Amazing Foods - Solar Cafe Menu

Solar Cafe & Farm’s Mt Fuji White Eggplant! mmm…..

Companion planting, white eggplant and basils

Organic Mint Chocolate Strawberry Tofu Cheesecake!!!

New on the Solar Cafe menu….this cake is made with organic mint and strawberries grown on our own farm, and fair trade organic 100% cocoa powder from Alishan. The “cheese” cake is made with tofu instead of cheese, so it is waaaay healthy too!

Companion Plants. Our salad lettuce and carrots together again!

Companion Planting; Organic Rice, Wheat and Soy Beans

We planted our first rice paddy today! The organic rice “ine” (seedlings) are especially adapted to thrive with the cold weather we have been having this year. We planted about 125 tsubo (410m2) which should yield about 200kg of rice come harvest time in November. Seven Earth Embassy farm staff and interns did this in about 2 hrs. Thats 100kg an hour! We also helped local farmer Hirata-san plant soy beans in between rows of wheat, which will help control weeds and fix nitrogen in the soil as a fertilizer. Looking forward to home-made bread, beans and rice come fall. Hope you can join us for a meal.

Our Fruits are almost Ripe ALREADY!!!!

Despite a chilly spring, all of our fruits and berries are already coming! The strawberries will be ripe within the week, the blueberries are getting some size to them, and the peaches are already starting to get a little yellow around the edges. It is going to be an amazing year for pies and shakes at the Solar Cafe. We also just perfected the recipe for our own HOME-MADE graham cracker crusts ( we make them from scratch with organic graham flour!) But come early and come often, because good homemade pie waits for no man, woman or beast!

Solar Cafe’s Spiral Kitchen Garden, fresh for the pot!!!

Basil and Rasberry canes in pots, open for business….

Top Sercet – Basil Pesto Pizza!

Wild Strawberries and Wild Dogs

These strawberries are actually a man-made variety that has grown wild in our home garden. They have been unattended for over 10 years, but are still growing strong, complete natural farming. We simply go in once a year and pull out some of the weeds around them. Even our animals help! Nora-chan, a wild dog from the village who adopted us last year, loves eating grass and was a big help with the weeds. The before and after pictures show the strawberries with a few weeds pulled out to let in the sunlight, and then piled along side for mulch.

Mint Tea Packaging Crew

The wonderful people at Oguri Noen in Shizuoka are processing our mint and packing it into tea bags.  The tea farm was started by Mr. Oguri’s father nearly 40years ago and has expanded to become the main packaging operation for all the local green tea farms.  Their high-tech clean room facility and extreme attention to detail ensure the utmost care is given to cleanly and safely packaging our tea.

We also will be working with their blending master this year to develop a few new flavors for our line of Mt Fuji Natural Teas.  Check back with us in the summer for new tastes and herbal medicinal teas!!!

World’s First Strawberry Pizza!!!

Yes, its true!!!   Nate and Masako came up to the Solar Cafe for a second honeymoon (our wedding gift to them).

And as a special treat, we pulled out a special special recipe.  Strawberry pizza with bananas and Jake’s special chai yogurt sauce.  In a few years when this is a world wide standard, it will just be a rumor that it actually started in our kitchen.   (available by special request in June when our berries are in season)

Chestnut Harvest

The wild chestnut trees were just babies sprung from seeds carried by the crows when we first started farming the land on the edge of Aokigahara Forest. Now 15 feet tall they provided us with a months worth of chestnut cake, chestnut rice, and of course roasting on an open fire. And those are just the ones that the deer left for us.

Fresh Shitake Mushroom Farming!!!

We first tried spawning our own mushrooms last year but didnt have much luck.  This spring we tried a few oak logs with spores but again only 2 or 3 shrooms popped out in the season.  Until last week! This late in the fall we werent expecting anything, we one morning Eli was going to feed the sheep and noticed a whole mini forest of Shitake had sprung up over night.  Our new Shitake Carmelized Onion pizza is to die for! Supplies limited, and you had better beat Jake to the kitchen or they will be all gone…

Cosmic Purple Carrots!!!

This has been our best year ever on the farm.  Even into November when nights are frosty and Fuji is covered with fresh snow every morning, we are still eating from the gardens.  I cant describe the taste of real carrot if all you have ever eaten in those things they sell in the supermarket and call “carrots”.  You have to try it yourself to understand.  Its like you were eating plain white bread your whole life and then someone gave you a sandwich. The cosmic purple carrots are so good if you eat one, you will just want a plate of carrots for dinner and nothing else.

Proud Mama!

Congratulations Na-chan, it’s a ZUCHINNI!!!

The 2009 Mint Harvest

The weather this year was irratic; dry in the rainy season, wet all August, lots of Japanese beetles, and our mint loved it all! Another stellar harvest year, the mint was the first green in the fields in April when the snow still lay in the shadows, and now nearing frost it is still going strong and we are picking fresh young leaves for drying every day. We hope to pull 30kg from the main field. The Spearmint seems especially flavorful this season. Visit this page for Mt Fuji Natural Teas ordering.

Our first peanuts are HUGE!!!

This is the first year we have grown peanuts, with apparent great sucess! Have you ever seen a bigger peanut?

Mint, Basil and Parsley take center stage

We found the best drying space for our herbs is in a well lit and aerated space. 5 days drting on our stage our herbs are crisp and green and ready for packaging. Move over Elvis, Mr. Mint is here!

The most beautiful pepper of 2009 award goes too…

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