This week, we received a delivery of fresh bing cherries from local producer, Julie Finch. They are large, ripe, and oh, so full of flavor, the result of tree-ripening the fruit. Yum!!
Julie Finch always picks later than the commercial orchards. She says the orchards spray with a protein to accelerate the color development but this does nothing to accelerate the taste and sweetness. She wants the flavor on her trees to develop naturally. This year, a lot of the fruit was killed at an early stage by frost, but this is not all bad as the remaining cherries on a tree will usually get much bigger.
Julie picked the cherries the day before she came to W. Wa, puts them in a cooler overnight, and then drove a delivery route to Root Connection Farm. They pick directly into the 20lb shipping boxes, which is better for the fruit. Every time they are handled or moved from one container to another, there is the chance of bruising.
The orchard started in 1970 by Julie’s grandfather, a retired school teacher who planted 75 trees on one acre. Over the years, some have been replaced so the trees are of varying ages. He had 15 grandchildren and they all grew up helping to pick cherries and now the fourth generation is helping out, mostly little kids picking leaves out of the boxes. After he died, the orchard remained in the family and is now owned by Julie’s mother.
Five years ago, they switched to organic practices, but they aren’t Certified Organic and they do abide by state regulations for the control of fruit fly as all cherry sellers must. Julie says it takes about $10,000 to get certified organic and it isn’t cost effective for such a small orchard.
We’re selling them this weekend in the Farm Store. Come on down to “pick” yours! (Before they're going-going-gone ... )
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