Grow Hayama
Growing Building Experiencing
It doesn't always feel easy to start a new project or gain new skills, but through Grow Hayama, you can learn a wide variety of skills through our many workshops and activities.
​Growing
Soil, Seed, Savor
Growing starts with the soil. We will learn how to care for the life underground where our plants grow. Bacteria, spores, and many other critters are what help us grow delicious and nutritious produce. Planting goes from seed to fruit/vegetable and then back to seed. Though the year, we will learn the full cycle of each plant so that we can grow them year after year. And finally, we will savor the incredible flavors of our fresh produce through cooking workshops and online cooking lessons.
Building
Why screws and not nails?
We will employ a DIY attitude to every situation. Our ancestors did everything by hand out of necessity but they also benefitted mentally and physically from manual tasks. We will discover the joy of building and creating from scratch. And in the spirit of Grow Hayama, we will use screws to remind us that making mistakes are welcome. Unlike the permanence of nails, screws give us the freedom to start again and again, not worrying about the final product but focusing on the process.
Experiencing
In life, we collect experiences. They help us learn, grow , and help guide us in our journey. But when we reach adulthood, the variety of new experiences can seem to fade and we find ourselves living the same day over and over again. Hayama is not just a beautiful town with great nature but it also attracts many creative and unique individuals. Through our friendly network of artisan and teachers, we will experience a wide variety of workshops, retreats, and work-play events. These experiences will help build confidence, resilience, and build our sense of community.
We are Growing in Hayama.
Life is about process, so stop worrying about tomorrow and join us today.
There are two main themes that I hope to inspire in the students that join us at Grow Hayama.
1. Life is 99.9% process but only 0.01% finished goals, so learning comes best through trial and eror, erorr, error. We will engage in many activities throughout the year but each lesson and workshop will focus on process with little regard for goal. Students are encouraged to embrace mistakes, take risks, and only worry about the pleasure of the process at hand.
2. We will discuss many topics but through our activities, I hope that students can learn their full potential, gain confidence, and realize that they are perfect just being their truest self. Grow Hayama is a warm and open environment that is built on love, understanding, and acceptance of everyone's differences. Through self love, we can share our creativity more openly with others, helping build a better community for us all. Join us in this journey.
Michael Keida
Hello and nice to meet you. Please call me Michael. I spend most of my time farming, acting, writing, playing, reporting, exploring, building, learning and experiencing the process of everyday life in Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan. Let me be your guide for a moment of your precious journey. More about me here.
