matt davey

Thanks Frank,

there's another area i'm looking at leasing, and it's quite a bit bigger, so pigs may even be an option there. I'll keep that in mind.

For my current area, i'm just going up there every day and gradually digging the roots out. It's quite a small bamboo, growing to not much more than 1/2 inch across even when mature. However, it puts out a lot of roots, and i really think now that i just need to dig those out first before i get the garden started. I just do a little bit every day, so it's not too strenuous. Once it's done, i can move on to a more natural farming approach, but with the exception of a full forest canopy, there really isn't anything much in the plant kingdom that can out compete with bamboo.

There's a lovely little weedy pathway winding up to my plot though, and i have been making seedballs and scattering them along that every now and then. We're just at the start of spring now, so things should start popping their heads up soonish i hope.

>>"Assorted improvised raised beds which have fallen into complete neglect and will be ripped out."

i'd make sure that they can't be used still, even for a different purpose, before ripping them out.


>>"Very, very, very windy site "

Do you reckon you could get a bamboo fence going? Also, find out what sort of local natives grow quickly as a windbreak.

>>"A couple of old foundations left from outbuildings, now covered with a bit of gravelly soil. "

yes, lots of potential to use those foundations still. Future site for a coldframe / greenhouse, perhaps? Good place to build a chicken coop?

I'll try to dig out the videos i found about this guy here in Itoshima, Fukuoka. From what i saw, he was just a salaryman that decided to give that all up and do his natural farm. It didn't look particularly like he was affiliated with any organisation like that.

But yeah, i'm def gonna try to see a few places this year, so please do keep in touch.

Hi Andrew,

I don't keep a blog, but i just PM'd you my contact details, and i'd be very happy to keep in touch.

The 'natural farming network' you're talking about sounds like it might be "Sekai Kyusei Kyo", it's actually something of a 'religion':

http://www.izunome.jp/en/izunome/

I dunno much, i just stick to myself and have good neighbours, but i have been reading up on a few things lately, and will maybe visit a few places this year.

Hi Andrew,

There appears to be quite a lot of natural farming activity here in Fukuoka prefecture (co-incidence?)

http://itoaguri.jp/agriculture/

I'm going to go visit a few of these people once it warms up a bit.

Also this guy:

http://www.oishi-farm.com/oishifarm.html

...

further up North, on Izu peninsula, this couple would be well worth looking into:

http://shikigami.net/about_english.html

I am in Kysushu, south-west Japan, and i have just started renting a plot of land off one of the neighbours ( for about $100 a year (!) )
It was used for a market garden until a few years ago, and has been left to go wild since then. And by 'wild', i mean that there is basically tonnes of low growing 'sasa' bamboo everywhere.

At home here, i have a small garden, and have been able to keep this type of bamboo under control by cardboard sheet mulching over it long enough to kill the roots off.

But, after recently reading Mr Fukuoka's books, i would like to take a more natural, aikido style approach with my new plot of land if possible.

What do you guys suggest?

choko (chayote) is pretty good at smothering weeds wholesale. There's a funny picture in the permaculture designers manual of a patch that suppressed lots of weeds and 'covered a truck'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chayote