*This article was published on June 7, 2022.

We are reposting it so you can know what kind of event it is.

Event overview for 2023

〇Nakaume/Oume/June 3rd (Sat)~

〇Nankoume/June 15th (Thursday) to late June

Miyaguchi Koume and Nankoume. Supermarkets in Hamamatsu City begin selling freshly harvested plums from late May.

This time, Jenne and her friends interviewed Ume no Sugiyamaen, a plum cultivation company located in the Okuyama area of ​​Kita Ward, Hamamatsu City.

After enjoying the experience of harvesting large plums here, I plan to try my hand at making plum syrup, but…?

Go to Sugiyama Plum Garden!

Every year from late May to the end of June, anyone can easily enjoy the experience of picking plums at the Plum Sugiyama Garden located in the Okuyama district of Kita Ward, Hamamatsu City.

The location is in the mountains about 600 meters west of Hokoji Temple (Okuyama Hansobo).

It’s about 100 meters down the hill from the parking lot.

The altitude of the park is 160 meters. Lake Hamana seems to be spreading out on the other side of the mountain.

You can also enjoy plum blossom viewing here from late February to early March.

The place you pick the plums depends on what you want to do with them.

Jenne and her friends who want to make plum juice (plum syrup) decide to experience harvesting large plum varieties called Shirakaga.

The branches of plum trees are pruned low for harvesting, so proceed carefully so as not to hit them on the head.

I’m excited to see how they grow and how to harvest them.

"The goal is 1 kg" How is Jenne and her friends harvesting?

The three Jenne participants (Jenne Saya, Jenne Yusa, and Jenne Yuki) each had their first time harvesting plum fruit, so they first received a lecture from the garden owner, Mr. Sugiyama, on how to harvest them.

It’s about 1km to the bottom line of the yellow harvest basket.

We will start harvesting plums with the aim of getting them up to this line.

“It feels good because it’s easy to remove with your hands,” says Saya Jenne. Next to her, Yusa Jenne deftly uses both hands to pick up the plum fruit.

“There’s some kind of honey in there,” Yusa Jenne showed me, and it turned out that the juice had been sucked out by stink bugs.

Since the Sugiyama Plum Garden is not disinfected often, there is a possibility that it may be damaged by pests.

Throw away the fruit that has been damaged by stink bugs, then gather yourself and harvest another fruit.

Even when she is immersed in her work, she occasionally poses for Yuki Jenne’s camera.

You can easily remove the plum fruit by simply twisting it around or pulling it downwards.

“This year is the back of the year (with low fruit set), but we have produced a lot of fruit,” said Mr. Sugiyama, the owner of the garden.

It looks like a bell, but this is the back of the year!

The branches that reach close to the ground are also full of plum fruits!

The front years with high fruiting and the back years with low fruiting usually occur every other year.

I wonder how fruitful it was last year.

The plum fruit that the manager picked was also round and large.

Even though I’m still picking them, I’m already curious about the taste of the homemade plum syrup.

oh yeah. Along the way, Jenne and her friends showed us the fruits of their plum harvest.

Look at the surrounding scenery and discover insects.

While working happily, we are getting closer and closer to our goal.

I harvested about 1 kg in less than 30 minutes after I started picking.

The basket is full of big, round, shiny plums!

Lecture on how to pickle

The harvested plum fruit can be purchased at the store (reception).

It’s more fun than I expected, so don’t worry if you end up picking too much.

When you tell the staff how much you want, they will transfer the harvested plums into a plastic bag and weigh it for you.

After weighing them, they taught us how to quickly extract extract from large plums and how to make plum syrup.

From the back view of Jenne and her friends, you can see that they are listening intently to the instructions.

By the way, aren’t you curious about something slightly visible in Yusa Jenne’s bag? This is a plastic bag with a zipper that is sold at stores for processing things such as plum syrup. The bag is thicker than regular commercial products, and the contents are made of a material that resists oxidation, so you can also make plum syrup!

What Jenne Yuki is looking at seriously is the “Fun Recipes for Plums” which has 6 different recipes including plum juice.
We are distributing it for free at stores, so if you are interested in the recipe, please get it.

Let’s try making plum syrup!

Making plum syrup is very easy.

(1)Wipe off the moisture from the well-washed plums, (2) place them in a pickling container alternately with rock sugar, and finally add a small amount of vinegar, which has a fermentation inhibiting effect.

All you have to do is shake it 2-3 times a day to mix everything together.

This is all you need to make delicious plum syrup.

This is a picture of Yusa Jenne and the plum syrup made by her manager.

(Photo left: Photo taken by Jenne Yusa / Photo right: Photo taken by manager)

Both of them are doing great! It looks delicious (No, it must be delicious!)
You can mix it with mineral water, carbonated water, or alcohol.

If you enjoy making your own plum syrup into your favorite drink, you might be able to get rid of your lethargy during the rainy season or the fatigue of summer! ?

You can also watch the Harvest experience of Sea Lake HAMANA Jenne on YouTube’s “Jenne Channel”.▼

[Hamamatsu City Kita Ward] Fresh plum picking experience in Okuyama!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4J2y20eMbY

Ume no Sugiyama Garden holds a plum harvest experience every year from the third Saturday of May. (See below for details)

The approximate harvest time is

・Koume…Late May~

・Naka/Oume…Mid-June~

・Nanko plum…Late June~

The taste of processed products made with plum fruits harvested by hand in the lush nature of Okuyama is exceptional! Please give it a try.

Check here for details on the Sugiyama Plum Garden that the three of us experienced this time▼

Sugiyama Plum Garden

〒1737-379 Okuyama, Inasa-cho, Kita-ku, Hamamatsu-shi 431-2224
TeL:090-1625-0933

Opening hours: Late May to late June 9:00 to 15:00 (closed in case of rain)

1kg 300 yen ~ Sold by weight

<Fees(2022)>

Free admission

Harvested plums are sold by weight at about half the market price.

*Opening date, fees, etc. may change depending on actual growth conditions. Please confirm by phone before visiting.

Interview date: 2022.5.29

Sea Lake HAMANA Jenne: Saya Kawamura, Chiemi Yusa, Yuki Ogawa

#Hamamatsu City

#Plum Sugiyama Garden

#Harvest experience

#Plum syrup