We went out early with Deanne and her boys and picked well over 100 lbs. We were guessing it was close to 180, but we didn’t have a scale. However much we got, it was plenty. The freezer is full of pitted bags full, I made cherry crisp, canned up to 7 quarts of pie filling and 8 pints of brandied cherries, started almost ½ gallon of cherry extract in vodka, sun-dried several lbs., and we are still eating fresh cherries 2 weeks later. I will make some cherry jam also, but I just may wait until it cools off and do it with frozen cherries, which works almost as well as fresh ones. Since it’s been in the upper 90s and low 100s, I actually canned the brandied cherries outside on our Coleman camping stove and started to do the pie filling, but had to finish up inside when I ran out of propane. So, before I can again, I have to get some more gas. Canning outside is SOOO nice! When we build our dream house, it will have an outdoor cooking room for sure! ;-)
Here’s a pic of the bountiful harvest, which took the boys and I three hours to pick. Btw, Ealom wins the prize as the fastest cherry picker – I think he picked the most.
Vans, Lamberts, and Royal Annes:
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Both stores near us were out of cherry pitters (of course!) so I borrowed this cutie from my neighbor. It took about an hour to pit 5 lbs. of cherries and my hands were not liking the repetitive motion, but it is much more handy than nothing. The next day I had to go to Portland, so I picked up a large plunger type pitter, which pits oh so much faster; about 30 lbs. an hour. There is no way I would’ve gotten through all those cherries with that single extractor, but it is so cute, when I saw the exact one at a garage sale last week for 10c, I picked it up. Now two people can pit and trade off pitters. Yummy stuff; I love gleaning! :-)
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