My father and I picked a number of containers of cherries from a tree on his property. The tree is a descendant from a cherry tree on my great-grandmother's farm. The cherries are marble size and tart (not sweet like a Bing cherry). Even though tart bordering on sour I tasted a number of the fruit while picking. The taste reminded me of childhood in southern Indiana with our small orchid. Once we picked the cherries my mother would make cherry preserves and pies.
All and all this year was a very good crop. We did not try to reach the cherries at the top & center of the tree. A little snack for the birds. Last year the birds cleared the tree out quickly so nothing was harvested. The 2008 was not too bad with maybe 75% of what was picked this year collected.
I hope this is a positive sign toward a good Concord grape and watermelon harvest in 2010!
My mother used some of the cherries already picked to make this delicious pie using Splenda as a sweetener. You do not want the pie too sweet to overwhelm the tartness of this cherry. It was yummy with a nice crisp crust with a cinnamon & sugar topping. As the photos show, it is already half way consumed.
