Have you ever heard of a 'farmhouse restaurant'? Farmer restaurants are restaurants where farmers cook and serve the produce from their fields. Farmer restaurants have recently been increasing in number throughout Japan. I heard that the original farmhouse restaurant, the first of its kind in Niigata and one of the first in the whole country, was started in Kita-ku, Niigata City, so I went there.

Takagi Farm is located in Niizaki, Kita-ku, Niigata City. It is located in a cluster of plastic greenhouses along the Araigo River, which originates from Fukushima Lagoon, in the vicinity of the Taihei Bridge crossing the Agano River in the direction of Niizaki Station. Fruit tomatoes, strawberries and rice are produced here. It also produces ham and sausages.

この日、タカギ農場さんにきたのは「農家レストラン」でランチをいただく目的でしたが、到着すると駐車場の交通整理をする人が。レストランオープンの20分くらい前についたのですが、「えっ？こんなに混んでいるの？」と驚き！特に小さなお子様連れのファミリーの方々が沢山。

よくよく見てみるとお子さんの手には山盛りのいちご！そう、まさにイチゴ狩りのシーズンだったんです！タカギ農場では毎年2月下旬から5月下旬までの期間、観光いちご農園を営業しているそうです。 せっかくの機会だったので私もイチゴ狩りをしていくことに。

One of the rows of plastic greenhouses is open for strawberry picking. When we asked the lady at the reception desk for an explanation, she told us that it was all-you-can-eat for 30 minutes for 1,800 yen (tax not included). I was thinking that I would have to eat lunch at a farm restaurant afterwards, so I decided to go for the all-you-can-eat option.

At the reception desk you get a basket and scissors, and then it's off to the strawberry orchard! Incidentally, you can also add condensed milk for 50 yen (I think).

The plastic greenhouses are grown on stilts, with strawberries growing at about the height of an adult's waist.

そして、実になるべく触れないように、ハサミでパチンっ！その場で食べてみたかったのですが、食べ放題プランではないので我慢我慢。

大人だと、腰の高さあたりにいちごがなっているので、かなり腰をかがめる姿勢になります。ちょっと大変。

But if you venture to squat down, you will see a scene like strawberries dangling from the ceiling. From a child's point of view, it felt like being showered with strawberries (laughs). The children's happy voices and their parents' screams of "Don't take only the blue ones!" made the strawberry picking experience very funny.

Strawberries sold by weight are priced at 350 yen per 100g. I brought eight carefully selected Echigohime strawberries, thinking I wanted the largest possible size, and they were priced at around 750 yen. I wonder how the price compares to supermarkets? Either way, the taste of Echigohime that you have selected and picked piece by piece yourself will be different.

Strawberry picking at Takagi Farm is available until late May. If you are interested, why not go and eat your fill of strawberries?

Spotlight.

Takagi Farm

• Address: 2757 Nizaki, Kita-ku, Niigata 950-3134, Niigata, Japan.
• Website: http://www.fruitstomato.com/
•