"Kondate-bu," started by members
In January 2013, a member-led club called "Kondate-bu" (the Menu Club) began at Minna no Uen Kitakagaya. It is a cooking study group where everyone thinks about how to eat the vegetables from the field.
The second session in February was a "Potluck Pizza Festival." Each participant brought ingredients, combined them on the spot, and baked them on handmade dough. The third session in March was a "Potluck Pasta Festival." We used plenty of the farm's green onions and even tried making fresh pasta, starting from kneading the flour. The strengths of members, from homemakers to working chefs, came naturally to life on the spot.
A potluck BBQ that starts with weeding
In July 2017, after many new members joined in spring, we held a potluck BBQ. If you only visit your own plot, you rarely get a chance to talk with other members. After introductions came a "warm-up": all participants cut the summer grass that had grown out onto the paths. Then we split into a shopping team and a fire-lighting team, and the table filled with freshly picked vegetables and dishes brought by everyone.
The BBQ in June 2018 gathered field members and club members. The members' "Curry Club" prepared ingredients from the morning, and a Thai cooking teacher made gai yang, so each person's contribution made the table lively.
Relationships change when we eat together
Even people meeting for the first time find conversation flowing when they cook and eat together. Perhaps it is because everyone gathered shares an interest in food and farming. At the BBQ, many seeds of ideas came up too, such as "It would be great if we could do this in the future."
A potluck is a table where the role of host does not stay fixed on one person. Just by sharing what each of us is good at or has on hand, a rich table appears. I think what has grown the field's community is an accumulation of tables like these.