Our Method

The Solar Cafe Farm grows fruit, berries, herbs and vegetables for our cafe menu and the Mt Fuji Natural Teas. We combine our own sustainable agriculture methods with Permaculture, Natural Farming and Bio-dynamics. Our beautiful fields work in harmony with the surrounding nature. Our goal is to demonstrate and educate people about organic and natural farming techniques, and to encourage and support small profitable organic farms in Japan and around the world.

Visit for a day or a month. Join a class or just join us for lunch.

We also offer a 1 Month Farm Course for people who would like to join us for 4 weeks and learn more about our farming and permaculture techniques in-depth.

Organic Farming means growing food without dangerous chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Modern agriculture uses large amounts of very dangerous chemicals that are harmful to our bodies and create cancer, infertility, etc. These chemicals not only harm human bodies, they also poison the environment. They kill not only harmful bugs and weeds, but also beneficial plants and animals and pollute soils and watersheds. Many people believe we cannot grow food without chemicals. But all the farms in the world were 100% organic until 50 years ago. If we look to the fields of our grandparents, we can combine their wisdom with modern techniques and find a new way to grow enough food to feed the world, without destroying it for future generations.

Natural fertilizers from Local Resources – We use horse and cow manure from nearby farms, green waste from our kitchens, and leaves from our forest.

Safe Pesticides – Our pesticides are not dangerous chemicals, but based on herbs, flowers, hot peppers, garlic, vinegar, milk, etc. This means healthy food and

a healthy eco system.

Companion planting - means growing crops together that are beneficial to each other. Instead of planting a large area with only one crop, we mix small areas of different crops。This helps to keep pests from over populating. For example, around our apple trees we plant lettuce. And between the rows of lettuce we plant mint. The leaves that fall from the trees help fertilize the lettuce and mint. Spiders and birds that live in the apple trees eat bugs that would damage the lettuce and mint. The lettuce and mint cover the soil to help retain water for the trees. And the mint helps keep away insects that would eat the lettuce. And from one piece of land, we get three crops!

No Till Farming. The bacteria and worms that live in soil are very important for creating fertile soil for crops. Modern farms use tractors to till (mix) the soil every year, but this kills bacteria and disrupts the natural layers that allow the worms and bacteria to prosper. The soil becomes unhealthy and thus needs more fertilizers. We farm without using heavy machinery and tractors. Our crops are planted in small holes while leaving the surrounding soil layers intact. This preserves the natural soil eco-system and allows us to grow on the same soil indefinitely without using chemicals.

Sheep Tractor. In addition to giving us wool, our 2 sheep, Rueben and Eva,help out in many ways around the farm. They help clear wild grasses and rose bushes for area that we are making new fields. They eat all of our green waste from the kitchen, and their droppings (manure) help fertilize our soil. They live in a series of fenced in plots. We rotate them from plot to plot, so that while they are living in one plot and fertilizing it, the other plots can be planted with vegetables, which grow amazingly well thanks to the sheep fertilizer. The fences that keep the sheep in then act in reverse to keep wild pigs and deer out, protecting the crops.

Rain Water Collection. We use rainwater collection barrels and ponds in our fields to gather and store rain for watering crops. Our barrels are recycled wine barrels that we get from a local bakery. We also use drip lines to bring water directly to the base of the plants, reducing water use and loss to evaporation.