We have developed tea gardens not only in the plains, but also in Mt. Kiri, which is close to Mt. Mitake, and have been cultivating specially cultivated teas that control harmful insects without using pesticides for over 35 years. In general, pesticide-free gardens are easily infested with insects and only the first flush tea can be harvested, but in our garden, it is possible to harvest the second and fall teas without suffering damage caused by harmful insects by many years of research and steady efforts. Hamamatsu city has the longest daylight hours in Japan. Also, the soil is acid red soil, which is very suitable for tea cultivation.
We are very particular about how we steam the tealeaves. We make tea with a high heat process (deep steaming) suitable for Sencha using our custom-made machines. Since we do not use any pesticides or chemical fertilizers, weeding is so hard, but a member of my family, Heidi-chan, a goat, helps us with weeding.
Before the Shincha season, when a late frost comes along, we protect our tea plants from frost by spraying them with water and covering the tea sprouts with ice to prevent the temperature from becoming negative.
