The Plum Orchard: taking care of Ume plum trees in Yokohama

I know I’ll be busy in June. June is the month when Ume plums are harvested. After picking, the fresh fruits must be processed promptly for pickles, liquors, compotes, etc. I’ll be BUSY in the kitchen filled with sweet scents of plums … Though, none of these fruits are from Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森. Reason is simple. We Lovers of Niiharu 新治市民の森愛護会 have problems to collect enough quantity of Ume plums. It’s not because 70 ha of Niiharu Forest does not have plum orchard. It has 3 orchards of Ume. Nor it’s due to Lovers do not have access to these 3 places. Lovers have requests from the City of Yokohama and the landlord to take care of the sites. Yet none of these places bears adequate fruits.

Though, every year these two Ume trees
 for pink and white flowers are beautiful
 at the entrance of Niiharu Citizen Forest.
 They are private property, not a part of the Citizen Forest.

A tree standing at the entrance of Ikebuchi Open Space いけぶち広場 is the only Ume plum tree producing sufficient plums for about 3 jars of Ume liquor. One of the senior Lovers, a lady who’s in charge of such matters, prepare them in June. During high summer when we spend uber-busy weekends to mow the forest floors, her liquor’s waiting at the end of the day as a prize of hard work. Needless to say, the jars are empty by November. Pity. “You see, we had more Ume fruits until 10 or so years ago.” “Oh, yeah. Niiharu Forest has 3 orchards. We were very busy allocating enough time to collect fruits.” “Why can’t we have such amount of prize these days? They even do not flower much these days.” That’s the problem.

The only productive Ume tree in Niiharu.
 It flowers again this year.
 I hope we can have some fruits from it …

The only profusely flowering Ume orchard in Niiharu, out of three.
 The place too has pretty flowers constantly as this year.
 But the amount of fruits out of them is limited.
 The trees here are for flowers, not fruits、I guess.

Actually, roughly 3 or 4 years ago, the City of Yokohama had a problem of Plum Pox Virus. The disease started in 2009 in Tokyo and spread to Yokohama. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry of Japan, the only possible treatment is to uproot and burn the affected trees. Er … worse than with COVID-19 for humans … The wards in the northeast of Yokohama, Tsurumi 鶴見, Kanagawa 神奈川, and Nishi 西 Wards found the infected trees. The City Office was super-alarmed. The greenery and private gardens there received administrative order to follow the direction of the Ministry. The City also arranged numerous training courses for professional and amateur gardeners how to take care of plum trees under the threat of virus. Hmmmmmm … now that I think about it, it was reminiscent of present-day policies about COVID-19 … Luckily, the other wards of Yokohama, including Midori Ward 緑区 where Niiharu resides, have not received the virus problem for plums, at least so far. But, the hub-bub became a nudge for Lovers to take action for Niiharu’s unproductive plum orchards.

In Japanese proverb, it is said that “The fools who cut cherry trees, the fools who don’t cut plum trees.” Surely, plum trees spread their branches and boughs to whichever direction disorderly as they like. They are often vigorous, if not productive. Left them to their own devices, between late March to early November neglected Ume trees have lots of leaves in a jumbled manner. The condition is certainly of “Closed spaces with poor ventilation; Crowded places with many people leaves nearby; Close-contact settings such as close-range conversations.” It seems to me, many viruses for illness love such conditions … To prevent the spread of plum pox virus, the first line of defense is avoiding such 3-C and wearing masks … er, no, “Prune, prune, PRUNE!”

Hmmmmmmm,
 once the way branches spread reaches this level of “whicheva,”
 it’s something of divine art work …

So, Lovers of Niiharu engaged in pruning Ume orchards last fall. It’s easier said than done, I tell you. Plum is deciduous tree but flowers early starting from January. Their life cycle allows us a tiny window to take care of the mess of branches. That is roughly 2 weeks of October to November, almost immediately after they’ve started shedding their autumn leaves. Inevitably, we abandoned the pruning for the 3rd orchard this time … “Well, trees are there. Give us a break.” The next problem was the method of pruning. All 3 plum orchards in Niiharu produce unsatisfactory yield. Seniors of Niiharu Lovers debated how much pruning to be done and settled with “HEAVY ones!” for the least fruitful orchard. We brought chainsaws in the orchard to cut the main boughs and pruned relentlessly for the remaining branches.

