Where Are The Cherries?
As we come back to work after the Memorial Day weekend you're probably wondering where the cherries are? As with asparagus, cherries are arriving later than usual this year because of the massive amount of rain we received this winter. Spring arrived later, so cherry trees blossomed a few weeks late. Predictions are that Memorial Day weekend through most of June will be when the bulk of the cherry crop is delivered to customers at farmers’ markets.
The crop looks like it will be a decent one this year. Cherry trees need a specific number of “chill hours” to regulate their growth and produce a good yield, and this past winter had lower temperatures at night than in the previous year, allowing the trees to blossom and open evenly during the spring. A chill hour is equal to one hour that a fruit tree spends in cooler temperatures ranging from 45° to 32°F.
The Pike Place Market will have a wide assortment of different cherries from which to choose. Coming in one after the other during the short harvest are Bing, Brooks, Burlats, Rainier, Royal Hazel, and many others. We'll be sure to taste-test and deliver nothing but the best from the Champagne Coral variety, a lovely yellow blush-colored cherry with very sweet flavor. Bings are a large, multipurpose sweet cherry, the Rainier a colorful favorite, and the Royal Hazel offer a slightly tart flavor. So stay tuned for cherries in coming weeks.
In the meantime, we're delivering a special selection of handpicked raspberries this week - Yum!
Also, this week enjoy:
- Crisp Red Grapes - Yellow Nectarines
- Yellow Peaches - Washington Extra Fancy Premium Pink Lady Apples - Rainforest Alliance-Certified Bananas