Shigehiko Suzuki/鈴木重彦 goes by the nickname “Shige-Chan”, which is also the name of his agricultural enterprise. Actually people have called him simply Shige-chan, a mark of respect from his peers in the local world of agriculture.

As usual On Wednesdays, my good friend Natsuko Koyanagi was on hand to help!

Shige-chan is a polyvalent farmer.
He grows a lot of cress/cresson, a vegetable which has become increasingly popular. He grows it on no less than 220 tsubo/~700 square meters! The above culture is done on “Buckets”.

He also grows “Fruitical” tomatoes on 600 more tsubo~2,000 square meters.
All agricultural land is rented!

Although he says that the tomatoes are not up to par in summer, they certainly look beautiful!

The best season is in February but they need great care all year round.
Shige-Chan’s hooby is arm wrestling, so I’m sure he has the stamina!
Would you believe he has only one gentle old lady to help him do all the picking?

Tomatoes are not attached to poles but kept standing by ropes attached to the “ceiling” of the greenhouses!

It was very hot that day (26 degrees on September 22nd!) and it was even hotter inside!

The gourds seemed to have a good time though!
Shige-chan uses as little pesticides as possiblle and works with his own brand of fertilizers.

And walking between each greenhouse contributed to a lot of lost sweat if not weight!

His other hobby is pisciculture!

This cress is cultivated in “hedge-style”
A central-heating system keeps the temperature above 8~10 degrees in winter while a ventilator systems keep the cress cool in summer.
Incidentally cress must be allowed to flower!

These tomatoes were seeded 6 weeks ago.

But his very first culture has always been roses for the last 22 years after he finished high school!
Quite a lot of them on 80 tsubos/~260 square meters!

An interesting variety, although

Shige-chan specialises in mini-roses of his own brand.

All roses ae grown in the “arch method” for even culture and straight stems.

Tomatoes ready to be delivered.
Shige-Chan spends every morning of the year (with the sole exception on New Year) from 06:00 t0 11:00 sorting, packaging and sending his tomatoes and cress all over Shizuoka Prefecture and as far as Tokyo!

Tough guy!

Shige-Chan Garden (Mr. Shigehiko Suzuki)
421-2118 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Uchimaki, 1720
Tel.: 090-2773-5182
Fax: 054-207-7268
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