★ A life scientist who hated vegetables finds new purpose in retirement by turning his abandoned yard into a home farm. With a scientist’s curiosity and a Kansai man’s humor, he shares delightful stories about 55 kinds of vegetables.
★ Recommended by musician Akiko Yano and former Microsoft Japan president Makoto Narita! “This old guy is a genius!” “Unbelievably fun!”
★ Even ChatGPT makes an appearance! When discussing crop rotation problems, the author jokingly calls AI a “savior” – a fresh collision of modern tech and traditional gardening that gives this essay collection a wonderfully contemporary feel.
★ This is not a how-to gardening textbook, but a scientist’s personal essay on rediscovering the essence of life in a vegetable patch. Perfect for anyone who wants to add a little green to their life and find new joy.

Delicious! Fun! Good for your body! Good for your brain!
Home gardening is the ultimate reason for living.

Musician Akiko Yano says: “From this book I learned that vegetables are made by the power of the earth and human ingenuity. And they’re delicious too.”

Former Microsoft Japan president Makoto Narita says: “Kansai man’s humor × scholar’s intellectual curiosity. An unprecedentedly fun essay. This old guy is a genius!”

A vegetable-hating scholar, after retirement, takes on the challenge of “home gardening” in his overgrown yard.

– “I reclaimed a field that had turned into a mini jungle.”
– “Is it really worth it to grow your own vegetables?”
– “Can ChatGPT-sama become the savior of home gardening?”
– “Amazing benefits that turned a lifelong vegetable-hater into a veggie lover.”

From the joy of sowing and harvesting to trivia about 55 vegetables. Enjoyable not only for those who already grow vegetables but also for those who have never tried – a rollicking essay full of sweat, tears (?) and humor.

Toru Nakano
Born in 1957 in Chibayashi, Osaka. Graduated from Osaka University School of Medicine, then moved from internal medicine to research. After studying in Germany, serving as a lecturer at Kyoto University School of Medicine, and as a professor at Osaka University’s Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, he became a professor of pathology at Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine in 2004. Retired in 2022, entering a life of seclusion.
In 2012, he received the Japan Medical Association Prize. He is the author of “Epigenetics,” “Fearless Lectures on Pathology,” and many other works.

• The vegetable-hating life scientist gets hooked on farming after retirement
• You can’t start without understanding soil
• Weeds laugh at civilization
• Making ridges: Victory of the “Three Brothers” tools
• Teach Miller and Gonbei what real “sowing” means
• You can thin seedlings, but you can’t thin people
• The garden is full of small worries
• Only “organic fertilizer” and “no pesticides”
• Harvest: I hate vegetables, but this is incredibly delicious!?
• Is home gardening really worth it?
• The savior of crop rotation problems is “ChatGPT-sama”
• Potato vs. Corn: Who is the king of home gardens?
• Tomato, onion, basil: The Italian sukiyaki three brothers
• Growing herbs makes you fashionable!
• “Japanese herbs,” also known as “condiments”
• Why the “bean guys” of the home garden are so delicious
• The eggplant family: way too versatile
• The cucurbits: they’re too smart
• Vegetables don’t always go as planned
• Finally, introducing the “iron plate vegetable” that changed my life