Japan Farmers Markets Presenting at Oxfam Japan This Month!

A typical swingin' Earth Day Market in Tokyo!

Oxfam Japan and the Oxfam International Volunteer Group put on an awareness-raising event each month in an effort to let folks know what is happening globally and locally around an issue of import. Inspired by the global organization's GROW Campaign (check out the report on their findings thus far) the November event will be all about farmers markets.

Yours truly will be speaking about why farmers markets matter to producers and consumers of food, rural economies and communities, and more. The following day I'll be taking interested folks around to the Earth Day Farmers Market in Yoyogi to meet some farmers, producers, and new vegetables. Come join in the fun!*

*The events page appears to be troubled at the moment, so just drop me a note in the comments below or via Twitter and I'll get you registered.

Oxfam International Volunteer Group Awareness Workshop: Why Farmers Markets Matter
Saturday, November 24th
2pm to 4pm
National Olympics Memorial Youth Centre, Central Building, Room #108
1,000 yen (all proceeds to Oxfam!)

Earth Day Farmers Market Tour
Sunday, November 25th
10am to 12pm
Meet on the bridge to Meiji Shrine near Harajuku Station.

Comments

Leroy said…

I would like to join your November 25, 2012 Earth Day Farmers Market tour. So all I have to do is show up at the bridge near Harajuku station at 10 a.m.?

Leroy

November 16, 2012 at 2:25 AM

Joan Lambert Bailey said…

Quite right, Leroy. I'll see you there. You may want to send along your phone number so I can reach you in case I run into difficulty. I won't, of course, publish that. Or you can send your email, which I also won't publish here. Many thanks!

November 19, 2012 at 9:12 PM

Finding Heirloom Seeds in Japan

Drying pods of heirloom Hutterite Soup Beans. Since moving to Japan eight years ago, one of my greatest challenges as a farmer-gardener has been to find heirloom or open-pollinated seeds. The majority of seeds available are not GMO (genetically modified organisms) as Japan, at this point, doesn't accept this material. Most seeds, though, are nearly all F1 varieties. Heirloom and F1 Varieties In plant breeding, F1 is the name given to the first generation of a cross between two true breeding parents. For example, if I decide to cross an Amish Paste Tomato with another heirloom variety tomato such as Emmy, in hopes of getting a gold paste tomato, the resulting generation of fruit is F1. In order to get that tomato of my culinary dreams, I'll need to choose members of that first generation that are headed in a direction I like - early ripening, medium-sized fruit, good taste - and save their seeds. I'll plant them and repeat the process again and again over time unti

Satoimo: One of Japan's Favorite Slimy Things

Satoimo in all their hairy glory. This post first appeared in slightly different form on Garden to Table as part of the 2012 Blogathon . The website has since moved on to the ether, but the post is still a good one. After all, people here are still eating satoimo on a daily basis, and many others are just seeing these little potato-like objects for the first time. Enjoy! Satoimo is one of Japan's odder vegetables. Under it's rough, slightly furry skin is white flesh that is a little bit slimy even raw, and with a gentle nutty flavor.* Baked, grilled, steamed with dashi, or deep-fried satoimo stands well on its own or paired up with other vegetables and meats in a wide variety of soups and stews . (The leaves are also edible.) Satoimo stores well, and like any root crop worth the effort, stocks are just running low on this household favorite as the farmers in my area of Tokyo get ready to put a new crop in the ground in May. I cannot say I was a fan of this l

Goma Ai Shingiku - Sesame and Chrysanthemum Greens

Last week I had the pleasure of helping some friends work in their parents garden not too far away. Tucked behind the house, the garden sits on a former house lot. When it came up for sale about five years ago, my friend's father jumped at the chance. Open land in Tokyo can be hard to find and expensive, but for a retired professional looking for a little spot to till in the city it was an opportunity to good to pass up. Now, it is a garden to envy. As we came through the gate rose, lily, and peony blooms greeted us with great shouts of color while rows of vegetables stood tidily at attention on the sunny center stage. Small fruit trees along with one of the biggest sansho trees I've seen yet stood quietly here and there. Near waist-high sweet corn, bushy young potato plants, cherry tomatoes, eggplants, and beans were preparing their summer fruits, while a handful of still quite luscious looking winter vegetables like komatsuna, mizuna, and kabu held one last ro

Japan Farmers Markets

Search This Blog