Hoshigaki Mail Orders

Freshly peeled hachiya persimmons drying for hoshigaki.

The new 2015 Hoshigaki Mail Order Form is now posted here on the website, under the Hoshigaki/Persimmons tab.  If you'd like to mail order hoshigaki (Japanese hand-dried persimmon) this year, please print out the mail order form and mail it back to us. You can also order fresh fruit shipments from our orchard using this form. This year our time frame for shipping fresh persimmons has been shortened because the fruit is ripening more quickly due to effects of the drought.

We started peeling the first hachiya persimmons to dry for hoshigaki about two weeks ago.  Peeling is the first step in the hoshigaki drying process.  The hachiyas need to be fully orange, but still hard enough to peel.  After peeling, each fruit takes around six weeks to dry, depending on the weather.  The peeled fruits are hung by their stems in pairs and massaged every few days to help them to dry evenly.  By the end of the drying process, each persimmon has developed a dusting of natural powdered sugar on its surface, and is soft and sweet.

Please keep in mind that because of these natural processes and weather variables, orders may take 8 to 10 weeks to ship.  The first hoshigaki for this season has not yet finished drying and we fill orders in the order in which we receive them.  It's important to get your order in as soon as possible, because supplies are limited to what we can dry while the weather allows.  When the persimmons are too soft to peel we must stop drying new ones. Also, this year our supply of persimmons is more limited because of the drought.