Working Weather

Though it is still winter, we are experiencing a few lovely sunshiney days that have us out working in the fields for a change. What a wonderful feeling! Yesterday we got some mundane but necessary picking up done; clearing around the compost pile in preparation for building a new little compost complex, picking up generally around the place to atone for the scattering of bits of plastic done by winter winds and turning sticks and bamboo into firewood. We also, at long last, finished planting the tulips and daffodills we bought last fall. Today, another sunshiney (though yet COLD) morning, we are sitting with our coffee (confirmed addicts that we are) listing out all the fields we rent and borrow (there are 18 in total - my oh my!), adding up the area and making plans for the coming year. Shuzo is counting as a type, so I'll get back to you with the estimated area. Once our coffee is finishes, we will get a few minor housekeeping/bakerykeeping tasks out of the way (laundry, moving some furniture) and then we shall don our logger personnas and attack the hillside next to the bakery with an eye to next year's firewood and preventing the overhanding trees from being transformed into trees that have attacked our roof by the next large typhoon. The wonderful next door neighbor stopped by for a chat yesterday evening so we were finally able to establish which Yokoyama-san owns the hillside (literally half of the neighborhood is named Yokoyama-san) and were gracefully granted permission for the project. Big plans we have!

The numbers are in - we are cultivating approximately 6 tan, or nearly 15 acres. Wow!! I had no idea. That is pretty farmer like, especially here. Granted, not all of it is under active cultivation - several of the fields are new to us, and the goat yard has little but a few apple trees and indigo bushes for the bees, but others are pretty intensively farmed. Well, I guess we had best get to work.