9月に子どもたちと稲刈りをし、杭がけで乾燥させたお米が出来上がりました。去年に比べると収穫量は落ちましたが、化学肥料や除草剤などは一切使わず、牛糞と鶏糞、米糠、木酢液を使って育てた「デコボコ米」は格別なはずです。また、自然に乾燥させたお米は「割れ」が無いのだそうです。それも手作業の賜物。
とはいえやはり、土に栄養を与えることはさんなねですので、今年は秋のうちに牛糞を撒くことを検討中です。
コンバインを使えば、刈るのと同時に砕いた稲藁を田んぼに撒き栄養にすることができますが、手刈り+稲藁を使いたいがためにそれはやりません。稲藁は年末に子どもたちの手によって、素敵なしめ飾りに変身するからです。
11月に入ったら「ティータイム」の時間にデコボコ米のおにぎりをいただきます。一昨年みんなでこしらえた味噌をつけて食べる日が待ち遠しいです。
In September, our students helped us harvest the Deko Boko rice and stack it up on stakes to dry. Although the yield was less than last year, we have been assured by our farmer friends in Takase that it will be exceptionally delicious! We grew it without using any chemical fertilisers, and instead relied on rice bran, wood vinegar, and cow and chicken manure. The traditional method of naturally drying the rice on stakes also has the benefit of preventing cracks in the grain. Ah, thank goodness there was an upside to all that hard manual labour!
However, the decrease in yield indicates that the soil needs some TLC. When using a combine harvester, the leftover grain stalks (wara) are sprinkled back over the field and make an excellent fertiliser, however, we hand harvest each stalk, and like to keep the leftover stalks to make traditional New Year's decorations with our students in December, so we miss out on this step. To make up for this, we are considering spreading cow manure over the field this autumn to help get it ready for next year's crop.
In November, we will have a special Onigiri tea
time before class, and enjoy Deko Boko rice with some of the Deko Boko Miso we made 2 years ago with our friend Aya-san. We can't wait!
