Kawagoe's naturally grown garlic field. Despite being grown without pesticides or fertilizers, the garlic is growing beautifully.
The long-awaited naturally grown garlic from Kawagoe Shunsaku of Miyazaki Prefecture, one of Kyushu's leading naturally grown farmers, has now arrived.
The garlic is grown stress-free in Kawagoe's fields, which are warm, soft, and have good water retention and drainage.
When I opened the cardboard box that arrived, a rich, appetizing aroma filled the air.
When I saw Kawagoe's naturally grown garlic, the thing that struck me most was how beautiful it was.
The shape is a beautiful, symmetrical sphere, and there is almost no scarring or pain.
The size is so beautiful and well-balanced that you could mistake them for conventionally grown plants.
According to Kawagoe, "As the soil evolves, the crops that grow there grow without stress and take on a beautiful spherical shape. Just as the Earth is round, crops are meant to grow round and symmetrical in nature." This naturally grown garlic is a perfect embodiment of these words.
I immediately peeled them off and picked them up to check what was inside, and each one was very heavy.
Without any fertilizer, the crops grow slowly and naturally using the power of soil, water, sun, and seeds, resulting in crops that are dense and full of fruit.
And the skin is incredibly hard to peel off! (lol)
The same thing that happens with delicious mandarin oranges, where the skin sticks to the skin and is difficult to peel, happens with Kawagoe's naturally grown garlic.
In other words, cell division occurs slowly and at a natural rhythm, resulting in tightly packed garlic.
Kawagoe's naturally grown garlic has a rich aroma, but without the strong, harsh smell that is typical of garlic.
It even has a natural sweet smell.
And yet, when you add just one piece to a dish, it makes a strong presence and greatly enhances the flavor.
Please try.
Kawagoe boasts some of the best soil in Kyushu Tano Town in Miyazaki Prefecture is nationally famous as a major radish production area.
This is where you'll find Toshisaku Kawagoe, who boasts some of Kyushu's best soil creation for natural farming.
Kawagoe presides over the natural farming promotion group "Yaezakura-kai" in Miyazaki Prefecture, and generously shares with its members the ideas and methodologies of natural farming that he has developed himself.
Mr. Shunsaku Kawagoe, the organizer of the Yaezakura Association, is a man of great courage who rushed over from Miyazaki to deliver relief supplies during the Kumamoto earthquake.
The topsoil layer (the depth of the soil in which crops grow) in Kawagoe's field is an amazing 1.5m or more.
In modern agriculture, it is said that 30cm is sufficient.
This is because soil contaminated with fertilizers and pesticides often becomes hard and cold.
Mr. Kawagoe's soil, which has been cultivated for many years using natural cultivation methods without fertilizer or pesticides, is as soft as snow.
It is this fluffy, warm, soft soil that drains well and retains water that helps grow such fine naturally grown garlic.
The tireless challenge of natural cultivation Kawagoe currently feels a strong sense of crisis about Japanese agriculture.
"I think that Tano Town's dried radishes will also disappear in the future. The natural environment is becoming harsher every year. There are typhoons, heavy rains, droughts, and global warming. Farmers who practice conventional cultivation (using chemical fertilizers and pesticides) have seen a significant drop in yields this year. I think it will continue to get tougher every year."
If we continue with modern agriculture, which uses large amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that do not exist in nature, the soil will become polluted, cool, and harden.
This leads to an increase in insects and diseases, which in turn leads to the use of more fertilizer and pesticides, making the soil even dirtier, colder, and harder.
And the end result, says Kawagoe, will be "barren land" where nothing can grow.
"If we don't change agriculture now, we will soon reach a time when we really can't produce food. This time may come in a few years, not decades. I want to spread the world of sustainable agriculture by continuing and spreading natural farming."
Clay-formed soil from a naturally grown field.
"They say that a field resembles you. You can't hide anything. I always approach my work with the feeling that I can do better."
Kawagoe is passionate about everything he does, including the future of Japanese agriculture, natural farming, and the future of the association's members.
His gaze was intense and direct.
"One day, I want natural farming to be the norm in agriculture, not something special. I want to create a world where agriculture that uses fertilizers and pesticides is something special."
Kawagoe's sincere and dedicated approach to natural farming continues to this day in Miyazaki.
