Ideas for orgnic movement in Tokachi
Some of my ideas for how the Tokachi gov't can help the organic movement in Tokachi.
One idea is to educate the schools about what is organic agriculture.This can be done with a slideshow presentation followed by a farm tour to some of the Tokachi area organic farmers.The slideshow should be presented in every high school and college in the Tokachi area and later to other parts of Japan.It will take several months to put a good slideshow together.The government can talk to the schools and get their permission and compensate the presenters expense's such as slideshow materials and gas,etc.We will need an audition and review with the school and government when we are ready.We hope the Tokachi organic network can benefit from this idea not only financialy but as publicity too.The slideshow will consist of organic methods we are useing and some places where they can learn more about how to grow organically and where they can buy organic products and why it is healthy for you and our planet.We will try not to condemn the chemical farmer as much as possible.
Another idea is to make a place for formal training for new farmers i.e an organic school.Konomi is heading up this project with ideas from an organic school in Shi ko ku island.
Another idea is an apprenticeship placement program for new farmers who are looking for their first farm.For older farmers near retirement that are willing to turnover thier farm to an organic new comer they will work together in transition from conventional to organic production with support from the Tokachi government and the Tokacho organic network.The government can subsidize both farmers and help to create a market through JAS or any other system that is agreeable to the farmers.We can work with Honbetsu city hall to get these empty fasrms filled with organic farmers and use the empty school to start our organic school.Honbetsu has many oppurtunities for growth in the organic movement and we can help and the town can benefit as well.
Another idea is to improve the experimental or research centers.We need to know what is going on in there.Let us participate as research farms come and look at what we are doing and learn from us.We can work more closely together.The reasearch centers need a qualified organic farmer not just a scientist.
Another idea is to hire teachers to teach organics in the schools.We can teach until the school finds someone to take our place.The Honbetsu college is close to us if you can talk to the school we can teach there and at the agriculture high school.
We are already conducting workshops and have plans to start our own school.We want to train apprentices and have help from our city hall to get our graduated apprentices a farm near us that can takeover a retireing farmers farm and convert it to organic/biodynamic methods.Somehow we would like some support during this transitional period.We will need help from people who are not farmers.We are farmers trying to farm and help the organic movement.Can the government pay someone to help us with this movement?As a biodynamic farm community we can help the organic movement with producing a lot of organic/biodynamic food and set a good example of growing our food and teaching while living a healthy family lifestyle.How can the government help someone who has graduated from an apprenticeship program or an organic school local or abroad get his first farm and get help converting the farm during the transitional period?How can the young people find out where to go for organic education?Why not have an organic teaching team to visit each school in the Tokachi area and later other parts of Japan.Why can't the government hire someone to do these things or pay the Tokachi Organic network to do it through someone we choose?Does the researh center have qualified organic farmers to do their research?What help can we give to the research centers to help make organics work like it is suppose to?Do they experiment with biodynamics there?Need someone to do that?Maybe we can help there too.How is the best way for the government to help us with the organic movement?Do you have any other ideas or suggestions?We don't have much time to go into much details now but we can give them our ideas and see if they do something with them.One thing they must know is that this organic movement is going forward with or without the governments help.It is inevitable.The world is slowly changing to enviromental issues and cocerns for the future.We in Japan want to help too.Obihiro is a green model city,organics is green.Lets make the Tokjachi area an organic model for Japan and the world.Please tell us what we can do to help?What more can we tell the government?I'm new here and don't know how to help.I am willing to do whatever i can to help save our planet.Biodynamics is my way.
Edited by ベン／ Ben Campbell 2010/03/06 21:08:20
Last Modified 2010/03/06 21:15:50
March 4th 2010
Hi diary,It's time to write again,but things are happening so fast it will be hard to tell all.Our grand opening was a grand success.We met over 40 people and made pizza and sold some bread and made contacts so we can sell more.We have been taking orders and we are happy with this system so far.We try to push our csa movement too and got one person to sign up now we have only 5 csa members.Getting the garden started and recruiting new csa members is our next major priority.After the grand opening we had a small party our friends from Date city who will join our community in the end of March came and played music.
Trevor and Mika.Trevor is an organic/biodynamic gardener and plays the guitar and mandolin and also is a teacher.We will be very glad to have him here with us,Mika his wife is baker and such a sweet person.She is very intelligent and pretty.Trevor brought with him his guitar and mandolin.Our friend Ken Satioh and his wife Atsuko also came.Ken is a multitalented gentleman who played Trevor's guitar.I cannot play an instrument but i like to dance and i did.We all had a great time that night.
A couple days later i went ski walking in one of the most beautiful places in Hokkaido.It is near a volcano and a sister mountain called Akan Fuji,at the bottom of these mountains in lake Onneto.The lake was frozen so we crosted it and were the first ones across it.Behind the lake was a magnificant veiw of the mountain.Our trail led us to a hot spring where water was coming out of the side of a bank.It was not the kind of ho9t spring where we could take a bath.When we got back to the parking lot there was a hot springs bath there and we soaked ourselves there.It was a wonderful experience being in the great outdoors and seeing nature up close.Later the club had another ski trip to anther hot spring but i could not go as Konomi and I gave a workshop to the Tokachi Organic Network at the Tokachigawa onsen hotel.
We talked 50 minutes about the biodynamic calendar.It was the yearly social meeting and we dicussed the networks business.We were also informed about a letterbi recieved from the Tokachi Government wanting to get our advice about what the nTokachi government can do to help the organic movement.We talked almost allnight about what we could say to them.We will get this chance on March 8 in Obihiro.I have written down my ideas and have posted them in our diary too.Ken Saitoh-san will be there with me to translate for me.
Before that we went to Tohma a organic model city for Hokkaido for an Hokkaido organic conference to hear 3 people talk about organics.One guy Kukuchi-san talk about "why now organics"We heard this lecture from him before.It was just exciting as the last time.He did a great presentation and mentioned Al Gores "an incovinenttruth" many times.That movie really changed my life.After seeing that movie i told myself somebody has got to do something.So i started on my way to where i am now.That was in the pring of 2007.
Another speaker was very interesting he spoke about his organic school on Shi ko ku island.After his talk we got to talk to him and learned that he got a lot of support from his city hall.We want anj organic/biodynamic school near us too.We want to have in our community some people to teach the organic/biodynamic method so they can be farmers too.Hopefully near us in the Honbetsu area or at least the Tokachi area, but really anywhere would be great too.Afterall the earth needs to be healed and there is earth everywhere.
Another guy talked about eels in rice paddies.Some of these eels are very rare due to the use of chemicals and poor farming techniques.The eels help eat the algae in the paddies and are very beneficial to organic rice production.I must admit i wasn't to muchninterested in this one but we met some really nice people there at this convention and expanded our network a great deal more.Soon we hope everyone in Hokkaido that is interested in organics will hear about us.Its true we are only begining our farm but our network for information is growing very fast.We know a lot of people who are farming organically and we want them to know we are happy they are doing it.With all this networking i'm afraid Konomi is going to be on the computer or in the office more than she wants to.She is a good worker especially in the office keeping records but she would rather be on the farm doing farm work.My hands are tied.I can't speak or write Japanese yet so i'm stuck doing the farm work,which is where i really want to be anyway.Sowhile I'm doing the farm work to show a good farm Konomi is there telling people to lets work together for the organic movement.So we are both doing our part for Japan's organic movement.And soon we will have some great help from Trevor and Mika,plus some wwoofer's and apprentices and maybe more community members soon.
Our priorities now are recruiting csa members and getting our garden started,getting Trevor and Mika moved in,keeping our bakery business alive,which is doing very well now,and making a plan for the future school and community.The weather is getting milder everyday so the snow is melting very slowly.
Our cow Betty is due her first calf on the 28th.Next is Tomi due in April,then Sara in June,then Ichigo due in July.Its going to be excitig to have some new babies on the farm to show our visitors children.The calves are very cute.And i hope we get some girl babies.We hope to get other livestock too as we get time and organic feed for them.Orgaic feed is hard to comeby so we will need to grow our own feed.We should do it antway to become Demeter certified.
