Today we picked the cherries from our dwarf cherry tree. Well, it was a dwarf tree when we planted it, but grew taller than I expected. It's still not a huge tree and we often have a meager harvest. This year the tree was full of beautiful fruit, a sight that made me feel so happy I did a little dance. I ate all the fruit on the lower branches, then watched the crows and scrub jays feast on the cherries high in the tree. At first, I felt generous, but then decided we needed to get serious about cherry picking. So, Bob hauled out the ladder and we picked about 3/4 of the fruit today. I left the rest for the birds, because I don't want my harvest next year to be jinxed by greed.
When I offered some cherries to my neighbor, he gave us freshly picked strawberries. These were small, sweet berries, totally unlike the bland monsters sold at the store. Some were as small as raspberries, with an intense sweet odor that clung to my fingers.
I still have plenty of cherries left and I may bake something with them. But, today we had strawberries and cherries, unadorned, straight up. It was so simple. And I felt grateful.
in our fridge, i have a shelf full of strawberrirs and cherries too. i'm thinking i'll make a crisp, yum. your cherry tree sounds wonderful, i'm beyond jealous!!
Posted by: aria | May 20, 2007 at 03:50 AM
My mouth is watering -- the fruit looks so lovely!
Posted by: Lydia | May 20, 2007 at 03:54 AM
Grateful with plenty ... enough to share with the squirrels and the birds.
Great neighbor you are and have!!! That's the best.
I wish I has something simple like this going today and not what I'm taking on!
Fabulous pictures again!
Posted by: Tanna | May 20, 2007 at 04:19 AM
Geeesh, I'd nearly do anything for a bowl auf this fruity delightfulness ;o) cherries and strawberries are my favourite fruits and yours look soo yummy...
Posted by: astrid | May 20, 2007 at 05:42 AM
Oh Sher, what a wonderful life! Nothing can beat the simpilicty that you enjoyed - frshly picked fruits from home garden. :)
Posted by: Anh | May 20, 2007 at 05:43 AM
The photos are lovely, Sher. We forget, sometimes, that simple is the best. I'd love to just munch on the cherries & strawberries all by themselves.. sounds wonderful! =)
xoxo
Posted by: Lisa | May 20, 2007 at 06:02 AM
Lucky you. Nothing tastes better than fresh cherries. When I was a kid we would eat too many of them and get sick!
Posted by: Kalyn | May 20, 2007 at 06:16 AM
There's nothing like fresh-picked home grown fruit, is there? I can almost taste them.
Posted by: Kelly Cat's favorite human | May 20, 2007 at 06:55 AM
So beautiful. It's like a bowl of summer.
Posted by: Glenna | May 20, 2007 at 07:27 AM
I can almost taste the flavors in that bowl.
Posted by: kate | May 20, 2007 at 07:39 AM
I know the feeling, Sher. You are so right.
Posted by: ilva | May 20, 2007 at 08:07 AM
Beautiful. I love cherries.
Posted by: Brilynn | May 20, 2007 at 10:34 AM
You have cherries already? I'm so jealous. Ours won't be for a few weeks yet.
We have a sour cherry tree, as well. I haven't a clue what to do with them ut I have to figure it out. The birds leave those alone!
Posted by: Katie | May 20, 2007 at 12:46 PM
WHAT A LOVELY PICTURE!!! THOSE STRAWBERRIES AND
CHERRIES TRIMMED WITH A BIT OF GREEN. I LOVE
FRESH CHERRIES AND STRAWBERRIES. CHURCH HAD A
PARTY FOR THE 80'S AND OVER TODAY, TRAYS OF
FRUIT, SANDWICHES, BROWNIES, AND TRIFLE (made by the minister with cake,raspberries,whipped cream and sherry) yum yum SEE YOU SOON
LOVE BUNTY
Posted by: Bunty | May 20, 2007 at 02:44 PM
These are gems!!! Nothing better than these locally (own gardern the best!) grown cherry & berry in season! I envy you Sher :) :)
Posted by: gattina | May 20, 2007 at 03:27 PM
When I was little, my parents' garden had loads of fruits in it but for some reason they don't seem to grow so well anymore. :(
The cherry tree was the one we NEVER got fruits from. Not because it didn't produce them, but it was so tall that we couldn't pick them and the crows would have them away.
Posted by: Ros | May 20, 2007 at 04:19 PM
Oh my god, I love you and your neighbour. You guys had such lovely harvest. Have been thinking of planting strawberries, what is a good time, any idea ?
Posted by: sandeepa | May 20, 2007 at 06:50 PM
All those cherries makes me hungry for some scones with cherry compote. I never really cared for cherries until last summer when we got some in our CSA and I had to find a recipe for them. This one was divine...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_17499,00.html
Posted by: Zipporah | May 20, 2007 at 08:57 PM
Aria,
Oh, a crisp would be so nice! I hope you make it and share the photos with us!
