Hello Hokkaido! Furano Farm Tomita 富良野 ファーム富田 and Tomita Melon House とみたメロンハウス
This June, I took a trip with my family to Hokkaido to spend late Spring/early Summer. Hokkaido is nice during this period during the transition from Spring to Summer - the weather is nice and cooling, not too warm yet. Unfortunately, during this time, most of the flowers are not in bloom yet, especially the much raved about lavenders.
This June, I took a trip with my family to Hokkaido to spend late Spring/early Summer. Hokkaido is nice during this period during the transition from Spring to Summer - the weather is nice and cooling, not too warm yet. Unfortunately, during this time, most of the flowers are not in bloom yet, especially the much raved about lavenders.
That brings into the place I am reviewing for this post - Farm Tomita in Furano.
Furano is a mainly agricultural place - with tons of vegetables farms mainly, due to its inland status. It is famous for vegetables and curry - in contrast to Hakodate which is famous for seafood.
There are tons of gardens in Furano as well. When people talk about Furano, the beautiful summer gardens come to mind. When I spoke to a bartender in Sapporo about what to see in Furano, he recommended Farm Tomita without batting an eyelid. This has gotta be THE place to visit in Furano, not to be missed.....
If you are on a tour, Farm Tomita would definitely be in the itinerary. If you are on a self-drive, here's the map code and telephone number for your Japanese GPS (Navi).
Telephone: +81-167-39-3939
Map code: 349 276 889
The first picture I took when I entered the garden.
We were there in mid-June, so most of the flowers were still budding.
Trying to act cute – hide behind the sign… ^_^
The farm is very educational – they have labels for almost all of the flowers.
The poppies were already in full bloom in June.
Many people were already crowding around the poppies.
I wish I could identify all the flowers but too many of them.
The meadow sages were in bloom as well.
The farm was actually crowded with tourists, just that I didn’t include them in my photos.
The fields of chives with meadow sages are beautiful purple – different shades of purple.
These are the lavender fields – too bad this is not the time to see them yet. They are just budding.
Little lavender buds.
The vast fields would look spectacular when in bloom – go google!
The tree-lined avenue…. Begins to fade from view…
We went into the lavender greenhouse to see the lavenders that are already in bloom.
The fields of lavender in the greenhouse make it seem to appear that they are already in bloom.
Close-up of a lavender - lovely scent! You are encouraged to lightly brush the top of the petals and smell the scent.
The Geranium were also blooming in the greenhouse.
More pictures of the beautiful lavenders.
Everything in Tomita is lavender, even the signs! And the bicycles! Even the staff wore purple clothing.
After the flower viewing, we went to Melon House next door to the farm. We heard good reviews of the place and we loved melons!
They had a market where they sold only melons.
But it was too early in our trip to buy melons home yet. I think they sold Furano melons – which were rivals to the branded Yubari King melons (most expensive melon/fruit in the world).
About 7,000 JPY for 2 melons. They sell some corns too. Grown in Tomita!
Big melons for 9,180 JPY – for two!
We didn’t buy any melons, but we proceed to the upper area for some pastries.
We were particularly drawn to these melon breads – apparently baked with some melon crust on top and filled with melon cream.
We bought 1 to try.
We also bought a tart to try as they look so yummy with all the melons on top.
Unfortunately, the melon was disappointing. The sweetness was just so-so only… yubari melons could easily beat it. If the melons used in this tart were those sold in the market, then I would not recommend buying the melons. The tart crust were just tart crust.. nothing to rave about.
In comparison, the bread tasted much better. Melon cream was flavorful, fruity and sweet – but sugar was definitely added. The melon crust was also yum yum – almost tasted like real melon baked! However, the filling was so little!
Verdict
Farm Tomita – YAY!
The flower gardens were lovely and Farm Tomita is synonymous with Furano. I cannot imagine going to Furano without dropping by this farm. Granted it’s touristy, but the flower gardens are free and you can wander in the fields all day. So do go for that visit. It’s not really out of the world but you CANNOT go to Furano without visiting the farm… nuff said. LOL!
Melon House – nay
The melons are expensive and for that price, I would recommend buying a Yubari instead, which you could get from any decent supermarket in Hokkaido. Granted there are good Furano melons, but the Yubari brand is too strong. You would get jealous stares eating Yubari anytime. Yubari = quality.
The desserts at Melon House are disappointing as well.
I would give it a big Nay if not for the close proximity to Farm Tomita… since it’s so near, why not just make a quick visit to tick the item off your list?
Please share feedback about your visit to Farm Tomita!
Address:
Farm Tomita ファーム富田
071-0704 北海道空知郡中富良野町基線北15号
Kisen Kita 15-go, Nakafurano-cho, Sorachi-gun, Hokkaido 071-0704
Telephone: +81-167-39-3939
Fax: +81-167-39-3111
Map code: 349 276 889
No comments:
Post a Comment