Hello. I’m Haratake, a part-time farmer.
It’s gotten quite cold, hasn’t it? The weeds that couldn’t be controlled during summer have all started withering at once. By late November mornings, frost begins to form on the field surface. Lift the mulch and you’ll find ice shards! While the weather forecast still doesn’t show temperatures dropping below 0°C, it seems moisture is already freezing in some spots. Now then, today’s field is Field No. 2.
(Photo: Field No. 2 today)
Whether due to the cold or simply because we’re deep into late November, the okra has finally started turning faintly yellow, nearing the end of its natural life. Some plants bore such heavy fruit they bowed their heads, but now fruit growth has stopped, and they stand stiffly upright. Tall and towering, the okra became a symbol of Field No. 2, but now it too is nearing the end of its life.
Next up are the potatoes. Grown in the ridges of the Kin-chan farming method, their leaves and stems have also started to show a faint discoloration. Or rather, they seem to be getting tired from the cold… They might be ready for harvest too. These potatoes, which I barely—or rather, not at all—tended to since planting the seeds… That’s right, natural farming is hands-off farming!? No, no, it’s a farming method aiming for coexistence with weeds, so this is probably fine, I suppose lol
(Photo: Today’s potatoes)
Finally, the Chinese cabbage. A light frost has settled on the surface of the leaves. In this situation, I wonder if they won’t get eaten by bugs either, since they’d freeze solid lol. Here too, I sowed a large amount of seeds in the Kin-chan farming method ridges, but fewer than 10 plants actually grew. . And honestly, they’re not exactly thriving. We prepared larger piles of leaf mold than for the okra beds and let the soil mature for months. Yet the okra grew splendidly while the cabbage yielded only mediocre results. I’d love to analyze and compare the soil composition.
(Photo: Today’s Chinese cabbage)
Until next time~
