A small farm in the Sashima Region of Koga City, just across the border from Tokyo in Ibaraki Prefecture, Hiroko’s Herb Garden is run by Hiroko Akiba (also known as Akiba Farm or 秋庭農園).
Hiroko was interested in herbs from a young age, experimenting with drying her own herbs. In college she studied the craft of dyeing using herbs such as chamomile and gardenia, thinking how great it would be to drink those herbs.
She first joined a construction company that dealt with natural materials and had the opportunity to join a workshop with an herb expert, deciding that this was the industry she would rather be in. She joined a French restaurant in Ginza (AIN SOPH.), and as event manager had the opportunity to use her increasing herb knowledge.
However, it was always quite difficult to find very good quality herbs, and was impressed with the difference in freshness that you could get from farmers themselves. Her husband, a chef himself, came from a family of rice farmers in Koga, and together they decided to move back from Tokyo to take over their farm. At that time, Hiroko-san also registered and trained as a farmer, and began to use a portion of the family rice farm for the cultivation of herbs.
Today, Hiroko's Herb Garden produces several hundred kilograms of several herbs focusing on mints such as Japanese mint, black peppermint, spearmint, etc.
Soil Development
As a rice farm as well, the Akiba Farm is able to use a lot of the waste from the rice farm (the straw, the rice husks, etc.) to develop rich soil that contributes to the delicious flavor of their herbs.
The specific location of Sashima Village, Koga City, is also known for very fluffy, soft soil which allows the droppings from birds to be more easily incorporated into the soil, enriching it.