Cut here, here and here!

First, I hesitated, then, it became a sort of pleasure to CUT! “Hey, Naomi, prune that upright branch!” OK. Done, then, “Next one too!” But it looks not so tangled with the other ones … “No, no. You’ll see their next year’s growth surely collides with the neighbors.” Woooooow. With the thunderous sounds of chainsaws, one plum orchard in Niiharu became the place of very shortened trees with sporadic branches. It was a strangely relaxing scenery, with piles of cut boughs and branches on the ground. Will they flower coming spring? I’ve waited.

Hair cut!

We’ve cut this much …

Then, this February, those remaining branches have pretty 5-petal flowers, smelling nice. Hurrah! “It takes several years before we know the result of hard pruning, Naomi.” OK, OK, OK. But the resilient plum tree orchards could resume producing lots of flowers, and then fruits. Maybe it’s after COVID-19 becoming a familiar seasonal ailment, like flu …I keep crossing my fingers for everything.

Wow! Blossomed!

Year 1 after heavy pruning …

If you find a problem in the greenery of north-half of Yokohama, please make a contact with

Office for the Park Greeneries in the North 北部公園緑地事務所
Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau 横浜市環境創造局
Phone: 045-311-2016
FAX: 045-316-8420

Niiharu Administrative Office / Satoyama Exchange Center 新治管理事務所・里山交流センター
Phone: 045-931-4947
Fax: 045-937-0898
Email: info@niiharu.jp
http://www.niiharu.jp/

Season of Japanese Apricot 2: making Ume drinks

This week I tell you several easier ways than the recipe last week to process Japanese apricots. It’s to extract juice from the fruit. You see, Japanese apricots are strongly acidic. We can extract its very sour juice that can last for at least several months. i.e. The fruit will help us survive harsh Japanese summer. One of the most “traditional” ways to extract the nectar is, making Umesh liquor. It’s definitely easier than making compotes from Japanese apricot. Here is how-to:

1. This part is the same as the last week’s recipe. Choose unripe green Ume fruits, wash them gently, and remove their stems after drying them with clean cloth. Then, perforate the fruits with a bundle of skewers
2. Put the fruits and crystal sugar alternately in a clean jar. The total weight of the sugar is 80% of the weight of Ume. End the layer with sugar, and pour distilled liquor of minimum 35%, like vodka or whisky, over the layer. For 1 Kg of Ume, 1.8 L of liquor is the ratio.
3. Store the jar in a cool and dark place. Wait for about 3 month until all the sugars melt, and the contents become tasty alcohol.

My Umesh made this year.

This jar is almost 365 days later after the Umesh preparation.
 I should take out the fruits now.
 Japanese apricots in this condition are tasty as dessert for adults,
 and can be good ingredients for fruit cakes.
 When she uses Ume fruits in this condition,
 my mom loves to bake fruit cake by adding a bit of white miso paste in batter.

You can start drinking Umesh in the same year of your brewing. BUT, I tell you, patience for maturation brings spectacular rewards. One day, I had a chance to enjoy Umesh liquor that was made in the early 1970s. An octogenarian lady made it when she was in her early 40s. Since then, the jar was sleeping in a corner of her kitchen … Its taste some 40 years later was ECSTATIC! Yes, it was still sweet liquor, but there was no pushy, or hasty assertiveness of young Umesh. Nevertheless, the echo of its flavor lingered in a very subtle way on our tongue. Yeah, the impression of it is not at all simple, but pleasantly unforgettable … It’s totally up to you for the starting date of drinking Umesh. If you decide to wait 40 years, you’d better separate the fruit and the liquor after one year of the preparation. 😆 

