Organic Tea Field: Harayama, Wazuka, Kyoto
This gorgeous view is from our first tea firm that is located at the top of Harayama Mountain in Wazuka, Kyoto.
We started our farming here to produce organic Sencha and Matcha. This location was ideal as it is isolated from other farms, an important factor when trying to avoid pesticides that other farmers may use. Producing high quality organic tea is difficult because a lot of fertiliser has to be used to create the rich umami taste.
The reason we started our farming here is to produce organic Sen-cha and matcha.
To produce organic Sen-cha and matcha, the location which is isolated from other farms is very important to avoid pesticides other farmers use. Producing tasty organic matcha and Sen-cha is quite difficult because to produce the high quality matcha and Sen-cha we need to use a lot of fertilizer to create rich taste of umami.
Our farm is on the top of the mountain. The farm is surrounded by forests. There are hardly any other farms in the vicinity.
To reach the farm, we have to drive on the deep winding roads of the forest. Only small trucks with 4WD can climb the road.
As you can see the farm is extremely beautiful but...
it is also quite steep! Almost at a 45 degree angle!
The reason why we have access to this farm is because the owner no longer has the strength to harvest.
In the farm, there are some trees which grow too tall. The trees have been left for more than three years.
d:matcha farmers are checking the status of the young leaves. The timing to cut the leaves is quite important for the product quality.
Now the timing to harvest. The field is so steep that we need to grab next team trees to harvest.
On the same day of harvest, we need to process; steaming, rolling and drying. If the flesh leaves were left, the leaves would be fermented and become black tea and Oolong tea. So farmers in Japan own the processing factory by themselves to process at the same day of harvesting.
We hope the flesh leaves become the great quality leaves.
