DOOR COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – There’s an old saying which promises good things to those who wait.
In some places, the season for picking Door County Cherries has arrived.
Clumps of bright red berries are ripe and ready for the picking at Robertson Orchards of Door County.
“It looks beautiful this year. Yeah, they’re easy to pick. There are lots on the tree. They’re beautiful,” said Cindy Beula, Crivitz.
People typically comb the orchards in mid-July, but a cold wet spring delayed the cherry blossoms and pushed back the harvest as well.
“The tarts are getting red. There are still some orange ones that have to ripen up yet, but there’s a lot of nice ones to pick on the outside. The insides will ripen up as the weeks go on here, and the hot weather coming this week should be ready to go,” said Kris Roberston, Robertson Orchards of Door County Owner.
Just up the road at Schartner’s Farm Market, near Egg Harbor, the season for pick-your-own tart cherries is scheduled to start Thursday. The owner says 2019 has been a difficult year, dealing with a barn fire back in March, and some storm damage over the weekend.
“In this orchard here, this 10 acres, we probably lost 10-15 trees, or limbs, not full trees,” said Dave Schartner, Schartner’s Farm Market Owner.
Schartner says the wind and the weight of the berries caused some of the branches to break. Overall, he expects an above-average harvest here.
“I’m hoping now that everybody knows that the fruit is ready to go, that there’s plenty to pick, and it will be a lot of fun,” said Schartner.
Back at Robertson’s an automatic cherry pitting machine is cherry pickers another option.
“It takes two minutes to pit 10 pounds of cherries. So everybody goes, I’d be sitting there for hours trying to pit these couple pails,” said Robertson.
The season typically lasts a couple of weeks or until the supply runs out.
Door County is among the top cherry producing regions in the country.
2,500 acres of orchards typically harvest anywhere between 8-12 million pounds of cherries per year.
