Cherry-Picking Time

Laura (now 20) in her pink leotard and tutu, helping pit cherries. Picking cherries and pitting them for drying has been a summer tradition in our family for many years.

Shady Lane Orchard opened at 8:00 am this morning and I was there by 8:10 with my bucket-on-a-belt, ready for two-handed picking. I picked 16 pounds of beautiful bing cherries in about 45 minutes, without any need for a ladder. I could have kept on for hours; it's hard to stop when the picking is so easy, but I wanted to get to the farmers market early for the best selection of local vegetables and other fruits.

Shady Lane cherries are $1.00/pound, u-pick or you can buy them picked for $1.85/pound. Sterken Farm and Kruse Farms in Garden Valley and Brosi's SugarTree Farms in Winston also have cherries right now.