Organic Umeboshi Plums are a traditional Japanese pickle. They are salty plums that have been soaked in a salt bath. Shiso leaves are added during pickling process to impart a reddish colour and natural flavouring. Umeboshi is used as an ingredient for rice balls or eaten with a bowl of rice. Harvesting of ume plums starts in May, although our plums are picked in June to allow the ume plum to fully ripen. The plums are selected and pickled the same day as they are harvested. The amount of salt is determined by the quality of ume, using intuition and years of experience. Our farmers are true artisans. After pickling with salt, plums are sun dried for 3 days. They are turned frequently to dry both sides evenly. Once dried, the plums are pickled again. This last stage of pickling fine-tunes the plums for optimal taste and aroma. This process is all done by hand.