"Soil is a living thing" is almost a mantra for Sakae Suka, wife of Kazuo Suka, who has practiced shizen nōhō (natural farming) in Kamisato-machi, Saitama Prefecture, for more than 60 years. Truly the father of natural farming in our Kanto area, Kazuo has quietly and gently mentored most of the organic farmers or producers in our area, including my husband, Tadaaki.

We live in the next town over, and in recent years I find my way to the Suka Farm much more frequently than when I was raising my three sons and struggling to get through days jam-packed with home schooling, running an immersion school, cooking and helping in the field (when I could!). These days I don't home school anymore, but I write. Writing is a (gloriously) solitary pursuit, though it can also be a tad isolating.

I go to the Suka Farm not only to pick up vegetables that we are not growing ourselves or some organic pork that their daughter-in-law Junko sells from her entry-hall freezer, but also to catch a few minutes with two people in my world who leave me feeling valued for our common bond. I always walk away from talking with Ba-chan and Jii-chan (as we call older folks in Japan) with some invaluable piece of knowledge about the growing process or increased understanding of the ways of country life, despite having lived it myself for 24 years.