This autumn was packed with events, starting with an exhibition at Hitotsuya, followed by the Materials Market in Kobe and the Christmas exhibition at Maruzen Button. Farm work therefore fell behind, and it was only recently that we finally managed our autumn harvest. Today I’ll introduce what we harvested at the Hitotsuya Dyeing and Weaving Farm.
Autumn Harvest — Starting with the Root Crops
▼ First, potatoes! We planted them in autumn and managed to harvest a small amount.
▼ The big harvest was taro! This field seems to suit taro very well.
▼ Last in the root-crop series: sweet potatoes.
▼ We harvested only a few sweet potatoes. Our growing method was not very good, and something had been eating them 😱
The Autumn Harvest Continues
▼ Just one piece of ginger⋯😭
▼ We also harvested perilla.
▼ Peanuts 🥜 We harvested quite a lot of these. I’m already looking forward to having them with a 🍺.
The Kiwifruit That Made Me Happiest in This Autumn Harvest
▼ And what made me happiest this year was the kiwifruit harvest. Instead of being greedy as in past years, I carefully thinned the fruit and pruned the vines. The result was a generous harvest of large, beautiful kiwifruit.
Hitotsuya’s farm is mainly devoted to plants connected with dyeing and weaving, such as Japanese cotton, mulberry trees for silkworms, and indigo. We also grow some of our own food in one corner of the farm, but it seems we still have plenty to learn.
Next year, I want to learn more about growing food and increase the yield. First, I’ll work hard this winter to prepare the fields for next year!