with the International Demeter Standards we did pretty good and will continue to improve.
Our bakery started really well in the beginning of the year,then tapered off toward the end of the year.Mika did an excellent job baking our bread for our orders and when we opened our bakery for the weekends.We even sold bread at some events here and in other towns and Konomi sells bread and vegetables,milk products and beef at the farmers market in Kushiro on Saturdays.We got a lot of publicity in the newspaper and some magazines.We stuck to our policy of organic ,naturally leavened,whole grain breads,but it is a rare bread that the Japanese people are not used to yet.Our bread is very healthy and great tasting.I don't know why people didn't get interested in it.We'll have to think of a new strategy for next year while still making good healthy organic bread.
I'll talk more about our future goals in another article but now I want to talk about this last year.We are greatful to have been given this oppurtunity to do our farming our way and be able to make our Bio Dynamic movement possible here.We are fortunate enough to be in a good farming district with many kind nieghbors.The college is not far and we hope to make better relations with them soon.We learned a lot about how Hayashi-san's school operates and will be better prepared for next year.We learned about the weather conditions and weeds and pests that are new to us here.We learned how to get along with many kinds of people from different places in the world.We are very greatful to all the volunteers that helped us and shared in our lifestyle.We still love what we are doing and love where we are at and love who we are with.Konomi and I still love each other very much and are happy about our success so far and are looking forward to a better future here with our dear friends Hayashi-san,Toshiko-san,Ara-san,Ito-san and their student Sun min.
We feel we are now settled in and are prepared to move strongly forward.We still need to build a house and barns and make more fence's for more pasture for more cows and continue to expand our gardens.Wouldn't it be good to grow all a families needs,such as vegetables,meats,and breads.We are working towards that goal.When we can grow our own organic feed we will have more other kinds of livestock,but until then we will get better prepared with feed storage and organic seed.We got where we are with hard work and hard work will get us where we want to be.I heard a wise man tell me"the harder you work,the luckier you get".We love being farmers and want to grow great tasting, healthy food for people to eat.
We had some events here on the farm and other places to introduce ourselves and Bio Dynamics.We will continue to try and spread the word about Bio Dynamics and organically grown food.Our summer soltice party was small but it has potential for getting bigger and better for next year.Konomi worked hard to get these events under way and deserves a lot of credit and thanks.We learned a lot from this first year and look forward to next year.Thanks to all who participated in our mission here.Arigato.Ben.
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Edited by ベン／ Ben Campbell 2010/12/28 19:50:09
Last Modified 2010/12/31 17:04:19
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コメント(Comment)
Hello Ben,
It's great to see a posting here again, but I understand you have been very busy this past year. Emika and I have enjoyed participating in the many fun events you and Konomi have organized, and we look forward to the next summer solstice festival. The vegetables were delicious all year long, the dairy products and meats too. We have occasionally bought some bread which I agree with you is very delicious and reminds me of the breads I used to eat in Germany, but maybe they are a bit heavy for Japanese tastes. I suspect we Americans first introduced the Japanese to the soft mushy "wonder bread" so popular in America and now they have come to expect it! Maybe if your bread were slightly more reasonably priced, it would catch on more. Anyway, I found myself looking forward to Thursdays when we could see Konomi who delivered vegetables to Kushiro CSA members. We have been telling everyone about you and hope the membership expands next year. I hope winter offers you some rest to recharge your batteries. Thanks for the delicious food and, just as important, creating a real sense of community. Greetings to Trevor, Mika and Konomi. Happy New Year!
It's great to see a posting here again, but I understand you have been very busy this past year. Emika and I have enjoyed participating in the many fun events you and Konomi have organized, and we look forward to the next summer solstice festival. The vegetables were delicious all year long, the dairy products and meats too. We have occasionally bought some bread which I agree with you is very delicious and reminds me of the breads I used to eat in Germany, but maybe they are a bit heavy for Japanese tastes. I suspect we Americans first introduced the Japanese to the soft mushy "wonder bread" so popular in America and now they have come to expect it! Maybe if your bread were slightly more reasonably priced, it would catch on more. Anyway, I found myself looking forward to Thursdays when we could see Konomi who delivered vegetables to Kushiro CSA members. We have been telling everyone about you and hope the membership expands next year. I hope winter offers you some rest to recharge your batteries. Thanks for the delicious food and, just as important, creating a real sense of community. Greetings to Trevor, Mika and Konomi. Happy New Year!
投稿者(Contributor)：Stuart｜2010/12/29 13:55:58
今年もあとわずかですね〜 CSAと出会えて、美味しく元気な野菜たちや、地球に優しい生活、そして素敵な仲間たちと知り合うことも出来ました。本当にありがとう。
来年もどうぞ、宜しくね。
来年もどうぞ、宜しくね。
投稿者(Contributor)：Emika｜2010/12/31 23:44:10
Hello Ben! Congratulations on your column in the Kushiro Shimbun. I wish I could read it!
投稿者(Contributor)：Stuart｜2011/03/19 10:23:39
Thanks Stuart for the comment and opportunity to do so.We hope it reaches some interested people.Hope all is well with you and Emika.We are concerned about her.Please take care of yourselves.Peace and love.
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