And I don't much care. I've just pitted four pounds of cherries.
Incredible!
Paige Wycoff's family has a cherry fetish. Celia lives in Brentwood and calls in the sister wives as soon as Maggiore's opens. The sister wives and their young children make a run for the farm and pick and pick and pick. And eat and eat and eat. This was Celia's second trip to Maggiore's this season.
After several years of hearing about this tradition and Paige sharing some of her precious cherries with me, my mom, kids and I tagged along.
Tip 1: Go during the week. We had the orchard (and ladders) nearly to ourselves.
Tip 2: Bring cash.
Tip 3: Pick fast. It takes a long time to pick cherries.
Tip 4: Get over your fear of heights and climb the ladder. The ripest cherries are up high.
Tip 5: Moderate the amount you eat while picking. It is an hour's drive home, after all.
In the end there were five mothers and 13 kids between us. I think cherries are sought-after because the season is so dang short. The Coral Cherry, the one we were after, has a 10-day season. It was surreal standing amongst so many loaded cherry trees. Paige described it as The Garden of Eden. I have to agree.
We were so efficient that we had time to go to Chan's for You Pick strawberries. As much as I love cherries, the strawberries were even better and unlike any I'd ever had. Warmed by the sun and then popped straight into my mouth, they were the sweetest fruit I've ever had. The kids were amazed at the bounty and quickly gathered the equivalent of a flat.
Celia was kind enough to have us all to dinner at her house (which she so smartly prepared in advance) and then we hoofed it back to our suburb for Elementary School Open House.
2 comments:
Me. Strawberries are like non I have ever tasted, and I grow them...but not like this. I'm in.
Finally catching up here! Is it too late to pick?!? We are dying to try it!
Post a Comment