It’s that time again! Cherries are becoming ripe on the tree, and whether you prefer sweet or sour, they can bolster your pantry with several tasty treats for months to come. As this was our first year living a new home with 2 amazingly fruitful trees, we’ve had a great time picking and planning for how we will use them. Check out the ways we will make this year’s modest cherry harvest last!
Assuming that the birds haven’t eaten all of your harvest (you’ll know your cherries are ripe when the birds start to steal them), you can research your particular type of tree to determine when they are ready for pickin’ and eating! Pesky birds getting too many of them? We have had great success with hanging scratched DVD’s and CD’s from the branches. The reflective light is distracting for the birds, and they’ve pretty much left our crop alone.
Picking can be time consuming, but if you’re up for taking the cherries off the branches by the stems (instead of taking just the fruit), you can usually get 3-6 cherries at a time. I enlist the help of all my kids to do this. The older ones can get high up on ladders, while the younger ones use a makeshift scaffolding that’s wide enough to walk on safely and is lower to the ground. There will always be those beautiful cherries that live at the top and we won’t be able to reach. We’ll consider this our gift to the wild birds that live in the area!
They forgot to mention cherry pies! Can’t wait…
Bright, shiny objects! 
What do you think?