After the government talk we will attend a meeting with Masuya-san a bakery who sponsors an organic farmers market in his parking lot.We were invited to participate last year but we didn't have enough time or vegetables.We hope maybe with Trevor and a few volunteers and enogh vegetables we can attend this year and profit from it,as well as help the organic movement.
Our next event besides the csa gathering we will have here and there is the spring equinox workshop Konomi is still working on the details and i can't ask her yet so that i can tell you so we have to wait until next time i write.
There is an interesting movie out now about an organic school lunch program.Wouldn't it be nice if the children in your area could eat organic/biodynamic food for lunch and maybe be csa members and feed their children an organic breakfast and dinner too?I wish we could have a garden that big to do that much food or have a network for this project.So many ideas and opportunities but it is still too early in the spring to think about how to grow that much food.We are just beginning and there is so much to do.Lets get together and feed people some good healthy food they deserve from a local environment.We'll try to see and show this movie soon>Konomi says she can rent the movie and show it at some of our csa gatherings.
I guess by now you are saying to yourself "wish i could help".Well you can just give us a comment and suggestions and support.Pray for us.thats enough for now.Thank you for your support.Love and peace.Ben.
Our hope is to help the organic movement not only for the earth's sake but so we can convert organic farmers to the biodynamic method too.
Edited by ベン／ Ben Campbell 2010/03/04 20:10:30
Last Modified 2010/03/05 21:42:39
Grand Opening! グランドオープンに向けて
Hi diary,We have now pasted our inspection for a bakery business permit so now we are introducing our grand opening on Feb 11 from 11am until 7pm.We will give a welcoming speech and introduce ourselves and try to tell you what we are doing on this farm.We will have bread and other baked goods for sale along with free samples of bread and free pizza and tea.We hope to have a musician to come and play music for us but we are not sure about that yet.We want to tell you that we are not only opening a bakery but we are finally settled in and are open for business.That means we are accepting csa members and bread orders.
We will have a list of upcoming events here on the farm and other events that we are involved with to promote the organic/biodynamic movements.We are accepting community members and volunteers workers.We are starting a biodynamic community and we are not able to take care of them yet.But If someone wants to join us we can only offer shelter.We can probably get food from our friends and nieghbors to give to our community members.We have spent all our money on getting things setup for this community.and now we are ready to start business.We will get money from bread sales and csa signups.We have already ordered our seeds and will recieve them in a couple of weeksThis is really big news for us to announce our grand opening we are finally in a position to do what we came to Japan to do.We wanted to make the Biodynamic preparations,operate a csa,conduct workshops on how to use and make the Biodynamic preparations,and try to help establish a Biodynamic association that can get the Demeter certification to Japan.We hope we can becomeDemeter certified.We have a good chance for that here.We have an agricultural college nearby where we hopefully can attract college students to be interested in organic gardening and farming.There are lots of opportunities for the organic movement in this area.We can get access to an abandoned elementary schoolhouse for large events.In order to do these events of course we will need help.Not only for these events but for all the work that needs done on the farm.We can teach an apprentice a lot about farming and gardening.I've probaby told you already about our future goals so i'll move on to other things to talk about.
One thing is that J.P.I. is hosting their 9th annual prep makers conference and will feature the preparation 508 which is the horsetail weed spray.Some people don't use the spray but in Hokkaido i think it is very necessary because of all the rain.Horsetail prep or 508 is suppose to help protect plants from fungus disease which usually happens when there is too much rain.It is also used as a susquential spray amomg other preps to encourage rain or reduce the rain.It will not actually stop the rain but helps the air balance it's enviroment.I made some 508 last week and it will be ready in about a couple days.This is my first time making the 508 and it was harvested the first year we were here,so it has been dried for two years, after it is made it will stay good for up to 6 months then we'll have to make more.There is two recipes that i know of.One is from freah horsetail and the other is to ferment it.I used the fermented tea method using the dried herb.Later during the summer, probably at one of our workshop i'll make both kinds.To make the 508 I used the recipe from J.P.I. newsletter this month.A doctor from Dr Steiners days made a recipe that most people use now.Her name is Lilly Kolisko she also wrote a couple of books about biodynamics and was a scientist who helped develop homeopathy among other things.Her husband was a scientist too. his name was Eugene.One of her books is now back in print but costs around $80.00.Wish i could afford it.It will probably sellout very fast.
I’ve been working on our yarrow flowers.We harvested them after the sun was in scorpio and on fruit days.last summer.Now is good time to pick the flowers of the stems.We now have 17 deer bladders.This spring when we make our 502 we will have lots of deer bladders and hopefully enough yarrow to fill them.We may share some of the deer bladders with B.A.A.J. and Pokawapa in Kyu shu.And maybe get some more before then.
Other things that have been happening here lately is that we went cross country sking with a club in our area in Honbetsu.Here what we did was considered ski walking with cross country skis or nordic sking.Later this month we will go on a trip with a ski club to a hot springs to ski 8 kilometers out and 8 kilometers back and then a hot bath. Sounds like fun in the great oiutdoors.We met some people there who were very nice and we decided to join the club and get some exercise.Plus we might find some people who want to be our csa members.Usually people interested in their health would want healthy food for themselves or for someone they know who needs good healthy food.Intelligent people and young parents are usually good candidates for csa members.
We got a delivery van from Konomi's mom Thank you mom.It is a diesel 4wd 5 speed and big enough for our first year csa and our bread delivery route. We like our new van very much.
We sent one of our cows to the slaughter house and picked up the meat yesterday.This cow was very mean to the other cows and would not get pregnant and was a good size cow for beef.Hayashi-san will sell the beef to his friends and clients from the farm corporation.
Thats about it for now.Just a little bit about our plans for the future and our present status.We still love each other very much and are working hard to make a good place to make a biodynamic farm community happen.It is going to be our first year here and we have a lot to learn but you can learn with us as we will learn from our nieghbors.We haven’t had time to make friends around here yet but now we are finally settled in and are ready to live productive lives and have fun doing it.
Our next event after the grand opening is the spring equinox festival and some csa gatherings in between.Please try to come by or keep us in your prayers as we start what we came here to do.We are finally starting business yeah!!!!!!!!!
Love and peace.Ben.
Edited by ベン／ Ben Campbell 2010/02/06 10:44:56
Last Modified 2010/02/06 18:18:15
January 19, 2010 Hi diary Last time we talked i was asking for donations.We still need donations and this is the last time i will ask you for financial help.To start our community we will need money for building materials and farming equipment but now we need help just to survive this first winter.We have just finished our brickoven and will start to bake soon.We still need more fire wood to bake with and fuel to heat our home.Plus food for volunteers and workers when we start our csa garden in the spring.Plus pay our utilliy bills.So please send what you can as soon as you can,Thank you.
Now let's try to update you on whats going on now and what has been happening lately.As i said we have finished our brickoven.We started it in October when we thought we could move the one i built in Sarabetsu to here.I built a foundation to put the oven on only to find out that it was cheaper to build another one instead..So then we started building on top of that foundation.Had i known i had to build another oven i probably would have built a bigger one.But as it is we will have to use this size.We still might be able to move the one in Sarabetsu to here by ourselves later if we can get the equipment that is needed for the move.Or sell it to someone else and let them move it.
We visited a woodfired bakery in Nakafurano when we returned a car we borrowed from our friend Piyo-san.Thank you very much Piyo-san.She let us spend the night with her and the next day we went to visit the baker and watched him bake his bread.We got to his bakery around 4:30 am and watched him make his dough and fire his oven and bake his bread.He bakes almost everyday but only about 4 or 5 kilos at a day.He gave us some of his sourdough starter and some good advice and some information on baking supplies and flour.
We just returned from Sapporo from a Hokkaido Organic Association workshop.We heard a lecture from Kikuchi-san about “why organic now”Kikuchi-san is a General director of the agriculkture experimental station in Kamikawa but formerly from our Tokachi area.We have seen him around many of the same events we have participated in in the Tokachi area since we have been here.He is very “into” the organic movement.Thank you Kikuchi-san.Next we heard a lecture from Takano-san about the new organic farmer.Takano-san was president of the Hokkaido Association before and is actively involved with their events.After that was the lecture I was looking forward to the most Suga-san from nearby Hakodate his lecture was on saving seeds.I don’t think he was given enough time.We have invited him to come speak at one of our workshops and we will give him 3 hours to talk at our spring equinox festival.
