Mukai Farm & Garden

Before I began working at Mukai Farm & Garden, I taught somatics and trauma informed yoga outside on the Mukai property for people who had experienced interpersonal trauma and domestic violence through the Vashon DOVE Project. I fell in love with Kuni Mukai’s historic garden and the restorative sensory experience of its ecosystem -the calming sounds of the water feature mixed with croaking frogs, chirping birds, and the breeze through the leaves of the 120 year old trees encircling us. Our non-profit organization Friends of Mukai, which stewards the property, was founded on the idea that “this is how history lives”. I think the DNA of this place brings people into a sense of presence.

The Japanese Garden at the historic Mukai Farm & Garden was designed and installed during the 1930’s by Kuni Mukai, a Japanese immigrant, her “hill garden” features extensive rockwork, plantings, and a surrounding pond with koi. It is the only Japanese garden designed by a woman in the United States and the only public garden on Vashon Island. The Mukai agricultural complex is among the last remaining extant pre-WWII Japanese-built farmsteads in the country. In the fall of 2018, the 90-year-old pond was restored. Landscaping in the North Garden, hill plantings, and lawn restoration were completed in June 2019. We are currently working to restore the historic Mukai Cold Process Fruit Barrelling Plant. The property is open dawn to dusk year round. I highly recommend sitting on the rocks placed by Kuni for that purpose.

 

“closed eyes
voices of leaves and birds
in my hair”
–Daniela Misso