Our new veg plot in Japan

[John_henry]

A few burning things on our mind are: how to bring the soil back to being organic, how if possible to protect/get rid of any cross contamination from local chemical use, any organic weeding tips, and how to compost a huge heap of weeds.

A few opinions, based on more than 25 years' experience with organic gardening (IOW, since I was a kid). If you use organic methods year after year, the biology of your soil will improve. And that's what brings the soil "back to being organic". The methods include mulching, spreading compost and manure, planting green-manure crops, adding rock-powder soil amandments, and so on.

Weed control: With organic soil cultivation, you cannot get away from hand weeding, hoeing, etc. You mention having had the 4000 sq ft plot "rotovated" to prepare the soil. When I hear that term (rotovator), I think of a tractor-drawn mechanical implement. I use a rototiller - a smaller machine with its own single-cylinder motor. I rototill the aisles between my planted beds or rows, as a part of our weed control. This reduces the amount of hoeing we'd do here. I do amend the soil in the aisles, just as I amend the planted rows (though I may put extra amendment into the planted rows). Then, in certain aisles, we use a straw mulch, which eventually rots-in and provides humus and feeds earthworms.

What our practices mean, over the years, is that - because the beds or rows can change position a little or a lot from one year to the next - the whole vegetable/berry garden area does get enriched. We're cultivating about 5000 sq ft of food-growing garden area, and we're on hands and knees (or hoe-in-hand) a lot. But were it not for the rototiller as a weeding method, there would be little time for money earning, building and equipment maintenance, study, hobbies, and visiting with neighbors.

Can you borrow the use of a rototiller now and then?

Other people doing organic cultivation have other habits and practices, so it's worth gathering many opinions.

Thanks for your thoughts Joel. We actually chose not to rotovate in the end. We have hand weeded the plot thoroughly, from experience nothing else gets rid of the weeds quite like it, and decided to dig over the ground before planting, also incorporating manure, should we need to. We are keeping on top of the weeds by hoeing and various mulches such as dead leaf matter, compost, rice hulls etc, depending on the suitability. We will also incorporate green mulch/manure where possible, mainly white clover, and possibly buck wheat among others.

We're going to plant lots of cover crops to help build up the soil and help bring it back to being organic. We'll be planting Sunflowers which I believe are good at pulling out toxins and debating with comfrey. The only problem with this is that to get rid of any toxins we obviously cant put them on the compost.

We're also using Bokashi composting and will use home made effective microorganisms (in moderation) which will also hopefully aid in creating good organic soil and allowing a varied eco system to flourish. This should also indirectly get rid of present toxins.

 

[John_henry]

no advice to give but i must say its a beautiful lot, i know land is at a premium in Japan even outside the cities so congratulations and ill definatly be following your adventure!

Thanks for the compliment. We've actually been able to find a lot of available land for free, as most of the farmers are getting too old and are happy for someone to look after the land. We're debating undertaking more, but have enough to keep us busy for the moment. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

 

[John_henry]

I don't think it looks bare.


I think it looks like potential!

Very true indeed. I just don't like to see bare soil, knowing I'm loosing all the little workers who inhabit it, even when it's weed ridden!

 

[Joel_BC]

We're going to plant lots of cover crops to help build up the soil and help bring it back to being organic. We'll be planting Sunflowers which I believe are good at pulling out toxins and debating with comfrey. The only problem with this is that to get rid of any toxins we obviously cant put them on the compost.

We're also using Bokashi composting and will use home made effective microorganisms (in moderation) which will also hopefully aid in creating good organic soil and allowing a varied eco system to flourish. This should also indirectly get rid of present toxins.

Your situation in Japan sounds very different from what ours is on our little acreage in British Columbia. Our place had been carved out of the western-Canadian "bush" (conifer-forest land) back in the 1950s, by the original owners. The garden plots here are on the surface of a natural bench of sandy/silty soil, but these garden areas probably had very little if any herbicide or chemical-pesticide usage. So "toxins" have not been so much the concern here. Due to the sandy mountain region soil, though, fertility has been a concern. If we did not attend to soil building each year, we'd see a rapid decline in vegetable production!

