Other than Farm Blog

1. The relationship between wild grown tea plants and pests 2. How modern tea farming amplify the pest and disease problems, 3. What pesticides they use to treat the problems, 4. As a consumer how to avoid heavily sprayed tea 5. Organic and wild harvest tea 3. What pests and pesticides? The following is a list of typical pests and recommended pesticides in major tea producing area in Japan.  This is just to show tea has lots of pest problems.  Some minor pests are not even mentioned here to keep it simple.  The pesticides are used to prevent pest damage from happening. The types of pesticides used may be replaced with pheromone traps, BT, bordeaux mixture, and organic pesticides that are derived from natural source and has less environmental impact, but typically result in higher cost.  Some lab testing claim that the pesticides recommended below have less human and environmental health impact from pesticide residue.  Some developing countries may not have regulations restri

However busy we get, it's important to live with the value that we believe in.  We have to ask ourselves sometimes why we farm and live in the country. During busy harvest season we still need to maintain our business and our lives, but often we get so overwhelmed by busy-ness of everyday life.  Yes, we are doing farm work, but what is it that made us want to farm at the first place? We want to grow our own foods that meet our expectation and life that revolves around seasonal changes.  It's easy to say, but when we try to do all these, it's a lot more work than we imagine. Winter-spring crops are ready to harvest now.  We make pickles and kimchi with cabbage and fruit wine with noni, jaboticaba and seasonal ingredients. Each bite, each sip, they bring us back to our value of living on the farm and life in the country.

 Pests and disease are inseparable parts of tea farming, thus pesticides to prevent and treat the pest and disease problems.  In this series we will look at: 1. The relationship between wild grown tea plants and pests 2. How modern tea farming amplify the pest and disease problems, 3. How and what pesticides they use to treat the problems, 4. As a consumer how to avoid heavily sprayed tea 5. Organic and wild harvest tea Part one focuses on the first two topics. 1. The Relationship Between Tea and Pests Wandering into old mountain forest of Japan, I have encountered wild tea plants growing sporadically in their own natural habitat.  There are not abundant tender supple tips to harvest, but in general plants are healthy.  The wild tea shows small signs of pests and disease, but it is minimal.  The plants vary widely in their leaf shape, size, color, and even growth form.  Some even appear as bonsai trees found in Japanese garden.  The plants seem 20-50 years of age, could be