タグ: persimmon

I hung up Eighteen Persimmons to Dry.

Persimmons we get in Niigata are usually bitter one. Those persimmons can’t be eaten if nothing has been done for the bitterness. There are several ways to get rid of bitterness from the persimmons, for example, just freezing them. But I like the way using strong alcohol. Yes, it should be stronger than 40 percent. I had done “Astringency Removal Process” with alcohol through the last week. And then I realized that there were too many persimmons to eat for two people who are my old mom and me.

So, I decided making “Dried Persimmons”. I peeled them, tied the strings, and sterilized them with boiling water.

And I hung them under the roof. This was yesterday. I added six this morning. So, there are eighteen persimmons that are being dried in the air. I hope they will get sunny days by coming winter. The climate in Niigata in late autumn is humid, which is not good for persimmons to dry.

I’ve got a lot of Persimmons in this Fall

This is what I got yesterday.

And this is what I got today.

There are still some hanging on the tree. But I think now I have harvested more than a half of them. So far, I just use alcohol to eliminate bitterness. Though I want to apply the drying method, the remaining persimmons are not so many.

Now the Season of Persimmon, Got to Get Rid of Bitterness with Strong Alcohol.

This year too, I have got some persimmon fruits on the tree of a bitter persimmon “Koyo”.

I poured strong alcohol onto a small dish. And put the upper part of persimmon into it about ten seconds.

Then I put three persimmons into a plastic bag. I hope I will be able to eat them in several days. The strong alcohol I used was made from Gāoliang (高粱). I guess its smell will remain until I eat those persimmons.

Oh, by the way, now it’s the time for me to work a lot on my garden before the winter comes. So probably I will not be able to write a post of “Japanese Learning” for a while.

I Found Worms on Persimmon Tree Again

But this time, the numbers were many, probably there were more than several hundreds of worms on my persimmon tree “Koyo”.

Last time I was stung by them, so I think I have been avoiding getting closer to the tree. But I should have been watching the tree carefully. If I have I found them earlier, the tree would have got less damage.

I cut many leaves and branches. It might be better to use pesticides.

I made two small bottles of lemon jam yesterday

Today was a cold day. Temperature was barely plus in Celsius. But I have been working in my garden most of the day.

I have done two tasks; making the support of persimmon “KOYO(tm)” more rigid, and pruning of several plum trees. The support for the persimmon tree is of course a measure for snow so that the branches will not break by the weight of snow. But not only for that, I aimed at growing each branch longer as I intended. This autumn, I could get only 29 of persimmons. I want more. So, I added longer support bars along branches, trimming short unnecessary branches, and buried fertilizer around the trunk.

As for the plum trees, they have grown too much high such that I cannot reach by my hand. I cut the long and tall branches. There are four plum trees and two prune trees in my garden. What I want most with those trees is to harvest from the tree of “Soldum”. For me, other three plums are just pollination trees so that the Soldum can have fruits. The plum Soldum was introduced from North America to Japan in early twenties century. Its appearance is actually not so great; sometimes it looks green. But inside is very beautiful red violet color. Since I planted the Soldum tree ten years ago, I have wanted to get fruits. But so far, I have got almost none. It is kind like: every year it gets less flower and less fruits, falling onto the ground before ripening, and then I get none. I think I need to learn better pruning, better fertilizer, and how to pollinate properly.

Although I worked outside today, I didn’t take a picture. The photo below is bottles of lemon jam and red-radish pickles. I made the lemon jam yesterday.

The last persimmon in this Autumn

I have eaten the last persimmon “KOYO(TM)” at the supper just before. It was the last for eating raw. Still two KOYOs remain hanging under the roof to be dried persimmons. But anyway, I have harvested 29 KOYOs this autumn. It is a good variety of persimmon with trade mark, which is a popular bitter persimmon in Japan. I want to make the tree bigger in next year so that I will be able to get more.

I’ve got 29 of this type of Persimmon this Autumn

A bird must have eaten part of Persimmon.

I processed five persimmons today. They are the last ones.

There are still other twenty persimmons of other kinds. They are small and have seeds inside. Rather than getting rid of bitterness by alcohol, I am thinking about making them “dried persimmons”.

Another way to remove Bitterness of Persimmons

A farmer does this thing one hundred, two hundred, or more. But I am not a farmer. And my persimmon trees are still young and small. They are not so productive yet. Today, I set six persimmons hung under the roof. Two behind are not today’s. Drying is another way to remove bitterness of persimmons. But weather in Niigata tends to be wet in this season, I am worrying about mold on the surface of them.

Removing Persimmons’ Bitterness

Tonight, I think it is more important for me to write a SNS message to one of my ex-students, rather than to post something here.

Soaking the Stem part of a Persimmon into Strong Alcohol

I harvested five persimmons in my garden.

Seal it in a plastic bag and wait a few days.

I processed four persimmons for removing bitterness

By the way, I realized that notation software (to draw a music score) “Sibelius” of Avid is too difficult to learn. I have learned many computer-software since I started using a personal computer more than thirty years ago. Once I had mastered another notation software “Music Score3” of Silver Star Japan. But I’d say “Sibelius” is so difficult. It’s no way to use by intuition. Notes and rests change regardless of my intention. I am disappointed because, if many musicians can really use Sibelius, it just means that I am a stupid.