Until the mid 20th century, all crops were grown "organically", without the use of chemicals that became the norm. This type of traditional farming in harmony with nature was the basis for starting this farm and what drives it today.

From its founding in 1897 until the 1950s, the farm was cultivated in this way. However one generation, Shutaro's grandfather, decided to use pesticides and fertilizers. Osamu saw the impacts of this change when he was a child and swiftly moved to convert the tea gardens back to traditional organic farming when he took over for his father.

That generation of lost knowledge caused Osamu to study soil and biodynamic farming practices to create his own fertilizers and enrich the soil naturally.

The Hayashis have been certified organic since the early 1990s and have since been helping other tea farmers convert their farms to organic to improve the overall health of the ecosystem.

They make their own fertilizer sourced from local ingredients and keep animals like goats and ducks to control weeds and pests and fertilize the soil.

Goats and cows graze on weeds, eliminating the need to use herbicides. Ducks not only control weeds for young baby plants, but they feast on pests and their webbed feet help tamp down the soil around young seedlings.

Furthermore, their tea gardens are not vast, rolling hills of monocropping. They are small patches, scattered in the cedar forests, within a bustling and alive ecosystem.

They do not strive to replace the existing ecosystem with tea but have found a way to grow tea in harmony with the natural environment that does not upset the delicate balance.

One of the missions of Osamu is to share this information with other farmers. He has been helping other farms convert to traditional farming practices as well. He understands that a healthier ecosystem radiates far beyond the farm itself.

Kirishima rests among mountains of cedar forests, situated in the wind path of an active volcano that spews ash every day. This ash builds up in the soil, making it extra fertile and acidic, perfect for tea.

This soil is extra rich and provides many nutrients to the plants, giving it a depth of flavor that is hard to mimic elsewhere.

The ash also builds up on the plants themselves, and because of this the leaves are washed before being steamed. I have not encountered anywhere else that washes their leaves before processing, but this step ensures the purity of the leaf and makes the resulting tea extra clean of any contamination.

In the early 1900s, there were not many tea farmers and workers who could hand pluck and produce tea. This caused a kind of stagnation because even if you could plant more tea, there would not be enough people to harvest it.

This lead Shutaro's great grandfather to invent a tea cutting machine, which became the basis for the picking machines used throughout Japan today.

This innovation allowed them to grow their gardens and produce more tea faster.

Arguably one of the most important aspects of farming (or any profession) is finding joy in what you do.

This is where the Hayashis really stand out to me. The joy they find in caring for not only their plants, but the surrounding ecology is magnetic.

It is the joy of processing and cupping, fine-tuning each harvest, and finally sharing their creations with the world.

You can see the love they have for what they do and you can taste it when you steep their teas.

It is like the joy they find in crafting their teas is contagious and I, for one, have definitely been infected with it.