I hadn't been back to Tanaka Farms in Irvine, California since 2017—not even for their pandemic pivot of a drive-thru pumpkin patch for Halloween.
But this weekend, instead of being driven through the farm fields on a wagon, I drove myself around its perimeter for its "festival of lights," called Hikari 光 (which, translated from Japanese, means "sparkle" or "shine").
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/*P1720429lo.jpg)
This was a different experience than driving through, say, an amusement park or the county fairgrounds or the local speedway...
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/P1720435lo.jpg)
...because Tanaka Farms already has a theme.
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/P1720444cropLO.jpg)
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/P1720446lo.jpg)
Well, and other agricultural delights, too.
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/P1720457lo.jpg)
But strawberries have been at the heart of this Orange County farm's operations since 1998 (though the farm itself was established in 1940).
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/P1720459lo.jpg)
Tanaka has been converting its traditional strawberry fields into hydroponically-grown vertical stacks...
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/P1720467lo.jpg)
...which can increase their yield without requiring more land.
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/*P1720483lo.jpg)
Some of Tanaka's farm equipment—some of which dates back to the 1960s—also takes center stage during the light show.
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/*P1720491lo.jpg)
But even more intriguing are the Japanese traditions woven into the experience...
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/P1720507lo.jpg)
...like the field of wagasa, a type of paper umbrella that originated in China but became quite fashionable in Japan by the 17th century.
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/*P1720529lo.jpg)
The farm's namesake and founder, the second-generation Japanese-American farmer George Tanaka, developed the strawberry fields into an agritourism business.
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/*P1720521lo.jpg)
In the 1980s, he passed it down to his son Glenn Tanaka, who currently runs the 30-acre operation as a U-Pick farm and educational enterprise. Glenn's son—the fourth-generation Kenny Tanaka—has also taken a place in the family business.
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/P1720520lo.jpg)
And even this holiday light display offers the opportunity to learn about global crops—like sugarcane, which lines the aptly-named "Candy Cane Road" towards the end of the journey.
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/*P1720494cropLO.jpg)
After driving past the lit-up greenhouse...
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/*P1720532cropLO.jpg)
...more farm equipment in all their twinkly splendor marks the approach to Christmas Tree Lane.
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/P1720536lo.jpg)
Oh, they're not real Christmas trees—not like the deodar cedars in Granada Hills or Altadena, or the monolithic Douglas firs my sister and I used to help our dad put up in our living room.
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/P1720542lo.jpg)
But in the dark, who can tell?
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/P1720546cropLO.jpg)
As long as the lights are in the shape of a tree, that's enough for me.
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/l93/pandisoo/P1720554lo.jpg)
Even if I can't linger for very long to watch them glitter and glow before I have to go.
Related Posts:
No comments:
Post a Comment