Harada Farm and peach picking!

The Harada Farm is about 30-40 minutes bus ride from Tambara Lavendar Farm. It is a very large fruit farm that grows all kinds of seasonal fruits, so it is open throughout the year. My trip happened to coincide with the Peach season, so everyone was there to pick peaches :)

The first itinerary though was Lunch. However there were large groups of local tourists, and so we had to wait for a while for lunch to be set up. We were treated to free sampling of apple juice while we waited, which was TRULY delicious! I would love to buy some, but it comes in a glass bottle - which would make it difficult for me to carry home, so I gave that a miss. I'll remember the wonderful taste of it though ;)

Here's my very healthy lunch. It was delicious and everything was to my liking. On the left is vinegar rice with preserved pickles, sweet mushrooms, shredded egg, chopped up boiled shrimps, wild vegetables and japanese crab roe. On the right is pork slices, vegetables and udon noodles. We were supposed to dip the noodles in a light soya sauce gravy. I ate everything!

There was also a free flow salad spread - which consists of home grown cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, corn, carrots. These were all I can remember - but I didn't help myself to any as I was full after eating everything from my tray.

After lunch, it was time to head for the Peach farm which was just several minutes walk from where we had lunch! But first, I took some pictures of the Apple farm which was right next to our lunch venue.

Path leading into the Apple orchard

Apple season starts only around October, so they were all green still.... ;)

It was a very hot afternoon, and as we walked to where the peaches are, we passed by another section of the farm where various vegetables and fruits in smaller quantity are grown.  Here, I saw watermelons!

The peach farm is huge. Only a small section of the peach farm was sectioned off for peach picking. Before we headed to select our peach, there was a short briefing. Each of us were given a plastic protector to protect our own peaches. :) Also, the peaches cannot be consumed immediately. It has to be left in the open (not refrigerated) for 3 days before we can consume it. (And YES, the peach is juicy and sweet!)

Peach trees are actually quite tall, but at the same time, the tree trunk is short, which makes some of the fuits rather "low-lying". In this photo, I was actually squatting down to take this shot, so it gives you a perspective of how low some peaches are. So one needs to bend to check the fruits and decide which are the red ones ready to be picked.

There are also ladders provided for those who wish to inspect the peaches that are beyond reach. I didn't use the ladders though....I picked both peaches from looking at the low branches. :)

Red ripe peaches waiting to be picked! The aroma  is heavenly.
Mom actually "saved" a peach to bring it back home. She put it in her checked-in luggage, and protected it with clothes. She loves the smell of the clothes ^^

After we selected our own peaches, we headed for the bus.

We actually skipped the next itinerary of the tour, which was a guided walk to the Niagara Falls of the East. The reason was because the pebble stone walk near the river bank could be dangerous for some elderly, especially if they did not have the right foot wear. So my family skipped that, and we stayed at the village shop where we had some drinks and took a break.

Over here, there was a mini vegetable market right outside the village shop :)

This looks pretty, but I'm not sure what it is.

There is also a snack store, but I think they are closed for the day.

Hope you all enjoy this little walk with me ! :)