Also at this meeting we got to see our friends from Menno Village Ray Epp and his wife Akiko.Konomi and I spent the night at their newly remodeled farm house they use for their apprentices.We had some good conversion about the situation of the world economy and C.S.A.’s.Menno Village operates a C.S.A. of about 80 members and also has a bakery and raises chickens.
We asked Ray if he would speak at our spring workshop too about the C.S.A. movement for farmers and consumers.We will give him 3 hours too.More details later when we work out the details.Ray and his wife have a bakery too and they also gave us some of their sourdough starter.Now I’m really excited about trying to bake bread in our new oven.Ray has a bread delivery route .He sells his bread with an order form so someone could order chickens, eggs,stored vegetables and pickled vegetables.Maybe he should deliver pizza’a too.
Konomi and I tested the oven with a pizza party with just the two of us. It was the best pizza I ever ate in my life! Only because it was our first pizza from that oven and we waited so long to eat from it.
We will be baking bread very soon.We will need an inspection from the local health department before we can sell our bread but we will bake bread for samples for potential customers and gifts for our friends and neighbors.
We are planning on a Grand Opening event on February 11 from 11am until 7pm with free pizza and live music.It is going to be very cold outside and probably lots of snow at this time of year but we want everyone to know that we are finally settled in and are ready to start our csa,bakery,and community. Now we can concentrate on building our farm up to meet the Demeter standards and work to help heal the Earth.We have lots of plans for the future and will post a calendar of events for this year soon as we can.So now you can come and see where we are and what we have to work with. We love what we are doing and we love where we are at and we love who we are with.
Edited by ベン／ Ben Campbell 2010/01/19 20:31:46
Last Modified 2010/01/19 22:25:16
Please help
Dear friends,
My wife, Konomi and I met at the 2007 The Josephine Porter Institute in Virginia U.S.A.. Fall workshop to learn to make the BioDynamic preparations. I had previously attended the spring workshop and other workshops there as well. We were both apprentices on Biodynamic farms.She on a BioDynamic farm in Iwamizawa Japan and I at Jeff Poppens farm in Tennessee. After the workshop we invited Konomi to come to Tennessee to see how a C.S.A. garden operation works and attend another prep making workshop in Kentucky. We worked together there on Jeff's farm, fell in love and decide to become partners in the BioDynamic movement and so we married. We could go anywhere in the world we wanted to go to learn more or start on our own. We decided to go to Japan because Konomi was starting a BioDynamic movement already, almost all by herself. Konomi was part of starting the first Anthroposophical community in Japan(Hibiki no mura) before she became an apprentice in Iwamizawa. And she is already well known for her work in BioDynamics in Japan by other countries. Japan is a rich country but they are only 1% organic.We want to help raise that 1% higher. We saw the need to do something about trying to introduce BioDynamics to Japan by making the BioDynamic preparation for farmers and gardeners who wanted the preps but could not find them or know how to make them themselves.
We moved to Iwamizawa but the farmer there did not make his own preps and did not have cows.Shortly after we arrived in Iwamizawa we were invited to give a workshop on BioDynamics in the Tokachi area of Hokkaido. Takeshi Han-ura and Michiyo, Konomi and I Gave this workshop to a group of farmers who were associated with Hidenobu Ito, an organic buyer and distributer near the city of Obihiro. Mr. Ito invited Konomi and I to stay and help him with the BioDynamic/organic movement there with him. So we decided to move there on one of his farms.We tried to tell everyone about our farming method but only seeing is believing. Mr.Ito said we could stay on the farm for 2 years and then we had to move.
Our first year there was just getting settled in and making friends and resourceing materials and herbs for prep making. We made preps and they turned out ok. We could not find organic cows for our cow parts nor valerian. So we planted valerian and used it the second year. We bought 2 jersey heifers and fenced of some pasture for them. We sprayed the pasture with BD 500,barrel compost (B.C.) ,and BD 501.A friend gave us a round bale of his organic hay. We collected manure all winter and made several compost piles the next spring and preped them. That first year we did all that and supported ourselves on part-time jobs. We were making a network as we went.
We had a fall workshop to discuss lecture 8 of the agriculture course by Dr Steiner with Denis Pillaud who has been farming BioDynamically in Kyushu for over 20 years. He has been helping Takeshi and Konomi give these workshops over the last 10 years here in Hokkaido. Takeshi has started the Hokkaido BioDynamic Association but is not officially registered. So after this fall workshop Denis, Takeshi, Konomi and I decided we should have a meeting to discuss an official BioDynamic association. So we met during the winter to discuss the Demeter standards. We talked for 2 days and decided to call our association the BioDynamic Agriculture Association of Japan (B.A.A.J.) Mr. Ito is financing the registration fee and Takeshi was named our associations director in charge of getting registered. We wrote a prospectus of our intentions for this association and sent it to our interested friends.So all that is going on now. You can contact him to learn more about what is going on with our association at (han-ura@mx2nisiq.net) and please support him if you can.
Our second year we built a woodfired brick oven ,made a C.S.A. garden and attended some eco events as vendors to sell our goods and spread the word about Biodynamics and expand our network. We made preps and B.C. again and used our compost during the summer and used the sprays too. We were doing very well with 10 C.S.A. members selling bread and expanding our network.
We decided we should try to find a place where we could start a BioDynamic farm community. We found a place 2 hours away in Honbetsu with Mr.Hayashi. It was hard for us to make a future on Mr.Ito's farm knowing we had to move. Everything we did was temporary or portable. But now we have land we can build on. Mr.Hayashi has let us join his farm corporation.He Runs a school and farm business but is retiring soon. So Konomi and I are in charge of the farm and he will continue his school until retirement. He has let us use his 4 ha (10 acres)of land for our C.S.A garden and for pasture for our cows and his 3 jersey cows, 2 expecting calves this spring. With our 2 cows expecting we should have a total of 11 jerseys this spring.We also have 2 jersey steers. Mr.Hayshi's wife's sister owns 160 ha (400 acres)that maybe will be joined with our farm corporation too.If not then there is other land nearby that we can buy.
Our plans for the near future is to survive this winter. It took all our money to move in.We want to be Asia's premium prep makers.In order to do that we must have a Demeter certified farm to base our prep making enterprise. We have that chance here. We can grow our own feed for our cattle and other livestock,provide BioDynamically treated soils for our gardens, pastures and fodder fields and sell under the Demeter label.As I mentioned earlier we are soon to be organized in Japan as a legitamate BioDynamic association. We have worked hard to help get this association going and we will continue to support its activities in the future.
We need your help. We need support until we can get on our own feet.We are building another brickoven here because it costs less to build it again as it would to move it,so the first one is for sale. and we have manured and plowed our C.S.A. garden and are winterizing the schoolhouse that Konomi and I are staying in.Our brickoven and C.S.A. garden will support us through the summer and from then on. We will try to expand our C.S.A. membership to 50 members.
We have a lot of plans here to start an organic farmers school and waldorf school,train apprentices and host W.W.O.O.F.ers,Expand our network of BioDynamic farmers,teach farmers how to make and use their own preps and other such workshops, offer preps for sale to people who don't want to make thier own,and become the first Demeter certified farm in Japan to show the world that BioDynamics is in Japan now.If we can do this in Japan then it is possible to do it in any country. Then in every country in the world.
