Last spring, I sowed spelt grains in the soil. The mitosaya site seems spacious, but there is almost no unused space. I found some hard ground in front of the shed, dug it up with a shovel, made some furrows, and sprinkled some on it. After a while, spelt grains came out, so I got carried away and trampled them every day, thinking it was wheat, but it ended up dying.
Since then, the area has become a wasteland with weeds growing out of control, and I turned a blind eye to it, but when winter came and the other grasses died, and when spring came, I noticed that the spelt wheat had started growing again.
Perhaps it was a good thing that the wheat wasn't trampled, because a year later the wheat has grown vigorously and already has ears.
Last year, we planted fruit seedlings during Golden Week. People who supported the tree planting course through crowdfunding were asked to choose from plums, pears, apricots, golden oranges (Shonan Gold), elderflowers, and other fruits to plant.
I chose a good seedling, a good place, and good soil to plant this one, so I'm sure it's fine. But it's not doing so well, perhaps because of the heat of summer and the cold of winter. But as spring approaches, new leaves are starting to appear. It's been a year, and I can finally report on it.
A small peach tree, planted as a memento by a couple who held their wedding at mitosaya last fall, is now bearing small peaches.
Apparently, for a plant, a year is one revolution of an upward spiral.
When I was at Stählemühle, I asked Christoph if I could stay longer and continue my studies.
His answer was, "I would rather go back to Japan and set up my own distillery sooner, as that would be much more beneficial," but then he muttered that he didn't know how long he would continue with Stählemühle either.
Although I had been paying attention to his movements since then, I had been so busy that I had not been able to follow up on him much.
He closed Stählemühle at the end of 2018. Raising dozens of llamas and sheep, cultivating plum orchards, and making distilled spirits were probably all things he needed to do to live with his family in the German countryside. I imagine he got busier and busier and it became different from what he had imagined. When I asked him what he was going to do after quitting, he said, "First of all, I want to repair my relationship with my family..." but knowing him, I'm sure he's thinking of something else.
An intern has arrived at mitosaya.
Luka and Anja are from Croatia. They are planning to build their own distillery in the town of Premontura in southern Croatia. Croatia has a traditional distilled liquor called rakia and I think there are many good distilleries, but they still want to work at mitosaya. Rather than teaching them, they tell them that they will be dealing with new things every day, but they insist that this is exactly what they need to do to get started.
I myself have gained a lot of experience and treasure from working at Stählemühle. I thought it was my turn to return the favor, so I accepted the position. Thus began their three-week internship, working and living in a gazebo on the mitosaya grounds.
The results were very interesting.
Explain the intention of what you will do today. Since your English skills are not good enough to say vague things, you have to explain clearly with reasons. Unlike the method of just doing whatever catches your eye by yourself, you have to think about the flow of work and efficiency in order to get someone to do it. It makes you realize how haphazardly you have been doing things.
But that's not all. There was a lot I could teach them.
Luca, who used to work on electrical installation on ships, can do some electrical installation and equipment maintenance. Anya, who loves to cook, made dinner about half the night. Even with the same ingredients, she can make it taste like the Balkans by using yogurt and chili peppers. The pizza is as thick and large as a focaccia with toppings on top, and it's strangely delicious.
Above all, I am pleased that they tackle everything with such enthusiasm.
The period when they were there coincided with the period when they were asked to do catering, so we went to various places together and made cocktails, such as the Tokyo Cocktail 7 Days and the opening of Marni at Omotesando Hills.
In the end, I only operated the distillery for a few days during my three-week stay. There was harvesting, processing, bottling and packaging, and business trips. There was a lot to do every day, and things usually didn't go as planned.
I wonder what they thought of it. I'm already looking forward to visiting their distillery, which they plan to open within the year.
The two kittens that came to live at mitosaya a year ago have grown up. They look like adults, but they are still children, so they catch lizards and praying mantises and play with them by scratching them until they stop moving. Recently, they have become larger, and I was shocked when I woke up in the morning to bird feathers scattered all over the room. I wonder what will happen in another year. It's scary to think about it.
However, even though we are close by and tend to overlook it, the children may be the ones who grow the most in a year. When asked what their dream is for the future, I noticed that they wrote "My dream is to become a gardener" for their homework.