This Umesh is in its 3^rd year.
 Er, it’s very difficult to refrain from drinking them …

Umesh liquor can be enjoyed as drink, or ingredient for cooking. But, of course, not everybody can enjoy alcohol. Relax. There are another simple ways to extract the juice from Ume fruits. We can substitute distilled liquor in above recipe with (whatever) grain vinegar. The ratio of the fruit and crystal sugar is 1 to 1 this case, and the amount of vinegar is 800cc for 500g of Ume. Just as Umesh, when the sugar melts, the jar is ready for us to enjoy. We can drink it diluted by simple H2O or sparkling water. Or use it for cooking when vinegar is needed. It lasts in room temperature for more than a year. Another method is to make Ume syrup. Let me explain the way with photo. First, Ume syrup with brown sugar. It’s damned simple.

First, find small unripe Japanese apricots, wash them gently, dry them with clean cloth and remove stems.

Put them in a clean jar and cover with brown sugar of the same weight: for 500g of the fruit, 500g of sugar, I mean. Seal and store them in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks. You may want to stir the content at 1 week’s mark.

After 2 weeks, the juice of the fruit is completely mixed with sugar and becomes sweet syrup. It’s good for pancakes and vanilla ice cream. 😋 We can store them in refrig for a year max.

Japanese apricots after their syrup extracted. They do not have tartness at all. We can lick them like candy, though their stones are not edible.

Another way to have syrup out of Japanese apricots is with honey. This time, we use ripe fruits. I always use those scarred Ume as matured ones are easy to be damaged by falling on the ground. I wash them gently, soak them for about 2-3 hours in cold water, wipe gently with clean cloth, cut off the damaged part, and put them in a jar. Next, I pour honey over the fruit of the same weight: for 1kg of prepared Ume fruits, 1kg of honey. Keep the jar in cool and dark place, wait for 10 to 12 days, and done!

Ripe Japanese apricots with honey, 1 night after the preparation.
 Our family LOVES the concoction so that I make it a lot every year.

Oh, one caution.
 Don’t pack the jar.
 It’s fermentation process going on.
 The liquid can burst out from the jar in the middle of the process.
 This photo is for a bad example.

11 days after, and the process is over.
 (I was busy and could not use 10^th day for this.)
 I store the strained syrup in refrig.
 They can last for a year.
 We can make a drink by diluting the liquid
 with H2O, sparkling water, alcohol, etc.
 When you add it to cold milk,
 the glass immediately turns into sweet yogurt drink.
😊
  The syrup can also be used for cooking, like for braising meat.

The fruit after extracted juice by honey.
 They are plump, soft, sweet, and a bit sour dessert.
 We can keep them in refrig for about a week, I guess.
 I mean, it has never stayed in our refrig that long.
 Don’t overeat them, please.
 They are still Japanese apricots,
 and can upset your stomach if you eat too much at once.

Those collapsed fruits are cooked
 with additional granulated sugar,
 and become a sort of jam.

Like this.
 We can use it for toast bread, or glazing meat.

I am lucky enough to collect organic Japanese apricot every June for our family. Though, some crisis might be looming over our Ume tree … Last year, Kanagawa Prefecture found Plum Pox Virus in several trees in Yokohama and Kawasaki. Based on this incident, the prefecture removed all the apricot trees, Ume trees included, in some towns in Tsurumi 鶴見 and Kohoku 港北 Wards of Yokohama. (The latest status of the disease in Kanagawa can be checked here.) Although the virus is harmless for human consumption of fruits, it will sooner or later make trees weak to death. So far, the trees of our Ume preparation are spared, but I’m on alert now. Fingers crossed for the next year Ume-honey syrup … Now I’m learning how the nature is evolving …

If you find an environmental issues in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター

657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121 〒243－0121　厚木市七沢657

Phone: 046-248-0323

You can send an enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/