Cherries

Back in spring my sour cherry tree bloomed like never before. It was crazy beautiful.

 

I do remember thinking “I hope not every one of those blooms will turn into a cherry, or I’m in trouble!”.

 

Guess what? They did. Our tree has been SO heavy with berries it’s completely nuts. These sour cherries aren’t great eating straight off the tree, they’re really REALLY sour, but they do make for great tarts etc. Last year I asked my next door neighbor if she wanted the crop since I didn’t have time to take care of it. The year before I made some jam. This year I did pick quite a lot and made some tarts which I put in the freezer and also froze some de-pitted cherries for making tarts later on. My next door neighbor also picked a lot but there was still a crazy amount left.

 

So up went a sign inviting neighbors and passers by to fill a bag (or several). It was awesome to see people taking me up on the offer. It really was a win-win situation. I didn’t have to pick and take care of it all and the pickers got free berries. There are still a few left for the birdies but I’m happy it didn’t all fall on the ground rotting.

Comments

[Wendy]

That is a gorgeous tree Benita. We picked sweet cherries off my mother in law's tree and dried a lot of them this year. We have had a lovely summer in Vancouver and it was a great year for all the fruit. Also the plants at the base of your tree are really filling in now. All the best!

[Leena]

Love this. I have seen apples on boxes on the sides of the road, so people can take them home. But I have not seen anyone inviting people on their yard picking them or any fruit for that matter. I think this is lovely.

[Emily]

My mother is an avid gardener and has fruit trees. Apparently there is a product on the market (well here in Australia at least) that encourgaes the sweetness of your fruit. Suddenly sour apples become sweet.
Perhaps you could look into it and prep your tree for next spring.

[Judith]

Okay, 12 years in Sweden and I just learned that skuggmoreller are sour cherries. I always thought that was a type of mushroom! Confusing language - not at all as straightforward as English, ha ha.

Great idea - maybe I'll do something like that with our bumper crop of summer squash!

[Amycapdet/May]

Cool idea! Smart people are great at thinking up win-win situations ;)! Have a lovely day :)

[Andrea]

Aw that's so lovely :) I would definitely have picked some for jam ^^ I love making small amounts of jam just for the two of us :) (like the 3 jars of red current or 4 jars of plum jam we made this year).

[Ana from Portugal]

Wow!
That is so sweet of you!
I wish I was your neighbour!

;)

[Michelle B.]

You made me smile this morning :)

[Shelly]

That is fantastic, and how thoughtful of you to provide bags! My neighbor just gave me a box of pears from her tree, 22lbs to be exact. I'll be making pear butter this weekend. She said she has had over 500 pears this year. I guess everyone is seeing tons of fruit on their trees. My mom had a sour cherry until a year or so ago, it was struck by lightning. We had some wonderful jam and pie from that tree.

[Karen Olson]

I have a sour cherry tree too and happily discovered that cherries can be substituted in most any recipe that calls for cranberries.

[~Michelle]

Oh wow! you are so thoughtful! I wish you were my neighbor :-)

[Jiru]

Your entry/driveway is looking so beautiful! We used to have a sour cherries in our garden growing up, but I never see them anywhere. My mom used to make the most delicious pies and "fools" with them.

[Sandy (USA)]

That is totally awesome! It must have been a sight seeing people picking the cherries off your tree. They may be crazy sour, but your photography makes them look sweet. They look so cute hanging off the tree.

[Denise]

What a great gesture to your community!

[Carlos]

Emily - That sounds magical. Must Google!

Karen - I'll definitely remember that for next year!

Judith - Haha, but I can totally understand the mushroom thing. It does sound like one, kantarell, skuggmorell, same same :).

[Etta]

There is a very interesting article called "inside a tart cherry revival" on www.npr.org about the health benefits of sour cherries. Would love to grow any kind of cherry!

[Shana]

Sour cherries are great for pie! This was my dad's favorite; pleasant memories of making cherry pie! You can freeze them easily.

[Liz]

Beautiful photos!!

[Suzanne]

Sooo wish I was there to get some, sour 🍒 pie is my absolute favorite! What a bounty!!

[Helen]

Oh I love it when people do that, yay you! Near my home there was a house with a quince bush, the owners invited people to take the ripe quince away with them. Such a beautiful fruit and quite hard to find, then they sold up and the new owners cut the bush down. I still mourn it now, I bet you'll have made your neighbours so happy!

[petal and plume]

how very gorgeous! this blog is amazing!
xx

[Petra]

Sour cherries make a wonderful juice too! It goes great mixed with sparkling water or milk.

[Ofelia, from Mexico City]

What a gorgeous tree! And the blooms are beutiful. I wish I could be there and pick some cherries. This cherries are very very expensive here in México and aviable only a few weeks a year. Greetings from México.

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