DESCENDANT

This time, the workshop “FARM CLUB” was hosted by SOU FARM, which is familiar with DESCENDANT and so the DESCENDANT crew also participated.
Seven years ago, the SOU FARM’s director, Daichi Yanagida, one of the founding members of DESCENDANT, went into agriculture.
Seeking a new location in Ogawa-machi, Hiki-gun, Saitama, where organic farming thrives, he began training under a master in agriculture.
His family of four relocated to the area and has built a community with various people in the area, including fellow farmers and friends, to become great members of the local community.

The work of picking out the seeds one by one from the fluffy Japanese cotton is rather tedious and tiring

Play by help carrying indigo pod seedlings, the raw materials for indigo dyes

Yanagida-san gives a lecture on how to plant indigo seedlings

Yanagida-san began with his ideal way of farming, a no-tillage, pesticide-free and fertilizer-free agriculture. This type of farming poses many difficulties and failures with considerable risks.
That’s why the joy of harvesting delicious vegetables grown close to nature is indescribable.
As he said, “It’s been about three years since I became an independent farmer, and it’s finally coming together.” He held a field workshop with contents on agriculture, which is the Yanagida family business. Although the participants are only a small part, being involved in the beginning process up to the harvest, they can learn about the origins and how things become part of their bodies, even if just a bit.

100% brown rice cooked in a kettle, the technique of burning firewood and adjusting the flame is masterful

Meatballs with chopped carrot leaves, omelet and Japanese butterbur aglio olio as a side dish

Giant beetles larvae also live in this soil

“Our ideal agriculture is called no-tillage. Suppose you sow seeds and plant seedlings without plowing the fields. In that case, you don’t need to rely on pesticides or fertilizers, allowing the vegetation to take in the soil’s original nutrients and groundwater and growing vegetables with the sun’s blessing. Working with the mindset that you will be grateful to harvest, you do not want to destroy nature to increase the yield. To make the ridges as close to natural as possible, placing different varieties in one hill prevents imbalanced nutrient intake from imposing a burden on the soil. We also plant varieties insects don’t care for, creating a natural insect-repellent barrier, protecting the seedlings. The purpose of basil planting around the tomatoes and kidney beans this time is also a part of that.”

Making the most of the blessed earth as it is,
Watch over the environment where nature grows crops,
Appreciate the blessings and cycle of nature.

The fact that Yanagida-san, who lives in harmony with nature, is named “Daichi,” which means a large field in Japanese, may naturally be fate.

A child’s dream, hammocks and swings. A visitor center with a roof

Tomatoes with wrapping vines and kidney beans creates an enriched soil, with basil seedlings planted around them

Workshop participants who are used to planting seedlings

Like soil in its natural state, Yanagida-san is full of passion, even at the end of the session. We support you!

Announcement from SOU FARM

Vegetables are available monthly at “Farmers Market” in Aoyama, Tokyo and at the grocery store “somehow” in Fujimigaoka, Keio-Inogashira line. Next, we will be at somehow on Saturday, 5/20.  The “FARM CLUB” workshop is held twice a month, and the next session will be on Sunday, 5/28. Please see details on SOU FARM’s official Instagram at