D.I.Y.

By dennis

Stinging nettle is a for most people an annoying weed. A noxious weed that can easily take over your garden.  They sting and leave a long lasting itch and burning sensation.
Maybe change your view of these plants and play with them a bit as they are actually very useful. Edible as they are, they make a delicious and cheap spring vegetable. When cooked they loose their sting and are delicious in a stir fry. Blended up into a pesto and mixed with the wonderful Kyoja niniku and almighty bacon makes a great spring pasta.
Also healthy as tea afterwards.

When you want to get rid of them, put them with you compost as they are a great source of nitrogen or,  like i do, stuff them in large  buckets and fill them up with water. Like all goodness comes from fermentation, you end up with a potent liquid fertilizer or even more handy :a pesticide.
It works great on caterpillars, aphids and the likes. Mix some of the concentrate with water and a bit of green soap and attack the grubs.
Leave them in the buckets with a lid on and stir occasionally and wait for a week or 3-4, depending on the heat outside. Strain, but use the left over pulp as fertiliser.
Just don’t  forget to bring some proper gloves!

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By dennis

One crop that does well in a short season climate is garlic. It's not popular just because it's delicious and healthy but also because it's relatively easy to grow. Planted in autumn and just about a week free from snow these garlic shoots are already bright green and loving life. They will be ready for harvest late July, early August. But before that we can harvest the garlic shoots sometime in June when they start to flower.

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Seed potatoes

By dennis

For anyone who is planning to grow some potatoes this year, can come and buy some Danshaku seed potatoes from us. Available from now on. Just come to the farm to pick them up, or we can send them to you with takkyubin.

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First colour.

By dennis

For 5 months of the year our landscape is pretty minimal and natural colours are pretty somber.
When the first spring flowers emerge they make quite a contrast to the still white backdrop.
Still a wait for the last 60-70 cm of snow to melt, but with flowers around, we know it will be soon.

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Autumn Fest.

By dennis

The Sapporo Autumn Fest is on again.
Niseko Green Fram is selling organic veggies and hopefully some bbq-ed corn soon when the rains stop.
Come by for some Autumn goodness or a glass of organic wine.

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Whole lotta veg.

By dennis

With late summer in full swing, the count down till the first snow begins.  Veggies galore now, the best time of the year, really. Everything ripens to their seasonal best and with the nights cooling down a bit as well, plants get some rest at night and get to bring out their best.

Our veggie boxes are loaded now with all the fruits of the field. All grown for their right season and not artificially created in green houses. Some very tasty melons and watermelons coming up too.  We got some seed for the French Charentais melons, and we grew a bunch. Apparently the tastiest melon on the planet, but who are we to decide. But we will add it to your veggie box so you can decide.
Let us know as well, we like to hear you feedback.

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Goat morning.

By dennis

Goat morning from Niseko Green Farm. Our goats take a walk around the farm to scoop out the latest greens and also had a preview of the strawberries and next years purple asparagus. Here is the link for the you tube video.

Goat morning.

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Why organic?

By dennis

There is so much research being done on the effect of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and cloned food and nobody really knows for sure yet what is good and what is bad for us.
One thing that does effect us all, is ourlocal economy and money. We never seem to get a rent reduction from a sympathetic landlord, who smiles and says: go buy some books for your kids, or take them out on a fun day.   We are only as strong as our local economy. Supporting this is essential. By going to major supermarkets, the local grocery shops have all disappeared and with it it’s charm and local flair and the place to pick up the local gossip.
Slowly all small businesses are disappearing.
A farm is the same thing.
If you go local and buy your eggs, vegetables and fruit etc. directly from the farm, you know where the produce comes from and that it is fresh.
The farmer gets a better price than if he would dump it on the wholesale market, everybody happy.
By going local, ask your farmer if he does or if he can grow organic. Most farmers have a little veggie patch that is organic, just for them selves.
When you eat organic you can be 100% sure you are not eating something harmful.
If the farmers realize there is market  and better value for them in organics, they will make that shift. If the supermarkets realize people want local and organic, they will make that effort as well.  It makes the world a better place.
Below is an article with one reason to be sceptical about eating pesticide rich food.

do yourself a favour: go local, go organic.

children-exposed-pesticides-before-birth-likely-lower-iq

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Don’t panic, go organic!

By dennis

Sign up to Niseko Green Farm and bring the farm to your home.

For ¥2500 you get a box with seasonal vegetables and herbs directly from Hokkaido to your home.

We will start sometime in June, when the snow is gone and our asparagus will come up. Then from July onward, there will be a steady supply of different organics.

We grow lots of heirloom vegetables and it will be great for you to taste the difference in vegetables that have the same name, but look completely different. We will try to add recipes to these, maybe, new varieties as well, so you can start cooking right out of the box.

Niseko Green Farm brings the best of Hokkaido, directly to you.

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Getting ready for 2011.

By dennis

The harvest season is only just behind us, but already looking ahead at the next. Saving seeds gives you the advantage of having enough seeds for the next few years, but it is also fun to grow new varieties. Also markets change and customer demands change.  Enough to keep busy looking around for new things to grow.

In the old days when everyone saved their own seed, these open pollinated varieties mixed a lot. This gave us the great variety of food we have now and also made plants more disease resistant. Now markets demand all similar shaped and sized food, so it eases the use and packaging.  It sure can be handy and it works in a large industrial scale, but personally i find more satisfaction in these odd shaped veggies and other botanical surprises you may find in your garden.

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