Orchard Talk

Bring the whole family to the orchard for a fun, affordable day trip they won’t soon forget! Our trees are all specially trimmed so the cherries are accessible, even for small children.

Pick your own tart cherries: You can pick your own tart cherries in season right from the tree and we will wash them and pit them for you. This year they are $1.00 a pound, and there is a flat $6 fee for washing and pitting (any amount) while you wait.

Still Picking Sweets: The sweet cherry picking is really great right now. You can pick dark sweet (Bing) cherries for $1.75 per pound, and light sweets (Rainier or Queen Anne) for $1.25 a pound.

Picking Raspberries: We also have raspberries ripening and turning deep red in the warm, summer sun. You can go out to the patch and pick your own for $4 a pint.

Need Directions? Visit our map page or get Google Map Directions from your location. Call us toll-free at 877-937-5464 if you have questions.

Tags: michigan tart cherries, pick tart cherries, pick your own, raspberries, u-pick cherries

The Cherry Marketing Institute is sponsoring some fantastic cherry recipes at allrecipes.com right now. Super Fruit (Cherry) Lime Muffins, Berry Good Oatmeal, Mango Cherry Avocado Salad, and Chewy Cherry Whole Grain Cereal Bars are just a few of the creative cherry recipes they’re highlighting.

Warning: The pictures will make you hungry. I hope you have some dried tart cherries in stock!

Tags: dried cherries, tart cherries, Tart Cherry News

Peter Barnes talks to Dr. Wendy Bazilian, the author of “The Super Foods RX,” and Jeff Manning, Cherry Marketing Institute CMO about the rebranding of tart cherries and their health benefits.

It sure is nice to see the news getting out about the versatility, availability and healthfulness of tart cherries. Truth be told, I have never really loved the “Not Just Another Berry” tag line. I believe marketing should clarify, not confuse, and Peter Barnes rightly points out that cherries are not a berry at all.

My favorite part of the interview is when Peter Barnes exclaims, almost as if surprised, “They’re Delicious!”

We’d love to hear your thoughts. What do you think would make the best tagline or slogan for Montmorency Tart Cherries?

In Celebration of National Cherry Month, here are some interesting historical facts about Tart Cherries.

Cherries have pleased the palates of food lovers for centuries. Their ruby-red color and tangy taste won cherries a place on the tables of Roman conquerors, Greek citizens and Chinese noblemen. For history buffs, you might like to know that:

• Cherries were brought to America by ship with early settlers in the 1600s.
• Cherry trees were part of the gardens of French settlers as they established such cities as Detroit, Vincennes, and other Midwestern settlements.
• Modern day cherry production began in the mid-1800s. Peter Dougherty was a Presbyterian missionary living in northern Michigan. In 1852, he planted cherry trees on Old Mission Peninsula (near Traverse City, Michigan). Much to the surprise of the other farmers and Indians who lived in the area, Dougherty’s cherry trees flourished and soon other residents of the area planted trees.
• The first commercial tart cherry orchards in Michigan were planted in 1893 on Ridgewood Farm near the site of Dougherty’s original plantings. By the early 1900s, the tart cherry industry was firmly established in the state with orchards not only in the Traverse City area, but all along Lake Michigan from Benton Harbor to Elk Rapids.

• 

  The first cherry processing facility, Traverse City Canning Company, was built just south of Traverse City, and the ruby-red fruit was soon shipped to Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee.

• Today, on average, the United States produces more than 650 million pounds of tart and sweet cherries. Michigan grows about 75 percent of the U.S. crop of tart cherries, usually about 250 million pounds.

To learn even more about cherries – their history, the cherry industry, taxonomy, cultivars, processing – please visit our All About Cherries Page.

Did you know? Montmorency dried tart cherries are certified heart-healthy by the American Heart Association.

To help raise funds in support of the American Heart Association’s mission, for every person who visits choosecherries.com to learn more about the heart-health benefits of cherries, a donation will be made in their name (up to $5,000).

The American Heart Association’s mission is to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

Tags: Tart Cherry News