地元の杏農家「杏宝園」に顔を出してみた。一つな速い品種はもうできてきた。採りたての杏はやはり美味しい！皆さんは食べた事がありますか？この春は是非、戸倉上山田温泉に杏狩りをしに来てください！
この千曲市の「森」地区は日本一のあんずの里で4月上旬の花見が有名です。実は今年の4月に天皇両陛下も花見しに来ましたぐらい。森地区は当温泉から車で約20分ですが、歩いて15分のさらしな地区に千曲川沿いの杏畑もあります。その農家の杏宝園山は新しい品種の開発や最新の技術を使ってより良い品質の杏を育っています。
今年の花の時期の低温の影響で生産量が減るようです。それにしても、農家の強い意志で、観光客に是非杏の畑に入って頂いて、自分の手で採って、杏狩りを体験して頂きたいです。今年の杏狩り予定は下記の通り:
2013年の杏狩り戸倉上山田温泉近辺の「杏宝園」
事務所 長野県千曲市若宮1092-2
問合せ Tel(026)276-6018 金子さん
杏狩り開始： 6月24日（月）前後
杏狩り終了： 7月5日（金）前後
料金： 1000円/ｋｇ （「昭和」品種）
Kyohoen is our local apricot orchardist here at our onsen town, Togura-Kamiyamada. I poked my head into their office the other day and was rewarded with a bowl of first-of-the-season apricots. There's nothing like the tartness of a fresh-picked apricot! Have you ever tasted one? This spring, how about coming to Togura-Kamiyamada Onsen and picking apricots yourself?
Here in Chikuma City, the Mori district is known as Japan's #1 'apricot village'. The blossoms in early April are so famous that this year even the emperor and empress came to see them. Mori is a 20-minute drive from our onsen town. A short 15-minute walk away, along the Chikuma River, are the apricot orchards of the Sarashina district. And Kyohoen Apricot Orchards are one of the most modern growers, trying to develop better varieties and using cutting-edge techniques to maximize yield.
This past April our area had some devastating low temperatures that are effecting the apricot trees' production. But the folks at Kyohoen believe strongly in giving guests to our onsen town the opportunity to enter the apricot field and pick fruit themselves. This year's apricot picking schedule is as follows:
Apricot Picking 2013Kyohoen Orchard near Togura-Kamiyamada Onsen
Office: 1092-2 Wakamiya, Chikuma City, Nagano
Tel: (026)276-6018 Kaneko-san (limited English)
Apricot Picking Start: Around 24-June (Monday)
Apricot Picking End: Around 05-July (Friday)
Price: 1000 yen per Kilogram (Showa variety)
