Natural Farming — Tea Without Fertiliser or Pesticides
Natural Farming
No fertiliser. No pesticides.
Trusting the strength the tea plant already has, and the cycle of life in the soil.
This is how we have farmed for more than ten years in the hills of Tsuge, Nara.
Three Principles
Leave the soil alone
With fertiliser, tea plants grow big and fast, but the roots stay shallow. Given nothing, the roots go looking for water and nutrients themselves.
Do not treat weeds as the enemy
Ground cover keeps the soil cool and shelters insects and microbes. Rather than removing it all, we cut it and leave it in place. In time it becomes soil.
Do not hurry time
Yields are less than half those of conventional farming. Even so, the plants live long and the taste deepens year by year.
Certification
Organic JAS
Obtained in 2018. Inspected every year against standards set by the Japanese government.
Shumei Natural Agriculture
A standard that goes one step beyond organic: no fertiliser at all.
JGAP
Obtained in 2021. A management standard for food safety, environmental care and worker safety.
Why we get certified
So that a third party can confirm what cannot be seen by eye. It is our tea’s passport.
Learn More
Tea born from these fields.