What's the origin of the toxins you're concerned about in your garden plot?

 

[John_henry]

We're going to plant lots of cover crops to help build up the soil and help bring it back to being organic. We'll be planting Sunflowers which I believe are good at pulling out toxins and debating with comfrey. The only problem with this is that to get rid of any toxins we obviously cant put them on the compost.

We're also using Bokashi composting and will use home made effective microorganisms (in moderation) which will also hopefully aid in creating good organic soil and allowing a varied eco system to flourish. This should also indirectly get rid of present toxins.

Your situation in Japan sounds very different from what ours is on our little acreage in British Columbia. Our place had been carved out of the western-Canadian "bush" (conifer-forest land) back in the 1950s, by the original owners. The garden plots here are on the surface of a natural bench of sandy/silty soil, but these garden areas probably had very little if any herbicide or chemical-pesticide usage. So "toxins" have not been so much the concern here. Due to the sandy mountain region soil, though, fertility has been a concern. If we did not attend to soil building each year, we'd see a rapid decline in vegetable production!

What's the origin of the toxins you're concerned about in your garden plot?

That does sound very different indeed. We are in the heart of Japanese satoyama, so the soil has been worked for a long time and to be fair is in very good condition. However, the trend for Japanese farming is very heavy on chemical use. So, whilst we can't be exactly sure we know for a fact that chemicals have been used up until last year when the land lay fallow until we took it over. The adjacent plots are still maintained threw chemical use, so despite our best efforts it seems unlikely that we will be able to rid ourselves of chemicals, a problem that we know a lot of Japanese farmers wanting to grow organically suffer from.

 

[baymule]

How are boundaries established (I see no fence) and how do you get water? Is is irragated where whatever your neighbors use gets "shared" through the water?

Your plot looks good and your hard work shows. I cover parts of my garden with newspapers and cut a hole in them to insert my plants. it sure cuts down on weeds and makes maintenance easier.

What is bokashi composting?

 

[John_henry]

How are boundaries established (I see no fence) and how do you get water? Is is irragated where whatever your neighbors use gets "shared" through the water?

Your plot looks good and your hard work shows. I cover parts of my garden with newspapers and cut a hole in them to insert my plants. it sure cuts down on weeds and makes maintenance easier.

What is bokashi composting?

A basic dirt path provides adequate boundaries. We should get enough rain water, but are using mulches to help retain moisture. We also have spring water at the back of the house, so we collect and use this when we sow/transplant etc.

A quick search will provide you with lots of information on Bokashi composting. Basically it is composting using effective microorganisms, which compost anaerobicly, thus we can compost any food waste including meat, dairy etc. In theory it is also faster that conventional composting and can be used strait away.

 

[me&thegals]

It looks beautiful!

I grow organically here, and weeds are such a big issue, aren't they? Really, as common sense as it is, I remind myself every year that the most important thing is to not let a weed go to seed. A garden doesn't have to be completely stripped of weeds, but they must not go to seed, at least.

I have been doing a LOT of mulching, both for weeds and water conservation, and maybe that would help you also, especially if you're hauling water by hand. Any land not planted in vegetables, we seed down with cover crop to control weeds and build the soil. The land gets a healthy dose of composted manure every year. Non-seedy weeds are laid in the aisles and get tilled in at the end of the season. We use chickens at the end of the season to work buggy fields, and they leave a bit of their own fertility behind. All the mulch gets tilled in at the end of the season and builds up organic matter.

Row covers have usually been helpful for pests, although this year the bugs are so bad that it hasn't completely prevented them. We get fish emulsion for things that need a boost, although usually that's not a problem. Every transplant gets planted with a handful of compost, and that gets things off to a great start.

Good luck--it will be fun to watch your garden progress!

 

[John_henry]

Thanks me&thegals, it sounds like what we have in mind is very similar to what you are practicing.

 

[John_henry]

So here's a belated up date. Not too much to comment on. I'll try and remember to get another photo soon, as things are starting to come on now.