We need farm equipment,building materials, a delivery van and money to pay our fuel and household bills.We are excepting volunteer laborers but soon will not have enough food for them until our garden starts producing this spring. The Japanese people can help us with the material things, but we are asking you to please send money to help support us. We are both hard workers and are devoting the rest of our lives to this BioDynamic movement in Japan. We have put our bodies, souls,and, spirits into this. The spiritual beings are with us. They have made it possible for us to get this far and i know they will see us through.We do not do this for us to be rich.We do this for you and the rest of humanity.We are like our friend Harvey Lisle said. as BioDynamic farmers"We are sons of God,disicples of Christ, and priest in the Micheal Order. We are not the ones who blesses but we pick our land and ask that the high spiritual entities do the blessing"We are just servants. We love our way of life with BioDynamics and hope to heal as much of the earth as we possibly can. That is our mission.To make the best BioDynamic preparations possible and get them on the earth as soon as possible..It will take time and hard work, but Konomi and I are willing to do it. Please help us and advice us if you can with whatever you can give As soon as we get setup better we will be asking for community members to share our lifestyle..Please contact us at: < info@oubdfarm.com> by email. or
If you could please send money from the U.S.A. please send a United States Post Office International money order to us at:
Ben & Konomi Campbell
707-1 Nishi Biribetsu,
Honbetsu-Cho, Hokkaido
089-3443 JAPAN
For other countries use your postal system with an international post-office money order. Your own currency would be fine. Thank you.
Sorry this is such a long letter. But there is still a lot for us to say. You can go to our homepage for more information about our mission and our accomplishments and current news about our progress at; http;//www.oubdfarm.com this homepage is mostly in Japanese but if you click on diary/top and then click on Ben's article you can read in English what we are doing. The bottom line is we need some help to get started, so we can help heal the earth.
Mary Christmas and happy new year!
May peace prevail on Earth!
Love, Ben and Konomi.
Edited by ベン／ Ben Campbell 2009/12/25 08:52:26
Last Modified 2009/12/25 08:53:29
We got land in Honbetsu
Yes we got land and are moving to Honbetsu,northeast of Obihiro and still in the Tokachi area and 2 hours from here.We were introduced to Hayashi-san through the leader of one of our environmental groups called Sunkumura.She(Yoshimi)said they were looking for someone to take over their school and farm.We talked to eachother several times and have agreed to move in with them.They know about our plans of starting a biodynamic community and are letting us move in right away.We don't have anything in writing yet but we have a christians handshake and thats good enough for now to have made and buried some preparations there and spread manure on the next garden plot.We are staying in the schoolhouse now until we get settled in.
We have to move everything in before the snow comes.That means the green house,the cows, superhouse and oven.We will not be making money until we get settled in.Our csa is going to stop deliveries in the middle of october so we can be free to do our moving.We will have a csa member gathering on the 11th of October to celebrate our move and have a welcoming ceremony and bar b q at the new farm..We are still our csa members farmers we are just moving the farm.We hope to have at least 30 members next year and bake in our oven more than twice a week.Hayshi-san has 3 jerseys all are pregnant now are are due this summer as our cows are due this summer too.So we will be milking 5 jerseys next year.So we will be very busy again next year.This winter after we get settled in we will have interviews with potential community members to join us in the work and lifestyle.We know of a few who we want now.We emphasize a biodynamic farm community.The threefold social order of Dr.Steiner's is our goal and keeping with the Demeter certification standards as much as possible.
Hayashi-san is a wise and gentle man.he has let us use 3 ha of land to put our cows on pasture with his and we can start another csa garden there.but if we can get Hayashi-san's sister in law to join in on our movement then we will have 160 ha of land to farm.Most of that is natural forest.We don't have the equipment yet to maintain that amout of land now but the way things are happening for us it won't be long before we can manage it.We will need a lot more people to help then.It is better to have too much land and not enough people than too many people and not enough land.Although land in our area is not a problem. The mayor told Konomi that there were 1500 farmers some time ago and now only 350 and less next year.They are all retiring and noone to take their place.We hope to fill their place with organc/biodynamic farmers with an apprenticeship program at the school here we are trying to create.Konomi and I are working real hard trying to move and harvest and organizing our future plans.It is very stressful for both of us to have to move and start farming again when we would rather be farming now.We can't do both at the same time.lucky it is near the end of harvest that we are moving.By springtime we should be ready to start our farming ventures.Konomi is doing a great job keeping cool and collected.She has to do all the talking and scheduling.I just have to keep with the schedule.She has the hardest job.She is still just so wonderful.I'm glad to have a great partner like her in this situation.I don't know when we will get to take a vacation but when we do we will probably be thinking of the farm.Love and peace.Ben.
Edited by ベン／ Ben Campbell 2009/10/02 10:34:38
Last Modified 2009/10/07 23:40:57
a biodynamic farm community バイオダイナミック・ファーム・コミュニティー
Hi diary.It's been a long time since i've written because i have been very busy.
みなさんこんにちは。とても忙しくしていたので、ずいぶんご無沙汰してしまいました。
We are baking now and our csa is operating smoothly and we are participating in some environmental events for our income.
私たちはせっせとパンを焼き、CSA(参考：CSA とは )の運営も順調で、収入を得るために環境系のイベントなどにも参加しています。
it's not much but we are happy with each other.
たいした額ではありませんが、それでも私たちは満足しています。
Love is all we really need.
本当に必要なのは愛ですから。
We now want to share our love with a Biodynamic farm community.
そして今、バイオダイナミック・ファーム・コミュニティ（以下BDコミュニティ）を創り、そこで皆さんと愛を分かち合いたいと思います。
We want to start a community of people to share in Dr.Steiners threefold social order philosophy.
私たちはシュタイナー博士の唱えた社会三層構造の思想を実現するため、コミュニティを創りたいと考えています。
First we need land.Probably 50 to 100 ha or more.
さしあたって、50〜100ヘクタールもしくはそれ以上の土地が必要です。
We will need a forest on this property for lumber to build with and of course the natural habitat that comes with it.
その土地には森が必要です。家を建てる木材を調達するためと、そこに付随する動植物の生息地が必要だからです。
A forest is a renewable source of fuel and revitalization for our environment.
森は再生可能な燃料源であり、我々の自然環境を活性化してくれるます。
We will want to stay in the Tokachi area.
私たちはその土地を十勝地方で探しています。
We could just pick up and move or join a Biodynamic community anywhere in the world we would want to go to but we want to stay here in Tokachi.
私たちは荷物をまとめて、世界中にあるBDコミュニティのどれかに移り住むこともできるのですが、あえてこの十勝地方に留まりたいのです。
Japan probably does'nt have a biodynamic community yet like some of the other countries so we want to help with that project.
日本には、他の国にあるようなBDコミュニティがまだ無いと思うので、私たちが創りたいと思うのです。（もちろん熊本のぽっこわぱは共同体ですが、もっと大きな？共同体を意味しています）
Afterall we have dedicated the rest of our lives to the Biodynamic movement.
私たちはこれから後の人生をバイオダイナミック農業の運動に捧げると決めています。
A Biodynamic community makes good sense there is a lot of work that goes into any farm work but the rewards of a biodynamic community is great.
BDコミュニティは沢山の種類の多くの仕事があり、その仕事を通じて得られるものは大きく、あなたはよい気持ち（感覚）を得るでしょう。
We want to hear from you about this idea
みなさんからこの考えについての意見を聞かせていただきたいのです。
We are going to do it anyway.
どちらにしても、私たちは始めます。
We have to move from here soon,within a year or so but the sooner the better.
私たちはここをなるべく早く出なくてはなりません。出て行かなくてはならないのなら、早いに越したことはありません。
We want to have a bakery grow our own wheat operate a mill to grind the wheat into flour.
私たちは小麦を育て、粉挽き器で小麦を挽き、パン屋を作りたいと思います。
Continue our csa and expand it of course,
CSA（CSA とは ）を拡大してゆき
we will have cows and a dairy and beef operation and sell dairy products,
牛を飼って乳製品と牛肉を生産し、乳製品を売り、
along with other livestock.
他の家畜も育てたいです。
A library and summer school or day care.
図書館、夏期学校、保育園…。
These are just some of the things we want to have for our community.
これらは私たちがコミュニティの中に作りたい物のほんの一部です。
We are trying to do some of these things now but we realized from a dvd about how a biodynamic community works in Germany and thought it could work here.
私たちはドイツのBDコミュニティを紹介するDVDを観て、これらの中のいくつかを（新しい土地を見つけて）始めたいと考えています。
Somebody has to try it, why not us?
