Cherry Fest

Sweet Cherries were ready today at Moelker's Orchard so off we went. The kids and I met a friend and her boys there and we picked for about an hour. Her boys were quite helpful with the picking! My children were more apt to climb a ladder and get stuck or just eat cherries of the ground. Together we picked 6 full buckets (approx 4 qts each) which totaled 20 lbs for her and 18.5 lbs for me. They are priced at $1.50/lb. (less than 2008!). At 8:30 am, we were the second set of customers to arrive and had the trees and ladders mostly to ourselves. My friend, who is smarter and more experienced than me, brought a wagon (to pull both children and cherries and have a place to put the diaper bag) and a bib for her youngest. We didn't have to go far into the orchard but it was wonderful to load all our six buckets of picked cherries in the wagon and haul them easily to the weigh station and the car.

The cherries we picked today are firm, dark, nice size and very, very sweet!

From 18.5 lbs, I have several pounds for eating after canning 7 quarts and 7 pints. I loved canned cherries as a kid. They were the easiest fruit I've done yet. Here's what I did:

Wash cherries

pack into warm canning jar (I just keep the jars in the dishwasher after I washed them)

add heaping 1/4 cup sugar; fill with water to 1" from the top of the jar

wipe the edge of the jar, cover with lid and lightly screw on band til just stops turning easily.

Process in boiling water bath for 25 minutes for quarts, 20 minutes for pints.

When my mom and I were remembering and researching how to do this, many of the sites recommended a hot pack (using hot water to pour in jars, slightly cooking the fruit first), pitting the cherries and soaking them in a salt/vinegar solution to retain color. I do not plan to sell them. We just want to eat them all winter. So I left the pits in so they'd retain a nice shape and not get soggy.

Well, the first batch is out and I have heard three "pops" of the lids sealing so far.