Beans, Lettuce, Tree House

We have been living on Tsukuyomi Farm in Awa-shi for three weeks now. We work daily on the vegetable fields with 20 other Workawayers. Everyday life is characterized by communal living. We have found very dear new friends who have inspired us and moved us with their stories. Everyone here is on a kind of journey of self-discovery. How do we want to live in the future? What truly nourishes us? What environment is healing for me? Together, we share these questions and find answers together. The focus is on ecological and sustainable agriculture. But also, life as a social community that benefits from each individual's skills, instead of focusing on conformity and efficiency.
We work in four different teams. Three of them work in the field. There are tasks such as harvesting (e.g. lettuce, beans, broccoli or daikon), pulling weeds, or sowing new seeds. In doing so, we also discover the many inhabitants of the field: ladybugs, butterflies, spiders, caterpillars, bees, and dangerous centipedes (yes...the big ones...12 cm...and they are poisonous...we have already had injuries!).
Sometimes there are also special tasks, such as installing an irrigation system or clearing the field of stones. After the harvest, we return to the farm. There, the vegetables are washed, weighed, and packed. Namira is always present and loves to help. With a sickle in her hand, she makes daring attempts to harvest the vegetables. Or she digs holes and makes mud cakes. In any case, she is always busy. We get along well with our Japanese supervisors, but they only speak a few English words and it is advisable to have basic knowledge of Japanese... (which we unfortunately don't really have yet...Giri-giri...?) But many Workawayers excel at this point as solid interpreters and we manage well.
The fourth team, in which Robin works, is dedicated to the tree house. For weeks, the little house has been hammered and sawed at dizzying heights. Salia usually hangs around there and diligently paints in her coloring book or reads alone for hours in her Jim Button book.

The girls are learning so much here. Here on the farm, they try to speak English and I have observed Salia talking to the others. Namira already knows how to get the good stuff: 'I want chocolate!' or 'I want ice-cream!' - and it actually works! Learning by doing in this case.

Although the community feels like a big family, it is impossible to overlook the fact that people are only present here for a limited time. It may be that the dynamics completely change within a few days. This week, four or five new people joined, and eight (including us) are leaving the farm. Yes, that's life and everything comes to an end. In any case, we wouldn't miss the time on the farm for anything. We leave with both a smile and a tear. Thank you, Tsukuyomi Farm.

By the way: Salia took most of the pictures in this post.