Peaches and grapes grown in one of the biggest orchards in Yamanashi.
”Our cultivation area of peaches and grapes is probably one of the biggest in the Prefecture,” said Sadaichi Furuya of ”Marusa Fruits Furuya Farm” very proudly. His policy is to make peaches and grapes with no chemical fertilizers and very little pesticide..
After he explained meticulously about the several dozen varieties of peaches grown here, he handed Nakata a peach which had rather dark skin color, saying, ”This is very sweet, for sure.”
”Aren’t the peaches with bright pink colors more delicious?” questioned Nakata.
”If they were for gifts, the color is important, but if you take the sweetness, these peaches with slightly spotted skin are more delicious.” When the sugar content was measured, it was a surprising figure of more than 20. Generally, peaches are said to be sweet at about 15, so you can imagine how sweet they are.
Supporting young farmers — from lending the farmland, teaching the know-how, to purchasing the harvested products.
Furuya Farm not only runs its own farm, but lends land as an opportunity for farming training, to those people aiming to become independent farmers.
”I borrow land from farmers and lend them to young people. It is very difficult to start from scratch and become an independent farmer. We provide farming land, machinery, fertilizers, pesticides, and fruit making know-how, and let young people make farming products for a year. We buy their products, and let the young farmers experience the joy of harvesting and the fun of farming. After a while, when they are ready, they will become independent.”
Furuya Farm not only grows delicious grapes and peaches, but it thinks about the farming industry of Yamanashi as a whole.
Now coming back to that especially sweet peach. Nakata had a bite and it was certainly sweet indeed.
Nakata was so absorbed in eating the peaches, that he was oblivious of Furuya who went back to work….
