Our garden ume are plump and turning from deep green to yellow. Time to start picking (and pickling).
So, out with the ladder and up into the branches to search out that fruit — they tend to be very well camouflaged against the dappled foliage...
In fact several of the fruit had already fallen in the last couple of days, rescued by the nets we'd strung under the branches. Each of those fruit are precious!
Especially since it was such a small harvest this year. The yield fluctuates but at its peak our tree was giving us more than 5 kilos. This year it's less than half that much.
Freshly picked like this they have such a wonderful aroma, hinting of the tartness inside but also with a subtle apricot sweetness.
And their skins are so smooth to the touch, with just the faintest gentlest fuzz: as soft as the skin of a child.
