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 There are several ways you can easily reduce your pesticide exposure Buy spring tea - Spring teas are generally less contaminated because colder winter and early spring seasons have less pest activity and disease occurrence.  Many farmers manage with no spray at all.  Major tea pests for spring tips are aphids.   Taste the difference - Heavy fertilizer application tends to allow plants to grow out of proportion and can attract more pests and disease.  Learn to taste the fertilizer.  Any professionally trained tea educator should know this.   Growing environment - Learn about farm environment.  Higher altitude has different pests and disease.  Tea typically prefers cool, moist environment.  If tea is grown in dry hot area, they tend to experience more s

Overlooking the city of Kagoshima and Sakurajima volcano  Tea has been a dominant beverage in Japan for centuries although recent years they have experienced major shift in styles of tea consumption.  I had an opportunity to visit famous tea regions in Kyushu and Okinawa to learn their way of tea production, quality control and tea as part of food culture. Japanese are known for their politeness and perfectionism with a touch of wabi sabi (imperfect impermanent beauty) and zen in many aspects of their culture.  Maintenance of their tea fields is no exception.  Everywhere I go, tea fields are precisely manicured and the flush can be machine harvested to exactly 2 leaves and a bud.   Large fields are very common and designed for easy harvester access.  Transport systems and processing facilities to work together in timely manner to keep the tea leaf fresh and in optimal condition. Fukamushi (deeply steamed) Sencha   Green tea made in Kagoshima is mostly fukamush