Summer Weeding

After the harvest of the first flush and the pruning to prepare for the second flush, our main task in the tea fields becomes weeding.

Weeds are the strongest and most adaptable plants in any given environment. That’s what makes them so persistent. Around the edges of tea fields, on rice paddy banks, and between young tea trees, we use brush cutters to trim weeds at their growing points—slowing down their regrowth as much as possible.

But the most time-consuming and labor-intensive task is removing the weeds that grow from the base of the tea bushes—particularly ferns. These thrive in damp, shaded areas, spreading underground via rhizomes. Left unchecked, they can severely hinder tea growth. The only way to deal with them is to pull them out by hand, digging deep to remove the roots and prevent regrowth.

Even under the blazing June sun, d:matcha never uses herbicides, in keeping with our organic principles. All staff and interns wear air-conditioned workwear and head to the fields from 7:00 to 11:00 in the morning, and again from 15:30 in the afternoon until dusk, to face the weeds head-on.

Many people associate organic farming with battling insects, but in truth, the biggest challenge is often the weeds. The same goes for rice farming—much of the purpose of water management is actually to suppress weed growth.

In 2021, when we neglected tilling and water control in one of our paddies, the rice yield dropped to just 120kg. In contrast, with proper care and weeding, the same field yielded 850kg in 2024. That’s how significant weed control can be.

It may seem like a humble task, but as we’ve learned firsthand: Those who conquer weeds, conquer agriculture. Once the weeding is done and the plants can soak up the full sunlight, both our rice and tea thrive with renewed energy.