Lydia,
Thank you! Cherries are lovely, aren't they?
Tanna,
Yes, I will be leaving simple behind in a few days--and it may be doing the same thing you're doing! :):) It was nice to experience something so simple.
Astrid,
I wish I could share my cherries with you! Would the kitties like them? Well, maybe to bat around on the floor. :)
Anh,
It is very nice to pick things from a garden or yard. And when you have a limited amount, it makes it even more precious!
Lisa,
Yes, the flavors of some things speak for themselves, don't they? They don't need improvement.
Kalyn,
Actually, I think I've been eating too many cherries myself--had a bit of a tummy ache too on Saturday! :)
Kelly Cat's Human,
Oh yes! I wish I had other fruit trees. That would be so nice.
Glenna,
What a lovely way to phrase it!
Kate,
Thank you! Cherries and strawberries make me feel hungry just looking at them.
Ilva,
I kept thinking how you would be able to get a picture of the fruit that captured it's essence!
Katie,
You are so lucky to have sour cherries! How I envy you! It's almost impossible to get them here in my area. I love sweet cherries, but the sour ones make the best pies and jams. Try them in a tart or cherry pie. I'm swooning thinking about a sour cherry pie. That's the kind George Washington ate. :):)
Bunty,
They may still have some of the cherries when you get here. Not from my tree though.
Gattina,
I can only imagine what wonderful things you would do with those cherries and strawberries. I see little pastry baskets made specially for them in your kitchen. :):)
Ros,
Ah yes! Crows were landing in our tree too! Sometimes when fruit trees get old, they don't produce as well. Not sure why that is. Maybe they just feel tired, like people!
Sandeepa,
Oh strawberries are so nice. The first year you don't get much--but they start increasing every year. And the taste! Around here, we plant in the spring. Where you are, it might be the right time.
Zipporah,
Thanks for the great link! I like that recipe very much and am thinking of making it. :):)
Posted by: sher | May 20, 2007 at 11:50 PM
I can't believe you have cherries already either. Your season is way ahead of ours.
Having your own cherry tree must be wonderful, but it's your neighbor's small, flavorful strawberries that I really lust after. The strawberries I find, even those at the farmer's market, never seem to live up to their promise. Even when they have a wonderful fragrance the taste doesn't seem to be there. And yes, they're always giant.
I just read a description of a strawberry called Mara des Bois which White Flower Farms says "produces aromatic fruits about the size of acorns with a rich, sweet flavor and tender flesh." I am sorely tempted to try and grow my own.
Here's an article about Mara de Bois: http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2006/july/karp_wiles.php
Posted by: Julie | May 21, 2007 at 04:20 AM
Sher, this is soooo not fair, sweetie! ;)
The berries and cherries are beautiful. They made my mouth water, if I might add. :)
Posted by: Patricia Scarpin | May 21, 2007 at 08:22 AM
That reminds me of the million cherry stands we would see on the way home from the bay area to Salinas/Monterey...you know in Gilroy they have all those cherry stands? We used to always stop by there and pick up some cherries on the way home. Yummm.
Posted by: Jennifer | May 21, 2007 at 01:17 PM
Those strawberries remind of the ones my grandpa grew. Small, sweet and the smell - mmmm! I always smell the packages of strawberries at the grocery. If I can't smell anything - I don't buy! :)
Posted by: April | May 22, 2007 at 06:41 AM
Beautiful fruit Sher! I love strawberries, but am a total snob about them. I flat out refuse to buy them in the grocery store because they taste like nothing.
Cherries always remind me of summers in Door County, Wisconsin.
Posted by: e | May 23, 2007 at 10:10 AM
I'm so jealous, I love cherries! I can't wait for cherry season here in WA. I can eat so many cherries in one sitting it's frightening. :)
Posted by: Amy | May 24, 2007 at 12:29 PM
Oh, I can't believe I missed this post! It's just beautiful, Sher! Now, what's your address, because I'm moving so I can be your neighbor. ;)
Posted by: Susan from Food "Blogga" | May 24, 2007 at 01:35 PM
How did I miss this post? Such beautiful photos. Just looking at them sets the salivary glands into overdrive!
I have one, rather forlorn, strawberry plant that's producing aright, but one has to get there before the birds and slugs. Yuk! Nothing worse than a slimed, half-eaten strawberry.
Posted by: Christine | May 26, 2007 at 12:10 PM
i would like to gain permission to use your images on your website.
Posted by: joclyne | November 29, 2007 at 04:50 AM
I went to Costco and bought cherries that looked so very good. They taste like nothing. How, indeed, can we get cherries that taste like those that came off trees that were in our neighborhood when I was a child?
Mary
Posted by: mary browning | January 26, 2011 at 03:59 PM