誰かが始めないとなりません。それは私たちなのでは？
It is not going to be easy for some people to join our community on the farm but they can support us from their homes.
農場のコミュニティに住んで働くことはそう簡単なことではないでしょう。しかし家から通って手伝ってもらうことはできると思います。
I sold my home,my material possessions,my business and got out of debt to be free to help the world with the biodynamic movement and now is the time to start a biodynamic community in a country that can benefit from my experience as a builder and grower.
私は家を売り、家財を処分し、会社をたたみ、負債からも自由になり、身一つになり解放され、バイオダイナミック運動をとおして世界をよくする手助けが出来るようになりました。そして今、大工と農業者としての経験を活かして貢献できる国で、BDコミュニティを始める時が来たと感じています。
If you are interested in our plans or can help us get land here in Tokachi we sure could use your help so please contact us.
もしこの計画に興味があり、十勝地方で土地を得ることに協力していただける方がいらっしゃいましたら、大変助かりますので、どうぞご連絡ください。
We will continue what we are doing now with our movement and try to get the word out about our plans.
私たちは今やっていることを続ける傍ら、コミュニティを創る計画についても宣伝していこうと思います。
Getting land is our most important step.
土地を得ることがもっとも重要なことです。
It doesnt have to be our land it can be your land or the community can by it together.
土地は私たちのものである必要はなく、あなたの土地のままでもいいし、コミュニティとして購入してもいいのです。
100 people can own a piece of land and share from the benefits of the products from the farm.
100人で土地を共有して、農場から上がる収入をみんなで分け合うこともできます。
Just as 20 people can own one cow and share the milk cheese,butter yogurt until they can buy another cow to replace it.
20人で一頭の牛を飼い、次の牛を買うまで牛乳とチーズ、バターやヨーグルトを分け合うことだって出来ます。
What better way to have safe food?
それ以上安全な食べ物を得るためのいい方法があるでしょうか？
You know the cow you are getting the milk from and you trust the farmer to treat your cows with the greatist care possible and in a loving way.
あなたは飲んでいる牛乳が採れた牛を知っているし、その牛を愛情込めて世話をしている飼育者を信頼することでしょう。
The same thing for everything that is produced from the farm to your home or family.
同様に、農場から生まれるすべてのよいものがあなたの家族や家庭にもたらされるのです。
We have devoted the rest of our lives to grow food biodynamically for you and our own consumption.
私たちはこれからの人生を、みなさんと自分たちの消費のためにバイオダイナミック農法で食べ物を育てることに徹する覚悟です。
We are members of an environmental action organization who call themselves Sunku-mura.
私たちは「すんく村」という環境運動団体のメンバーでもあります。
Mura means village.
「むら」とは村のことです。
We can have a village that is a farm community that sets an example of how an environmentally friendly community operates.
私たちはいかに環境に留意し、仲の良いコミュニティを運営するかの見本を示すための農場コミュニティとしての村をつくることができるのです。
Just think how are we going to survive peak oil when it happens and how we can help stop global warming and help heal the earth as a community to start other such community and how we all can help heal the earth for future generations?
石油が底をついたらどのように生き延びればいいのか、他のコミュニティを始めるためのコミュニティとしてどうやって地球温暖化をくい止め地球を癒すのか、いかにして未来の子どもたちのために地球を救うことができるのか、ご一緒に考えてみませんか。
It all starts with a good piece of land and our commitment to work together and love each other as brother and sisters and family.
すべては良い土地をみつけて、共に働くという誓いの元に、家族や兄弟のように互いを愛し合うことから始まります。
Love is the real reason we think like this because we love our children and our families and friends.
愛こそがこのように考える根本的な理由で、私たちは子どもたち、家族、友達を愛しているからです。
Konomi is my networker and partner.
このみは私のネットワークを作る人でありパートナーです。
It was her who came to America to learn more about making biodynamic preparation to help the biodynamic movement in Japan for Japan I came here with her to help her do that.
彼女はアメリカに日本のバイオダイナミック農業の運動を助けるために調材作りを学びにやって来ました。私はそんな彼女の仕事を手伝うために日本にやってきたのです。
She is a true patriot.
彼女は真の愛国者です。
She loves her country and its people.
彼女は彼女の国と民を愛しています。
Now i love Japan too.
今は私も日本を愛しています。
The Tokachi area has some of the best farm land in the world.
十勝地方は、世界の中でも最高の農地を有しています。
Tokyo loves Hokkaido's food and Tokachi can be a leader in the organic movement if we can start this community.
東京は北海道の食べ物が大好きなので、私たちがこのコミュニティを創ったなら、十勝がオーガニックフードの先進地となるでしょう。
We can help Japan to raise its organic percentage from 1% to who knows maybe 80% like Cuba someday.
私たちは日本のオーガニックが占める割合を、１％からキューバのように８０％くらいにまで高めたいのです。
What more can i say to get you to do something for this movement?
あなたをこの運動に駆り立てるために、他に何を話したらいいのでしょう。
Please pray for us and our earth.
どうぞ私たちと地球のために祈ってください。
Can the green model city of Obihiro help us to build this community for the world to see that they are doing something green through us?
環境指定都市である帯広市は、世界のためにこのコミュニティを創ろうとしている私たちをたすけてくれるでしょうか。帯広市は私たちがしようとすることが、環境や平和のために今課題になっていることの答えになる実践だと理解してくれるでしょうか？
Is it better to keep the government out of this?
このことは政治がらみにしない方がいいでしょうか。
How will we recruit the right people for this project?
どうやってこのプロジェクトのために適切な人材をリクルートしたらいいでしょうか。
Are you right for this project?
あなたは適切な人ですか。
What do you have to lose?
あなたは何を捨てなくてはなりませんか。
Man only needs food water and shelter.
人間は食べ物と水と覆いがあれば生きてゆけます。
In a community such as our you will have that plus satisfaction and love.
私たちの考えるコミュニティが実現すれば、きっとあなたは満足と愛を得るでしょう。
There is a lot to organizing this thing.
コミュニティーをするために沢山のしたらいいこと、できることがあります。
We can let you view the dvd we seen about the community in Germany and you can get a better picture of how life would be in this community.
DVDで、ドイツのコミュニティのその様子を見ることができます。そうすればこのコミュニティでどんな生活が送れるか、もっと具体的にわかると思います。
We will have a meeting August 10 at 18:00 at the Tokachi plaza in downtown Obihro.
次回、８月10日18時から帯広の十勝プラザで第２回目のコミュニティー・ミーティングを開きます。
For the people who are interested and can not attend write to me and tell me what you think and i will speak for you at the meeting and let you know what we talked about after.
興味があるけれど来られないという方は、意見を書いて送って下さい。そうすればあなたの意見を会合で発表し、後日話し合いの内容をお知らせします。
We would like to hear from some people who have experience in this subject offer suggestions and comments.
もし皆さんの中でコミュニティーの経験などもお持ちの方がいらしたら、私たちはぜひそのご意見や提案などアドバイスを伺いたいと思います。是非お聞かせ下さい。
I hope you will think about it.
このことについて皆さんが考えてくださったらいいな、と願っています。
どうぞ考えてみてください。
What a great way of life to be on a farm with brotherliness,equality,and freedom.
友愛、平等、自由の精神のもとに農場で生きることは何と素晴らしいことでしょう。
This community is going to be based on Dr.steiner's threefold social order so if you need to read about it checkout the Rudolf Steiner archive .com or Rudolf Steiner audio.com for his book"the threefold social order"
このコミュニティはルドルフ・シュタイナーの社会三層構造を基盤としますので、詳しいことをお知りになりたければthe Rudolf Steiner archive .com か Rudolf Steiner audio.comを見れば彼の著書「社会三層構造」について書かれています。
He wrote this book for the whole European countries to change to, we want to adapt it to a small community and let it grow on the rest of the country and the world.
彼はこの本をすべてのヨーロッパの国が変わることを願って書きましたが、私たちはそれを小さなコミュニティに適応させ、少しずつ大きくして国や世界に広げていけたらと思います。
Biodynamic farm communities are more likely to stay together and succeed and are popping up in every country around the world and now here in Tokachi.
