Yamaga City in Kumamoto Prefecture is a place where nostalgic rural mountain scenery remains.
The green plums grown there are now ready to be harvested.
It was named "Hobai" (bee plum) because it is pollinated by honeybees and bears fruit.
Thanks to the help of honeybees for pollination, the plums grow into high-quality plums with dense flesh.
The variety that will soon begin to be harvested is called Oushukubai.
The Uguisujuku plum tree is densely packed with fruit and has a strong fragrance, and its extract is often used to make plum syrup and plum wine.
On the other hand, Uguisu-shuku plum requires special care when cultivated.
They tend to produce a transparent, jelly-like liquid called jelly fruit, which does not affect the quality but mars the appearance and makes them unsuitable for commercial use.
Since last winter, we have been carefully cultivating our plum trees, pruning them and weeding the plum orchard.
We harvest the grapes by hand, checking each and every one.
This time, we spoke with Mr. Kadohisa from the Fruit and Vegetable Horticulture Department, who is always looking after the plum orchard.
Why not have some fun working with plums using the delicious green plums that are now in season?
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