The All-Natural Iwakura Farm
This week we had the pleasure of spending a day with the Iwakura farming family in Shizuoka, Japan.
Their farm is about 1.5 hectares in size, which is equivalent to about 3 footballs fields. They grow a number of cultivars on this land and they specialise in very small-batch green-tea.
They are very unique in their approach too. They have been cultivating premium Japanese green tea for over 80 years, but for the last 27 years have been completely organic - which is quite rare in Japan. Iwakura-san said he made this decision to ensure the whole process was as natural as possible so the soil and plants were nutrient-rich producing tasty high-quality tea.
The Iwakura family couldn't have chose a better spot for their natural approach. Their plants are situated high-up in the windy hills of Shizuoka with a view of the ocean in a very remote location (we wouldn't have been able to have found it or got there without them).
We really enjoyed our time with them and will soon be collaborating on 3 new unique small-batch green teas - all uniquely named to recognize the importance of nature at the Iwakura Farm.