Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education

This essay about the local agricultural techniques practiced at Konohana Family has
truly global implications. Michiyo Furuhashi writes with genuine heartfelt belief in the
importance of her work. Key to the vitality of all the interweaving systems at Konohana
Family – ecosystem, soil system, and the bio-systems of plants and animals, including
human – is the production of ‘Konohana-kin’, a microbial-based solution. Konohana-kin,
teeming with beneficial micro-organisms, is freely applied as the foundational nutrient
layer; thus, all living systems at Konohana Family share this microbial source. After
reading this essay, you will want to begin feeding Konohana-kin to all your kin also!
Organic Growing for
Community Self-Sufficiency
Michiyo Furuhashi – Konohana Family, Japan
Agriculture of Konohana Family
Konohana Family, established in 1994, is an agricultural community of
71 people living together, crossing the boundaries of blood relationships.
The basis of the Family’s life is organic agriculture, growing various kind
of produce such as rice, cereals, vegetables, poultry for eggs, bees for honey,
goats for milk, and tea and fruits. We also produce miso and soy sauce with
the traditional method, and a variety of processed products, living a selfsufficient
lifestyle rich in variety. We produce almost everything by our own
hands except salt, sugar, some spices, vinegar, and oil.
We develop and engage in various businesses and activities such as
delivering our rice and vegetables using the brown-box scheme, offering
educational programs to local people and visitors regarding ecovillage
development and organic agriculture, accepting guests requiring mental care,
and cooperating with the Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) program.
We produce food in small quantities but with great variety, including 10
varieties of rice, 217 varieties (88 items) of vegetables, nine varieties (five
items) of cereal, and 36 varieties (25 items) of tea and fruit.
Our production area is eight hectares of rice fields and eight hectares of
vegetable fields. This land is scattered around our neighborhood and 90%
of it was fallow land which we have been allowed to use free of charge.
In order to achieve the greatest degree of self-sufficiency possible, we sow
and cultivate the same land several times consecutively, adjusting timing for
continual harvesting of vegetables in season.
We follow Nature’s way as our model. Nature does not have an ego,
maintains harmony, and ensures that its members rely on each other. In
order to live in harmony with others naturally as compassionate individuals,
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