BDコミュニティは、おそらく最初はひとところに固まっていたものが成功して、たくさんの国に広がって行き、今十勝に出来ようとしています。
We will gladly accept foreigners too of course.
私たちはもちろん外国人も歓迎します。
We want to have meetings at least once a month until winter as we are sure most people and us are busy this time of year.
冬までは少なくとも月に一度コミュニティー・ミーティングをもちたいと思っています。この時期は私たちも含めみなさん忙しいと思いますので。
Lets get some land as soon as possible.
まずは一刻も早く土地を見つけましょう。
Until we get land it will only be talking about it.
それまではそのことについて話し合いましょう。
We need to sow seeds and get moved in and all at the same time grow as a family.
私たちは種を撒かなくてはならないし、引っ越しもしないといけないので、すべてのことがいっぺんに起こり、コミュニティは家族のようにどんどん育ってゆくでしょう。
We need to move in and you will need to move in.
私たちも移り住まなくてはならないし、あなた方も移り住まなくてはなりません。
that is a lot of work just getting started.
すごい仕事の量だし、最初はたいへんなことになるでしょう。
it should get easier after we all get settled in.
その場所に落ち着き（コミュニティーの仕事が回り）始めたら、あとはなるように進めることです。
Join us if you can or support us if you cannot move in.
あなたにことことができるのならどうぞ参加してください。それが無理なら、どうぞ支えてください。
Be a csa member or donate time or money.
CSAの会員になるとか、時間やお金を提供して（寄付して）いただけませんか。
I wish i could give you more details on our plans but we need to see the land and then we will know its potential and ours.
もう少し詳細をお伝えできたらいいのですが、まずは土地を見て、それからいろいろな可能性がわかると思うのです。
We came here a year and a half ago with nothing and now we have almost everything we need to have a good small farm.
私たちは一年半前に何も持たずにここに来て、今は小さな農場に必要なものはほぼ手にいれることができました。
to have a bigger farm we will need more stuff from you or donations or work and save for it.
大きな農場を運営するために必要な機械やものを持つために、必要な物を寄付していただいたり、働いてその金を用意する必要があります。
These things will come to us with the right will and intention.
必要なお金は、正しい意志と目的をもっていれば集まってくることでしょう。
Land first.
まずは土地を
Love and peace.Ben.
愛と平和を願って。 ベン
Edited by ベン／ Ben Campbell 2009/07/20 21:25:15
Last Modified 2009/08/02 01:23:50
cow hoof manure preparation 500
My first experience with making cow hoof manure preparation 500 in Japan:First let me explain our source.We are using cows hooves that are from a slaughter house that processes dead cows for other than human consumption.Cows that have died either from old age,disease,or accident.Most of them were dairy cows mostly female holsteins.So we got to harvest the hooves, mesentery,intestines, and skulls from the best of that bunch.These cows were inspected of course for mad cow diease.Even if we could go to a slaughter house for meat for human comsumption they would not be organic.Most farmers keep their cows locked up in a barn with little or no access to the outdoors.Most dairy farms keep their cows chained to their stalls and never or very seldom let the cows graze on pasture.so the hooves are on concrete most of the cows life and forced to eat whatever the farmer puts in front of them only to get more milk from them.There are very few horns because the farmers here cut the horns off when the cows are a young age.Most all cows in Japan can be led around with a halter and lead rope.The cows are very tame and gentle,except of cource the black angus and they are naturally polled.
The feed they give them is usually imported from the USA or other countries.Japan grows more food than they can eat or export and I would like to see them use some of the food production land for pastures and making their own feed and seed.We would like to be part of a community that grows all their own food biodynamically.wheat for bread and grain for livestock etc.
Back to the hooves.This is my first time making the preparations on my own and get to see the results..Konomi has made preps before but not me.I have helped people make preps but never got to see their results.So this year we made our own preps except the valerian prep 507.We used one cow horn for 501.we used only a few cowhorns for 500 but we got a lot of hooves to use.I never heard of anyone else using the hooves but Dr.Steiner said it is possible to use them and that the effect is similar.What did he mean when he said "similar"?What were we suppose to expect?The only things i heard was to bury them flat with the ends together from booklet 1on the biodynamic spray and compost preparations production methods handbook from the Biodynamic Agriculture Association.It did not say if the hooves should be from the same leg or not or if it made any difference.We got them all mixed up when we stuffed them with manure.So we did not have them in the right pairs.How do you tell a good hoof from a bad one?How long should you let them dry out before you stuff them?Our hooves still had that rotten flesh smell to them when we buried them.Did that make a difference?What is the right way to remove the bone and flesh from the hoof?The first time we harvested the hooves from this slaughter house they cut the leg off at the knee.So we had almost 15" of bone to bury and remove and throwaway.I know we could have ground up the bone for bone meal but we did not have that kind of grinder and we did not know anyone else that had one either.Is there another way to use the leftover bone?We buried the hooves with the bones on them in compost for about 3 or 4 weeks until the hoof came lose from the bone.The smell was horrible.How do you solve that problem?Is there another way to remove the bone from the hoof?The second time we harvested them we cut the shin bone off at the slaughter house so we had only the small toe bones this time.Cow horns are a lot less trouble.How many times can you use a cow hoof?As much as a cow horn?4 hooves holds as much or a little more than 2 cowhorns here.In the USA or Africa it might be different.Does the hoof have birth rings like the horns do?How does the digestive process work in the hoof?How is the forces kept turned in like the horn?Is the smell and texture of the finished product suppose to be the same as that of the cow horn preparation?I would like more feedback on this subject.Meanwhile i'll keep looking for some organic or biodynamic cows grazing on pasture that are healthy and try to get the parts we need when the cow is ready.I'll continue looking for cowhorns too.Would cow horns from India,China ,or Mongolia work just as well here?What is the import regulation like for cowhorns, with all the scare of mad cow disease?We will keep working with our cow hooves until we can find someone who raises cattle biodynamically.There are not many biodynamic farmers here,but we are helping to start a biodynamic association here in Japan.We could use some support.
The cow hoof preparation was stuffed in the fall just like it was supposed to.and buried in a pit the ends together and laying flat just like the booklet said.We layered them with only 1" of soil 2 layers deep.the pit was about 50 cm or half a meter deep.the soil was good until we got the 50 cm mark then it turned to clay so i put some good soil back in the pit probably 3".we buried about 4 bushels of hooves and 12 cow horns there.When we dug it up in the spring we noticed that most of the hooves still smelled like manure and green in color.The horns were brown and had a good smell like the other good preps from other biodynamic farmers smelled.Harald Hoven dug up his cowhorn 500 and it was green but did not smell like manure and he said it was ok to use.Some of our cow hooves turned out good but we can't understand why.Some that were not end to end looked better than the ones end to end.We will try some next time with the open end to the ground.Anyone ever tried that?Is it different because we are in the far east?Does it have to do with the geological aspects Dr.Steiner talked about?Is it the pit?Do we need to leave it in the ground longer because we are in the northern part of Japan with a climate like that of upstate New York?When we removed the manure from the hoof some were good on the outside but the deeper into the hoof the greener and it smelled like manure as it got closer to the point,do we throw it in the compost pile or keep the good half or put it back in the pit for a little longer?We hope we can answer our own questions this time but we have to wait until next year to see the results.Is there anyone else working with cow hooves too that can help us with these questions? I can understand now why it takes so long to convert a farm from conventional to organic or biodynamic to full production successfully.We have only 2 years here until we have to move but we want to make good preps here to take with us to our next farm and have plenty to share with other farmers.Dr.Steiner told Ehrenfried Pfeiffer"the most important thing is to make the benfits of our agriculture preparations available to the largest possible areas over the entire earth,so the earth may be healed and the nutritive quality of its produce improved in every respect..."
