Veggie plot

[veggieman 0]

To whoever, top site! Looking forward to winter.

 

Anyways, I'm new here and to Fukushima and want to take advantage of the countryside. Interested in getting some land (somehow) to grow some veggies and other stuff, maybe keep some animals.

 

Anyone on here ever done that and any tips on how to go about it?

 

Cheers.

[Ocean11 0]

Yes. In fact, if I smell my hands now, I can detect a slight whiff of mulch.

 

Ask at your local JA and/or city office. They may know of people nearby renting land. Best to find somewhere as close as possible.

 

Also you can go to the link below and click on Fukushima at the left for a list of places.

http://www.maff.go.jp/toukei/sokuhou/data/12-21/garten/

(I hope you can read some Japanese...)

 

Expect to pay between 10,000 - 30,000 per year.

 

Let us know how it goes.

[veggieman 0]

Hey thanks, I will look into it.

 

What are you getting up to then with yours?

[Ocean11 0]

My plot is in an organic mikan orchard. I have a plot the size of a tennis court with a fence around it made of old chicken cage wire sheets to keep out the wild boar. My plot includes some mikan and iyokan trees, so I never have to buy them.

 

On my plot, I grow veg in season. Currently I have peas, broad beans, potatoes, green peppers and green chilies growing. I'll plant onions later this month. My carrots and daikon failed because of lack of watering and grasshopper damage, respectively.

 

I'm not that knowledgeable, so I have some disheartening failures (where did my corn go??), but altogether, it's very satisfying.

 

My landlord arranges for heaps of chicken shit to be deposited near my plot for fertilizer, and I make my own compost and have a Can-O-Worms for worm castings.

 

I refer to this page kindly provided by Matsuyama City govt. as a rough guide.

 

Another approach to finding a plot might be to find your local agricultural college if you have one near, and ask them. Even if they don't know of anywhere, they might help you in other ways.

 

I also have a handkerchief garden in front of my house too, and I plant stuff in that. Got more broadbeans, kabu, mini-tomatoes, more peppers, lettuce and broccoli. Fertilized mostly with special 'Organic Liquid Fertilizer'.

[Ocean11 0]

(I usually liquidize the citrus fruit and pump it into my lower intestine to avoid unhealthy mixing of fruit and complex food in my stomach.)

[misorano 1]

 Quote:

Fertilized mostly with special 'Organic Liquid Fertilizer'

Notice any change in plant growth since the op?

[Ocean11 0]

Your question betrays a shocking lack of biological knowledge. You must study Natural Hygiene with greater zeal.

[intr0 0]

[NoFakie 45]

You can get land pretty easily. Some people rent their fields out to other people. I don't know where you are in Fukushima, but once you get away from towns, the price of land drops like a stone. If you can entertain yourself and work at home or drive miles to wherever your job is, you can rent an old house with a plot for next to nothing. 10,000 yen if that.

 

Japan is fertile, so its pretty easy to grow stuff, even in the mountains where overnight temps are too low to get started really before Golden Week. Even if you can't get a place that's been used before, lots of inaka people have power shovels that make light work of the stoniest ground. It can save you a lot of work. Otherwise get some logs or 2x4 and make raised beds.

[misorano 1]

Hey Mate,

Natural Hygiene comes naturally to me. It's Basic Hygiene I have a problem with.

 

By the way, how fertile is the 'Organic Liquid Fertilizer'

[Ocean11 0]

Very fertile. My garden is not very fertile at all as it's housing estate soil, but through my ministrations, I've improved it a lot.

[Ocean11 0]

That's right. It's Nature's way.

[oo 1]

Do you have many restrictions on that land Ocean11 - what you can and can't do?

 

10,000 - 30,000 per year is next to nothing, I wouldn't mind having a go myself.

[Ocean11 0]

I can grow whatever I like (and am able to), although I haven't inquired about keeping animals because I wouldn't be able to go often enough to look after them.

 

Go for it.

[spook 0]

so ocean, how successful have you been at growing your own vegies - are you reasonably self-sufficient, or still having to buy alot of stuff?

 

i'm impressed by what you're doing, but am curious as to how much you've managed to produce

[Ocean11 0]

I usually go to my allotment once a week which isn't enough time to plant, weed, mulch, water and harvest a big enough area to be self-sufficient.

 

That said, my vegetables usually feature in at least one dish a day, and we eat my mikan from Sept to Apr. If I had known how many onions to plant last year, we could have been self-sufficient in onions. (My wife made loads of delicious onion soup, which however made everyone fart violently. I kept checking the seat of my trousers for blast holes.)

 

As I get more skilled, and as my son is now starting to make himself useful, I should be able to increase the amount. But complete self-sufficiency is but a dream.

[veggieman 0]

Excellent, an inspiration! I am getting things moving hopefully I can find somewhere for when there is no snow.

[sava 0]

O11: Just quickly I have noticed that you're posting less and less...

 

It's quite a worrying trend

[Ocean11 0]

sava, choose a reason;

 

- I have cancer

- I'm busy at work

- I'm busy after my vasectomy

- It's planting season

- I've found another forum on which to bait nationalistic Americans

- My keybo+r= is br!ken

 

I took some pictures yesterday.

[sava 0]

I like your baiting

it makes my day worthwhile

[sunrise 0]

Nice pics. The little 'un is getting bigger.

[Ocean11 0]

Yo, all you veggie-makers and makers-to-be!

 

Tonight at 9:15 on NHK, there's a program about just this very subject, covering everybody from those with just a balcony, to those with allotments. It looks to be a practical how-to sort of program.

 

Let's watching!

[JellyBelly 1]

Sounds exciting!

[Ocean11 0]

Ahahaha, if only you knew...

[kintaro 0]

Thanks for the heads up Ocean, I'll be checking that out.