Fruits in Numata

Fruits in Numata

Anyone exploring parts of Numata outside of the city center is bound to come across colorful roadside signs advertising pick-your-own fruit farms and orchards. Fruit-growing is a major industry in the area, but fruit from Numata is rarely sold outside of the municipality. Of the approximately 100 farms in Numata, most sustain themselves through direct sales and pick-your-own fees. 

Numata is noted for its apples. Large-scale cultivation began in the 1980s, when apple trees were found to thrive in Numata’s climate, benefiting especially from the ample sunlight and the significant variation between daytime and nighttime temperatures. The efforts of farmers, with some help from a local agricultural research center, have resulted in a number of Numata-born apple cultivars. These and several dozen other varieties ripen between September and December. In addition to simply picking and eating them, Numata apples can be enjoyed as jam, juice, and apple cider.

Other fruits grown in Numata include cherries and blueberries, which come into season in June and July, respectively, and prunes and plums, available from July to September. Grapes can be picked from August to October, persimmons in October and November, and strawberries between November and June.