I greet everyone with
love and joy!
It has been more than
two weeks since I started working on our land while trying to settle down on
the house I am renting. Two weeks, and yet I feel like I have been here for a
year! I met amazing people of the community, and a few from a nearby community.
Everyone was kind and helpful and I cannot ask any more goodness from the
universe.
While trying to settle
down on the new house, I focused a big part of my time in clearing the land
before the weeds become out of control. I realized the power of summer when I
saw how fast the shrubs grew after leaving them for only a week! They already
grew beyond my height!
I can't even reach the top leaves!
With a grass cutter, I
started cutting the grass in a certain pattern so that I can gather the grass
easier to use it as mulch later. I certainly thought I could finish almost a
hectare of field in a few days but I am oh so mistaken! If they the grass is
less than a meter in length, I may have finished earlier but with shrubs this
high, I had a hard time cutting the thick stems. On the bright side, as I was
cutting shrubs, I was able to find new and interesting stuff coming out of the
grass.
An egg of a wild bird, probably a pheasant
After a total of
backbreaking five days, I am mostly done with clearing the shrubs and grasses!
Next step is to gather grass! All by hand, by myself and oh my, oh my, I only
did one third and it took me almost a day to gather them into a pile!
Perfect mulching material!
This grass pile will be
an excellent mulch and fertilizer! Nothing beats a slowly composted grass and
shrub. Since their roots are strong and deep, and their natural life force,
they are able to absorb nutrients efficiently and bring the unavailable
minerals to the upper portion of the soil. If I mix this with leaf litter under
the forest, I can make compost that is incomparable to compost made from cow
dung.
I decided to gather
first the cuttings from the upper field, and then I moved on to rototilling the
soil with a small tractor. The soil was naturally clayey but with the power of
the weeds, the organic matter of the soil is good enough to make the soil
friable enough. I learned a certain technique to make the decomposition faster.
I first set the rototiller to about five centimeters to cut the remaining stubbles
of weeds then rototilled again for another 15 centimeters. If I did this every
season or at every new planting, the soil will eventually have a hard pan
underneath that will result to poor drainage. So, I am only doing this ONCE.
Just so that I can build permanent beds easier and plant cover crops.
Like a canvas with infinite possibilities of creativity!
Two days of continuous
rototilling on the upper field produced a very nice crumby textured soil!
Look at that crumby goodness!
I will soon make permanent
raised beds so a lot of planning is needed before I actually make them.
Everyday there is something new. Everyday there is a moment of paradise.
Mt. Komagatake with Onuma Lake
"With Love, this space is
going to be splendid like a place no other. With Joy, this space is going to gather
my ancestors. Through Co-creation, this space will continue on to the next
generations."
