What to Do at Shichiku Garden
Explore Grandma’s Little Green Eden
Meeting the woman who created this garden, feasting at the breakfast buffet, and exploring the garden itself are the highlights of any visit to Shichiku Garden. This place is a testament to the power, passion and determination one person can wield.
Shichiku Akiyo, now in her nineties and known as “Grandma Shichiku,” is the founder and matriarch here. She enjoys greeting guests and always has a smile for visitors and time for a photo. She occasionally takes visitors on impromptu tours of the nursery and vegetable gardens.
Breakfast Buffet
At midmorning the breakfast buffet covers several tables with home-cooked dishes full of farm-fresh vegetables, fish, meat, and fruit, as well as baked goods. As dishes are consumed, new ones are brought out to replace them.
The daily menu depends greatly on the seasonal harvest, including what is picked in the garden and provided by neighbors and other local suppliers. Not limited to traditional breakfast fare, the meal includes roasts and pastries familiar to Western palates. The “rose soft serve,” made with pink-colored ice cream and a green cone to resemble a rose, is a special treat. Reservations are recommended.
Boxed Lunches
Those who miss the breakfast spread will find boxed lunches available packed with many of the same dishes served at the buffet. Many take their lunches out to the patio or elsewhere in the garden to picnic. There are lots of places to eat in the sun or shade, some with benches and picnic tables.
Gathering Flowers
Visitors are allowed to pick flowers in Shichiku Garden. The chance fulfills a childhood dream for some visitors of gathering blooms in a garden and returning home with a bouquet.
Gardening fans touring the grounds will observe that the flowers and other vegetation is lovingly tended but not babied. The care given these plants is meant to foster hardy specimens strong enough to endure the five months of deep winter in Hokkaido. The effort usually expended on weeding and pruning is directed at creating a resilient environment.
Please follow this link [link to About page] to read the story behind Shichiku Garden.