Konomi and i met at J.P.I. during a biodynamic prep making workshop.We want to make top quality preps as good as J.P.I.'s.That is part of our lifelong mission.We are both dedicating the rest of our lives to the biodynamic movement."So the earth may be healed".We know that people will soon learn about biodynamics and they will want to know where to buy the preps and we will have them ready by then.We have some now.We are making Maria Thuns's barrel compost and will have it ready this summer.We have 2 bc pits now and we'll dig more soon.We are making compost and preping them with our preps for our csa garden and pasture.We are trying to stay as close as possible to the Demeter standards so maybe in the future we can become Demeter certified.We want to help with the Demeter certification program through the Biodynamic Agriculture Association of Japan (B.A.A.J) that we are helping to establish.See our homepage for a copy of our propectus for an association.Japan is a rich and powerful country.If we can get biodynamics started here it wont be long before the other asian countries will want it too.We are apprentices who are teaching each other and learning by doing hands on, from reading and some intuition.We feel the best way to help with the movement is to practice what we preach.We know a little about making the preps,we just need to use them on our farm to show the results.Talk is cheap.Action speaks louder than words.An ancient Chinese proverb says:I hear I forget.I see I remember.I do I understand.We could use a little help with understanding the cow hoof please help if you can.Thank you.Ben.
Edited by ベン／ Ben Campbell 2009/05/27 22:24:26
Last Modified 2009/05/27 22:24:26
Hidenobu Ito-san 伊藤英信さん-北海道と日本での有機運動の先導的パイオニア A leading pioneer in the organic movement in Hokkaido and Japan.
I first met Ito-san on the 15th of Feburary 2008.Konomi and I,along with Takeshi Hun-ura and his wife Michiyo were invited to his company board room,in Memuro for a biodynamic workshop we conducted for him and a group of people interested in organic farming.I came to Japan on January 24 2008.So i had not been in Japan very long.I was living with Konomi and Takeshi on a farm where they were doing their apprenticeships with Karino-san in Iwamizawa.The workshop was very well recieved.After the workshop we went home and was thinking how beautiful the tokachi area is.We were still making contact with Ito-san and he invited us to stay in an apartment to look around for oppurtunities.needless to say we found some of our oppurtunities thanks to him.
Ito-san has help us get settled in so we thought we would tell you more about him.First he is a kind and gentle man.He has a big heart.He cares about people and human health and nutrition.He was born and raised in Hokkaido.Always had a love for agriculture.After high school he got a job in Sapporo for Hokuren Agriculture Association.An agriculture company selling beans and grains.Then after 6 and a half years was transferred to Honshu the main island.That is where he met his wife who was a kindergarden teacher.After 6 years there he was transferred to Obihiro.He worked there for Hokin another 12 years and then in 1982 was asked to establish a system for organic distribution by a company that were natural produce growers .They did not use chemicals and wanted Ito-san to sell and distribute their products which was mostly soybeans and grains.His motives were to provide good organic produce to consumers and wanted to know more about the methods used by the producers.So in 1988 he founded Agri-systems a company for organic distribution.His policies were to establish living soils and healthy produce for the health of all humans and make it avaiable to all humans.
In 1989 he started by hiring some farmers on 2 ha to grow corn,kabucha,red beans and potatoes while experimenting with Micro Biotech products.He gained valuable experience there with these farmers and how and what it takes to grow organically or naturally.He was helped by a sweets company in Himeji.
In 2000 when Japan was just starting with the organic certification organization he got involved with them and got his land certified and to this day is still involved with the certification program.He helped pioneer the program. He is a member of the organic certification board of governors.The organization is called JAS.It is the largest organic certification program in Japan.Some advantages for JAS is to protect farmers and the organic label and to elimenate fake farmers looking for economic advantages.Some disadvantages are government involvement, too many beaurcrats and not enough farmers that resulted in too harsh a penalties.
His company Agrisystems helps advise new organic farmers with techniques and support and distribution.He has 13 advisors who travel farm to farm to see to it that the farmers have evrything they need and try to recruit new orgaic farmers.He believes that agriculture is the center of civilization.He promotes organic methods and is still heavily involved with JAS to ensure that the certification standards are justifiable.His company is ISO certified which is hard to get and hard to keep.This system has a system to track and backtrack all products sold in this distribution system,similar to the bar code system but more strict.His distribution system is one of the best in the world and he can prove it.
He has been involved lately with organic seed saving and an organic mill to grind organic grains into flour or meal.He now has a license to sell seed to the public.The Japanese government controls most of the seed in Japan.Its a good thing for the organic movement to have him save and sell organic seed to as many farmers as can get them.
He has an organic fertilizer company called Everwin.It was my first job in Japan when we moved here in Sarabetsu.The fertilizer is made from rice and wheat hulls and a fungus that is femented and pelletized.He also makes compost there at Everwin.He is hopeing to get government support.He is promoteing an all natural micro biotech formula for distribution too.
He owns nearly 100 ha of farm land growing organic grains and beans organically since 2006.Its name is Tokapuchi.It is the indigenious peoples name for the Tokachi area.We have been spraying some of his lands with biodynamic sprays and he is letting us make the biodynamic preparations on the farm he is letting us live on.
His wife Keiko owns 2 organic caf''es in Obihiro.One in town and the other one at the train station.Both are managed by their son and daughter.They sell organic food coffee,tea and organic products such as Weleda make up and skin care items.There is products like vegetables bread groceries and gifts.It is very popular and is doing well.
He has been interested in biodynamics for 15 years and is still learning more about it.We are helping with anything we can to help him learn .He has been attending all our workshops and study groups sessions that he has time for,as you can imagine he is a busy man trying to do all these things for the organic movement.He is helping us to start the biodynamic movement too.He has volunteered to fianance the trademark registration of the biodynamic name so we can establish the Biodynamic Agriculture Association of Japan.(B.A.A.J.)He would like to see his grandchildren go to a waldorf school here if someone could help us get one started.He likes Dr.Steiners idea of the threefold social order.He would like to establish a school for organic and biodynamic apprentices.He says establishing a strong network is important to try to get the word out there to the people about an alternative to chemical farming.He is doing his best to set an example for farmers who are looking for organic methods of farming.
We are very fortunate to have met him and are glad he is doing what he is doing for the organic movement.We could not have met a better man to help us start our biodynamic movement with all the support he has given us and what he is doing for the Earth.We hope to be involved with him as he continues to go forward with his goals of a better world.He has made it possible for us to do what we came here to do.His wife and son and daughter are all doing as much as possible to promote the organic lifestyle by working hard and loveing what they do.Thank you to the Whole Ito family.Especially to Hidenobu Ito-san.
