Farming

Many people have tried natural farming so far, but it is very difficult to make a living while pursuing the ideal, and many people are frustrated in the middle of the road. In a capitalistic society that emphasizes the "look, taste, and uniformity" of agricultural products, the space for agricultural products produced by natural farming are extreme... See more

What my grandfather often used to say was "No one understands the essence of natural farming." Of course, he also meant to include me and my father in that 'no one'. The essence of natural farming is a "philosophy of nothingness", and it is difficult to understand natural farming without understanding this concept, which is a feeling and almost spi... See more

if we were to grow food by working with nature, including returning all organic matter (such as straw from grains) back to the soil,

Prepare the mind for work in the fields.

Sense the fragrance of the changing season.

Determine the right timing to approach.

Feel the distance between yourself, and the plants and animals.

Fukuoka once wrote:

I do not particularly like the word “work”. Human beings are the only animals who have to work. Other animals make their livings by living, but people work like crazy, thinking that they have to in order to stay alive. The bigger the job, the greater the challenge, the more wonderful they think it is. It would be good to give up

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The first thing he did when he returned to the land he grew up in was to stop pruning the citrus trees. The next year most of the trees died. But instead of seeing this as a failure, he realised he had learned something important. If trees or plants have been controlled by people, you cannot then just abandon them and expect them to thrive. It need... See more

It is not doing nothing; it is farming by subtraction.

Plants and animals exist within and are nourished by nature’s rejuvenating cycle, and from a modern viewpoint communing with nature can be extremely difficult at times.

In other words, humans add to and augment nature and in the process distance themselves from the intrinsic state of nature. Th... See more