湘南自然薯栽培その３

毎年恒例の浜田牧場さんの稲の収穫が始まりました。総計9反ある田圃の稲を一日3反単位で収穫します。11:00-16:30までの作業です。私は刈り取った後の稲束を6束づつ立ててゆく作業を主に行います。これは乾燥後に牛の飼料として蓄えるものです。
The annual rice harvest at Hamada Dairy Farm has begun. The rice from the 9 tan rice fields is harvested in units of 3 tan per day. The work runs from 11:00 to 16:30. My main job is to stand the harvested rice bundles into bundles of 6. These will be stored as cattle feed after drying.

秦野ESSの仲間と一緒にベトナムの留学生を箱根に案内しました。初日は小田原のフラワーガーデンと大雄山最乗寺を見学して金太郎ライン経由で強羅駅近くの宿舎に泊まり、温泉と和食を経験して頂きました。翌日は箱根の関所、ゴルフの体験そして大涌谷の黒卵を楽しんで頂きました。大変楽しい旅でした。
Together with my colleagues from Hadano ESS, guided Vietnamese international students to Hakone. On the first day, visited the Odawara Flower Garden and Daiyuzan Saijoji Temple, stayed at a lodging facility near Gora Station via the Kintaro Line, and experienced hot springs and Japanese food. On the next day, visited the Hakone checkpoint, played golf, and enjoyed the black eggs at Owakudani. It was a very enjoyable trip.

９月８日から1７日にかけて、自然薯圃場の白黒マルチを剥がし、畦上部の草取りをしてから化成肥料を追肥しました。その後、再度白黒マルチの再布設を実施しました。先月に比べて茎葉の繁茂は著しいほどではありませんが、しっかりと繁茂しています。畝上の土の割れ目が少しづつ目立ってきました。これは畔シート内で薯が大きくなっている証拠です。
From September 5th to 17th, removed the black and white mulch from the Japanese yam field, weeded the tops of the ridges, and then applied additional chemical fertilizer. Then re-laid the black and white mulch. 
The stems and leaves are not as overgrown as last month, but they are still thriving. The cracks in the soil on the ridges are gradually becoming more noticeable. This is evidence that the potatoes are growing inside the ridge sheet.

台風１０号による大雨の期間を挟んで約３週間の浜田牧場さんのモロコシの収穫がやっと終わりました。約２町歩のトウモロコシ畑です。多くの作業は機械化されており７５馬力トラクターのハーベスターと２トントラックでの搬送が主体ですが、畑の入り口のトウモロコシの手鎌でも刈り取りのハーベスターへの挿入や刈り取りミスで畑に残ったトウモロコシを拾い集めてその後に刈り取る畝のトウモロコシの間に追加するのが私の手伝いになります。また、ハーベスターに負荷がかかって折れたピンの交換やフィードできないトウモロコシの取り出しと再挿入も重要な手伝いです。猛暑の中の作業なので適切な水分補給が欠かせません。
Hamada Farm's corn harvest, which took about three weeks, including a period of heavy rain from Typhoon No. 10, has finally come to an end. The corn field is about 2 hectares in size. Most of the work is mechanized, with a 75 horsepower tractor harvester and two-ton trucks used for transportation, but my assistance is the cut several corns with sickle at the entrance to the field, inserting them into the harvester for harvesting, and picking up corns that were left in the field due to harvesting mistakes and adding it between the corn in the rows to be harvested later. Other important help includes replacing pins that break due to the high load on the harvester, and removing and reinserting corns that cannot be fed. Since the work is done in the scorching heat, proper hydration is essential.
 

雑草に覆われたサツマイモ畑の草取りを実施してからサツマイモの蔓返しを行いました。これから芋が大きくなります。１１月２４日のファームビジットで留学生を招待して芋ほりを行う予定です。
After weeding the sweet potato field that was covered with weeds, turned the sweet potato vines. The sweet potatoes will grow bigger from now on. Plan to invite international students to the farm visit on November 24th to dig up the sweet potatoes.