Half-Farmer, Half-X Gathering: Finding Yourself Again with Naoki Shiomi

A Warm Gathering on Half-Farming, Half-X

Unlike the atmosphere at the gathering with Apple Grandpa, Mr. Akinori Kimura, the mood at Mr. Naoki Shiomi's Half-Farmer, Half-X gathering felt much more relaxed.

At first, I assumed it was because the pressures of life differ between "professional farmers" and "half-farmers," which created the different atmospheres. No wonder, though: natural farmers from all over Taiwan, China had come with a pilgrim's mindset to seek advice from Grandpa Kimura, afraid of missing any classic answer, and there was only half a day…….

People pursuing the Half-Farmer, Half-X lifestyle, on the other hand, keep part of their original life and simply add farming, right?……That's what I thought, but in reality it was not so. Many of the friends taking part in the gathering were seriously pursuing their own "half-farming model," and some were even rethinking what their true "calling" really was. Whether it was the several couples among them or those who were only just about to start learning to farm, all of them could be said to be facing a period of life transition, and their seriousness was in no way inferior to that of professional farmers; after all, this was a matter of planning their "life trajectory"!

So why was the atmosphere so different? I think it must have been because there was plenty of time.

In the morning, in the fields of Happiness Farm, Dr. Li and Mr. Shiomi shared experiences from Taiwan, China and Japan on the Half-Farmer, Half-X model. On a slightly cool autumn day, they shared everything one by one, from rice-growing methods and varieties to seed saving.