When domestic forestry was more active, the trees had been cut down one after another in the Shonai region as well. Even with the planting of new trees, it takes several decades for them to regrow. In order to make effective use of limited land, the burning of dead trees and branches would occur, something known as “mountain burning”, and it was Fujisawa-kabu that was cultivated on the mountain slopes in the intervals between the harvesting of trees, with subsequent burning, and the regrowth of trees. “This process acts as a weeder, sterilizer, and insecticide for the soil, and the remaining ashes become fertilizer afterward. If we cultivate it as on a normal farm without the burning, the taste and texture will be poor. Strangely, someone had tried to cultivate it in a place other than Yutagawa, but the shape was different. Besides simply preserving the variety, we also revived Fujisawa-kabu with the traditional cyclical mountain burning method.”
However, with the decline in forestry, the number of mountains where the owner is unknown have increased these days. It isn’t easy to determine the place where mountain burning can be done, said Mr. Ito. Creating the rotation of finding a suitable place to harvest trees and making the best soil is essential to ideal cultivation. “In order to prevent clubroot, we choose not to continuously cultivate turnip crops. It is an extremely inefficient native variety, but we like to deal with it tenaciously.”
Mr. Ito has been trying to cultivate rice and Dadacha-mame beans as his main produce, with Fujisaswa-kabu in parallel to that. He works hard in May planting rice and beans, then starts preparation around late June for the turnips, with the mountain burning finally being able to be done in the middle of August. Sowing should be done while the fire is still smoldering. There seems to be an effect in accelerating germination. In October harvesting Fujisawa-kabu can finally begin, but there are some turnips that are harvested as late as December after snow has fallen, and those farmers then store them in the snow. “Currently we only harvest about a ton, but we are purposely not planning to increase the distribution volume. Fujisawa-kabu can’t grow into a delicious and pretty shape unless it is cultivated with the traditional farming method, which involves mountain burning on the slopes.”
It can be said that Fujisawa-kabu that has been grown on well-drained slopes, and Yutagawa-moso, that prefers moisture, need contrasting soils. Even within the same area, there are various natural soil types, and then there is soil which is maintained by human hand. Also, soil is considered not only geologically or as ground, but also property, and is related to the natural features of the area. Shonai, where various soils exist, makes us realize that we expect to find many more unknown benefits, perhaps even disadvantages as well.
