We grow with Ota Farm’s original fertilizer! Wakayama Prefecture’s original variety “Marihime“

Wakayama Prefecture is famous for its ume (Japanese apricots) and mikan (mandarin oranges), but here in the Ota area, there are strawberry farmers who grow the “Marihime” variety of strawberry, which is only grown in Wakayama Prefecture. Ota Farm is one of them. It is located 5 minutes by car from Daitaiji Temple, which was founded 1,200 years ago in the Ota district, and is not too far from the town.

There, they grow strawberries focusing on “Marihime,” a variety unique to Wakayama Prefecture. Visitors can experience strawberry picking from April 1 to around GW every year, and the Ota Farm attracts many tourists and local elementary school students every spring. （At the end of the strawberry picking experience, visitors are given a small pack of strawberries as a souvenir, which is a nice touch.

Ms. Miho Ota, who runs Ota Farm, says that her specialties in growing Marihime lie in the soil. Since drainage is an unavoidable part of strawberry cultivation, she says that she makes every effort to clean up the drainage. In addition to the many innovations, the fertilizer that Ota Farm has put in originally is tuna bokashi. Nachikatsuura Town, where Ota Farm is located, is famous for having the largest catch of tuna in Japan. Miho Ota said, “There are other farmers who grow Marihime, which is the same variety as Marihime, but we wanted to make it original, and since we are in Katsuura, we added tuna fertilizer. He said.

Tastes that even out-of-prefecture people will be impressed with. We want people to enjoy the difference in taste!

So, what are the characteristics of Marihime strawberries? When we asked Miho Ota, she said, “It is a variety that has a very well-balanced taste, with low acidity, freshness, and high sugar content. “
Not only people within the prefecture, but also people outside the prefecture appreciate it, and there are even people outside Wakayama Prefecture who want to grow Marihime. Some people may imagine strawberry picking as a strawberry eating contest. However, Marihime is so delicious that they dare not grow other varieties.

It is also interesting to note that even though they are supposed to be the same variety of strawberry, each one has a different taste. ”I hope you don’t just eat them,” he said, ”but don’t be in a hurry to find out which strawberry is the best. They all taste different, so I want to teach them how to recognize the best strawberries. And you will never forget the taste of picking and eating fresh strawberries by yourself. I want you to experience that. Ms. Miho Ota said. You will want to try as many Marihime as you like next spring, using tuna bokashi, which can only be found at Ota Farm.