Sweet cherries now ripe for the pickin'
Last Wednesday was the first day of sweet cherry season at Duffin Farms on Rice Road, and proprietor Kim Duffin was in an optimistic mood.
“The crop, quality-wise, is awesome,” said Kim. “We had some pickers drop in last night, and they were amazed at the sweetness and size of the cherries, which is due to the heat that we have been having the last little while. It also helped that the rain held off. The downside of our crop this year is that the volume is about half of what we normally produce, due to the crazy up and down weather in the spring.”
Cherry acreage in the region is down about 70 percent from a couple of decades ago, with high labour costs and unpredictable weather causing hardship for Niagara’s growers.
Duffin noted that in 2021 they had a big crop, and the bees were out and doing their bit to pollinate. This year, the blossoms were out in force again, but when it was time for the bees to go to work, there was a four-day cold snap, which kept the bees grounded. This translated into a low yield on the trees which were early-season variety cherries.
“The varieties that blossomed later — like Heidelfinger, Viscount, and Stella — when it had warmed up after the cold period, are really loaded with fruit,” said Kim.
Sara Duffin mentioned a variety of white cherries, called Ranier, was also looking good.
“They are firm and very sweet, and are used for maraschino cherries after they are dyed with food colouring,” she said. “Maraschinos are used in cocktails and desserts.”
Kim said that the demand for sweet cherries is “off the charts. “It’s kind of an annual ritual for some families from the GTA. I started getting calls before May from people wanting to book buses from Toronto. We've had an overwhelming response, such that I've had to turn some bus groups away. It's just too much.”
Some perennial customers return to the same tree from which they’ve been picking fruit for 30 years, said Kim. Covid protocols are no longer in effect, but many people are still cognizant of social distancing.
The Duffins have six acres of sweet cherries in about ten varieties, but no sours, which are used primarily for canning and baking.
The orchard’s trees appear well-groomed, due to pruning that occurred in January.
“We wait for the trees to go dormant before pruning,” said Kim. “If you prune too early, when the trees are not yet dormant, they will want to start growing. And we don’t want more wood, we want more fruit.”
The bangers are supposed to discourage the birds, but sometimes we think it's like ringing the dinner bell
Duffin Orchards has kept the cherries at the same price as last year. A three-litre basket is $20 and takes about ten minutes to pick. A seven-litre basket $40.
Propane-powered bangers punctuate the otherwise tranquil orchard’s silence at regular intervals.
“The birds have been a problem this year, a bigger nuisance than normal,” said Kim. “The bangers are supposed to discourage the birds, but sometimes we think it's like ringing the dinner bell.”
When does the cherry crop peter out?
“Normally we go the full month of July, but this year, I think we'll probably just go for about three weeks.”
Sara said that the Pelham cherries have a special taste because they are grown in the sandy soil of the Fonthill Kame, an elevated moraine composed of sand and gravel that was deposited some 20,000 years ago by retreating glaciers. Cherries in Niagara-on-the-Lake and along the Beamsville Bench taste different, she maintains. She also mentioned that they are selling cherry-themed T-shirts which, like the fruit itself, are made in Canada.
Want your cherries to last longer?
Sara suggests keeping them in the refrigerator, and picking them with the stems on. They’ll last over a week.
“If you pluck the stem off, the air penetrates the fruit faster, and causes it to ripen quickly,” she said.