I will not give up and will continue to pursue the path of a distiller.
Last spring, I sowed spelt wheat grains in the soil. The site of mitosaya seems to be large, but there are few areas that are not used. I found some hard ground in front of the shed, dug it up with a shovel, made some rows, and sowed some seeds there. After a while, it sprouted, so I got carried away and stepped on it every day, saying it was like stepping on wheat, and it unexpectedly withered.
Since then, it had become a wasteland of weeds and grasses, and I pretended to ignore it, but in winter, the other grasses died, and in spring, before I knew it, the spelt wheat had grown again.
I guess it was a good thing that I didn't tread on the wheat, but after a year the wheat has grown so fast that it already has ears.
Last year, I planted fruit saplings at GW. I asked people who supported the tree planting course through crowdfunding to choose from plums, pears, apricots, golden oranges (Shonan Gold), elderflowers, and others to plant.
We were sure that we had chosen the right seedlings, the right place, and the right soil to plant them. However, it was not doing well, probably due to the heat of summer and the cold of winter. However, as spring came, new leaves started to appear. After one year, I can finally report.
The small peach tree that the couple who got married at mitosaya last fall planted as a memorial has produced small peach fruits.
Apparently, a year for a plant is one revolution of an upward spiral.
When I was at Stählemühle, I once asked Christoph to let me stay longer to continue my studies.
He replied, "It would be better for you to go back to Japan and start your own distillery, because it would be much more beneficial. Since then, I've been paying attention to what he's been up to, but I haven't been able to follow him much because I've been so busy.
He closed Stählemühle at the end of 2018. Raising dozens of llamas and sheep, planting plum fields, and making brandy were probably all he needed to live with his family in the German countryside. I imagine that he got busier and busier, and deviated from the image he had in his mind. When I asked him what he was going to do after quitting, he said, "I'm going to fix my family first," but I'm sure he's thinking of something else.
Interns arrived at mitosaya.
Luka and Anja came from Croatia. They are planning to set up their own distillery in a town called Premontura in southern Croatia. Croatia has a traditional spirit called rakia, and I'm sure there are many good distilleries, but they still want to work at mitosaya. I told him that it's not so much about teaching as it is about dealing with new things that happen every day, but he was adamant that this was exactly what we needed as we started out.
I myself have gained a lot of experience and assets from working at Stählemühle. I thought it would be my turn to return the favor. Thus began their three-week internship, living and working in a pavilion on the premises of mitosaya.
As it turned out, it was very interesting.
I'll explain what we're going to do today and what our intentions are. I don't have enough English to be able to say something vague, so I have to be able to explain clearly with reasons. Unlike the way I do things on my own, where I just do what I see, I have to think about the flow and efficiency of the work if I want others to do it for me. It made me keenly aware of how carelessly I had been doing things.
But that's not all. There were many things they taught me.
Luka, who had worked as an electrician on the ship, could do a little electrical work and maintain the equipment. Anja, who loves to cook, cooked dinner for us about half the days. Even with the same ingredients, the use of yogurt and chili peppers can give it a Balkan flavor. The pizzas were as thick and as big as focaccia with all the ingredients on top, so strange and delicious.
Most of all, I am happy to see how lively they are about everything.
The time they were there coincided with the time I was asked to do catering, so we went out and made cocktails together at various places, including 7 Days of Tokyo Cocktails and the opening of marni at Omotesando Hills.
In the end, I only worked on the distiller for a few days during my three-week stay. Harvesting, processing, bottling and boxing. And business trips. There was so much to do every day, and most of it didn't go as planned.
What did they think? I'm looking forward to the day I visit their distillery, which they hope to open by the end of this year.
The two kittens that came to live at mitosaya a year ago have grown up. They look like adults, but they're probably still children, so they play catching thorns and mantises and scratching them until they stop moving. Recently, they have been getting bigger and bigger, and when I woke up in the morning to find bird feathers scattered all over the room, I was overwhelmed. I wonder what will happen after another year. Just thinking about it is finally.
However, it may be the children who grow the most in a year, though we tend to overlook them when we are near them. In response to the question, "What is your dream for the future? In my homework, I wrote, "My dream is to become a gardener. I didn't miss that.
I will continue to pursue my career as a distiller.
