DOOR COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – With anywhere from 8 to 15 million pounds produced each summer, tart cherries are big business in Door County, and the middle of July typically means it’s prime picking time.
Just north of Forestville at Meleddy Cherry Farm, branches are heavy with the year’s tart cherry crop.
“Pretty much, just walk up to a tree, and you could just pick whatever is in arm’s reach, and you can stand at one tree and fill a bucket and not even almost reach above your head,” said Sandy Matuszak from Pittsfield.
Matuszak and her family say they filled four buckets in about a half an hour.
“The fruit looked great. The berries are really ripe,” she said. “They’re tart and sweet at the same time. And there’s not even any bruising.”
Picking started on Saturday. Owner Tom Selvick says weather conditions have been dry.
“This Montmorency tart cherry, they will push their own reserves to ripen the fruit. Now, I’m anticipating, with how dry it was, that there could be a few more dead trees next spring because the trees have used a lot of their reserve to bring this fruit in.”
Selvick says the trees are resilient and expects them to adjust.
Just up the hill inside the big white barn, the sound of a mechanical cherry pitter fills the Monday morning air.
People clean their fruit before handing the bin to a worker, who pours in the cherries. It takes about 20 seconds for the machine to remove the pits and deposit the cherries on a conveyer belt below.
Bill Loppnow from Manitowoc says he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Of course, that’s the best part,” he said. “It saves a lot of time, and it’s just really great to just have them pitted and go home and put them in the freezer, and you’re ready to go.”
Back in the orchard, Matuszak and her family continue to pick.
“We just like to do things like this with our grandkids because they enjoy it,” she said. “And then we have the fresh fruit that we know where it’s coming from, and we process it, so we know what’s in it.”
So, what do you do with the cherries?
People say they eat them fresh, dry them, bake them into pies, or make jelly or jam.
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