北海道十勝における有機農業運動の人間像
私が初めて伊藤さんに会ったのは、2008年2月15日でした。このみと私は、半浦剛さんと奥さんの道代さんとともに、彼の芽室にある会社の会議室に招かれました。私たちが、彼と、有機農業に興味をもつ人たちのためにバイオダイナミック農業のワークショップを開くことになったからです。
私は2008年1月24日に日本に来たので、日本の生活はまだそう長くありませんでした。
私はその頃このみと、剛さん達が狩野さんと共に農業研修を行っている岩見沢の農場に住んでいました。
ワークショップはとてもうまくいきました。ワークショップ終了後岩見沢に帰った後も、十勝はなんて美しいところだろうと思い続けていました。
伊藤さんとはその後も連絡を取り合っていました。そして彼は私たちが将来のことを考えるために、アパートに滞在して十勝周辺を視察できるよう、手はずを整えてくれたのです。
言うまでもなく、彼のお陰で私たちは十勝で多くの将来性を見いだすことができました。
伊藤さんは私たちが移住するためにとても助けてくださったので、彼についてもっとお話したいと思います。
彼は人類の健康と食生活について考えています。
彼は北海道で生まれ育ちいつも農業に関心を持ってきました。
高校を卒業後札幌のホクレン農業協同組合連合会に入社しました。
１９８２年ホクレンの帯広支所で働いているときに自然食品を取り扱っている会社から有機農産物の試験と生産を頼まれました。そのことがきっかけで有機農産物に興味を抱くようになりました。
１９８８年 生きた土健全な作物人間の健康と農協の生産システム流通システム情報システムという経営理念のもとにアグリシステム株式会社を設立しました。 設立の時から有機農産物を扱いたいと思っていましたがいまだに有機農産物の扱い少ないそうです。
１９８９年姫路の御座候さんというお菓子屋さんの援助のもと10名ぐらいの生産者グループに委託して2ヘクタールの有機栽培の試験圃を設置しました。このときエオコミット、アースジェネター、ＥＭなどの微生物も試しました。
彼はそこで、何をどうすれば有機的にあるいは自然に育てることができるかを、農業者たちとともに経験しました。
2000年日本に有機認証制度ができました。現在彼は認証機関に理事としてかかわっています。彼が２００６年から経営しているオーガニックファーム．トカプチは１００ｈａ全部で有機の認証を取っています。 農場の名前トカプチは十勝の先住民族アイヌの言葉で十勝という意味だそうです。
有機ＪＡＳの良いところは有機の生産者を保護し利益目当てのインチキ生産者を排除できることです。悪い点は現場をしらない官僚があらゆる面で必要以上に生産者に負担をかけるので生産者の気持ちは有機認証から離れていることです。 有機つぶしの制度という生産者もいます。
伊藤さんの会社には農場を巡回して指導するフイルドマンが１３名います。将来は有機の新規就農者の技術指導、販売の支援ができるようになればいいと思っています。
彼は将来の文明の中心が農業であると思っています。すべての人間活動が農業を中心に行われるようになることを望んでいます。
彼の会社の豆類を中心とした慣行農産物の取り扱いシステムは世界一優れています。フイルドマンが農家と契約し、出荷された農産物は最新のシステムで選別され、冷蔵庫で保管されます。また消費者がトレサビリティを直接ＱＲコードで見るシステムができています。また小規模な製粉事業にも取り組んでいます。豆種子の栽培をする認可もとっています。将来有機農産の生産流通に貢献できることを期待しています。
彼はエバーウインという有機肥料の生産会社も経営しています。
私たちは彼の農場にバイオダイナミックの調合剤を散布しています。そして彼が私たちに貸してくれている農場でバイオダイナミック調合剤を作っています。
彼の奥さんは帯広でナチュラル・ココという自然食品店にカフェが併設された店を２店経営しています。ひとつは帯広駅ビルにあります。そこでは有機コーヒー、バイオダイナミック紅茶、ヴェレダの化粧品、オーガニック製品、オーガニック野菜などを販売しています。とても人気があり繁栄しています。
彼は１５年前からバイオダイナミック農法に興味があり勉強しています。人智学、神智学にも興味があります。般若心経とシュタイナーの共通点にも関心を寄せています。
我々は彼が学ぶためにできることはすべてしたいと思っています。彼は時間が許す限り私たちのワークショップや勉強会に参加しています。通常の仕事だけでなく有機農業運動にもかかわっている伊藤さんは忙しい人だと思います。
そして私たちのバイオダイナミック運動の立ち上げにも手を貸してくれています。だれかがシュタイナー学校をつくったらお孫さんを通わせたいと言っています。
彼はシュタイナーの話は総合的なところを気に入っています。彼は人々に農薬ずけの農業に変わる新しい農場のあり方を提案するために強力なネットワーク作りが重要だと言っています。
彼は有機農業者を求めている農業者にあまり支援ができないことを残念に思っています。
伊藤さんは有機農法を求めている農業者たちに手本を示すために、最善を尽くしているのです。
私たちは伊藤さんと出会えてとても幸運でしたし、彼が有機農業運動のためにしていることを嬉しく思っています。
私たちの活動を熱心に手助けしてくれた人も、またこれだけ地球のために尽力している人も、伊藤さんを置いて他にいないでしょう。
私たちは、彼がより良い世界を作るためにゴールに向かって突き進む仕事に、一緒に関わって行きたいと思います。
彼の奥さん、息子さん、お嬢さんも、よく働き、仕事を愛することで出来る限り有機的な生活を提案しようとしています。
伊藤さんご一家に心より感謝します。
Edited by ベン／ Ben Campbell 2009/05/24 21:25:34
Last Modified 2009/05/24 21:51:53
Prospectus In the report to the members of the anthroposophical society after the Agriculture Course on June 20,1924 Dr.Rudolf Stiener said" Under the present influence of our modern philosphy of materialism, it is agriculture -believe it or not- that has deviated furthest from any true rational principles.Indeed,not many people know that during the last few decades the agricultural products on which our life depends have degenerated extremely rapidly.This degeneration can be confirmed statistically and is the subject of disscussion in agricultural organizations,and yet it seems nothing can be done about it.Even materialistic farmers nowadays can calculate in approximately how many decades their products will have degenerated to such an extent that they can no longer serve as human nourishment.It will certainly be within this century.This is a cosmic issue as well as an earthly issue.Precisely from the examples of agriculture,we can see how necessary it is to derive forces from the spirit,forces that are yet quite unknown.This is necessary not only for the sake of somehow improving agriculture,but so that human life on Earth can continue at all,since as physical beings we depend on what the Earth provides." As the global economy worsens in this present time humans are faced with a big crisis.The human's body and soul have degenerated greatly,for the world and society has lost its sustainability.Problems such as cancer,allergy ,atopy,immunity deficencies,chemical sensitivity,electromagnetic hypersensitivity,and various mental disorders prevail on earth.A part of the reason is because of the degradation of the agricultural products caused by chemical fertilizers,agricultural chemicals,and by genetical manipulation.Not many people in our present age as well as Dr. Steiner's age have clearly noticed this,but Dr.Steiner's worries are fearfully being realized.It is necessary for us to throw away any materialistic prejudice now ,and clear the clouds from our eyes so as to get to know the meaning of living together with all living creatures.It is clear that biodynamic agriculture given to us by Dr. Steiner has become a light for many people who aim to collaborate and harmonize with nature.Besides we have a promonition that biodynamic agriculture is a lighthouse for people who want to farm naturally and organically.And furthermore, biodynamic agriculture is connected to ,and cooperates with free education,holistic medicine,homeopathy medicine,natural construction,free art,macrobiotics and so forth,and synthesises them."so the earth may be healed"The biodynamic movement will help with the environmental,economic,and social problems.
On the 10th and 11th of January,2009,we gathered at the town of Memuro in Hokkaido and studied the production standards of the Demeter certification process, which are the guideposts for the biodyamic movement.One section in the principles that got our attention states"The aim is always to practise agriculture in such a manner that structuring the farm as an integrated unit results in productivity and health, and that those inputs needed for production are generated out of the farm itself.if one however wants to use these standards in such a way as is often the case with laws,that the only concern is with the adherence to formalities,or loopholes are sought for economic advantage,one should practice agriculture in some other fashion.It is the task of the respective organizations,with their representatives and the advisory services,to prevent such developments from occurring."
We can't help but recognize two major points which lie before our eyes here.One is to prevent any kind of movement which tries to practice biodynamic agriculture from a dogmatic standpoint or the position of seeking only an economic advantage,and another point is to found an organization which bears the work in Japan.
In 1984,for the first time to the ground in Japan the bd#500 preparation was sprayed by those who have a will to practice biodynamic agriculture.Today,25 years later there are more people practicing biodynamic agriculture earnestly.Now,we feel deeply the necessity of establishing a biodynamic association,so that biodynamic agriculture should be spread still more widely in Japan.
Confronting these requests, we have decided to establish a biodynamic association in Japan.We will name it the Biodynamic Agriculture Association of Japan (B.A.A.J.) in order for us to support those who practice biodynamic agriculture,to study and develop it,and to make it widespread in Japan.We also make it certain that we will manage the association paying cautions not to act dogmatically,nor seek for an economic advantage.
We undertake the following actions for the time being:1.To protect the word "Biodynamics"in Japanese characters(trademark registration).
2.To permit and cancel the trademark"Biodynamic" after the trademark registration.
3.Fund-raising and member recruitment.
Contact
"Biodynamic Agriculture Association of Japan"(B.A.A.J.)
Secrectary Takeshi Han-ura
837-9 Minoricho Iwamizawa,Hokkaido 068-0016 Japan
tel&fax 0126-32-5765
Email : han-ura@mx2.nisiq.net
Edited by ベン／ Ben Campbell 2009/05/24 22:00:26
Last Modified 2009/05/24 22:00:26
