I will be picking cherries not thinking of the consequences...

It started with an email... on my birthday... which I didn't see until night time.

FREE BING CHERRIES—Before Wednesday morning. (Wednesday morning they will be spraying them to kill them.) The orchard can’t pay people to pick them because the stores aren’t paying enough a pound to make it worth their while—so they are letting them go.

The Orchard is at the top of the hill on the right side of the road. There is a sign out front of the house which is an olive color. There is a metal shed that sits parallel to the road. Go between the house and the shed and that is where you can pick. There are a lot of trees just full of cherries that are hanging like grapes—in big clumps. I got an apple box and 3 large Tupperware bowls full of cherries in about 10 minutes with 2 of us picking. The trees are loaded. Hurry out today or tomorrow.

So I showed it to Le, who despite the heat was interested. Yesterday she got off early, we got there just after 5pm, in an hour we had 15 Safeway bags FULL of cherries, big, huge cherries. There were hundreds of trees, loaded, best and biggest fruit on the upper branches that we could NOT reach. We had discussed bringing the two step but realized we had forgotten it a mile or so from the house and weren't really sure there would be fruit left... the email said "a lot" not 'hundreds that it would take the whole county to pick' ! so we didn't go back. Like grapes is exactly right, and all along EVERY branch.

We did 14 quarts last night, as soon as I fill 2 more jars I will have another canner full going, Le pitted some for jam and I am going to cut lots to dehydrate, we are borrowing and/or buying a dehydrator. We have enough quart jars to do 28, there are more in the garage... somewhere, pint and assorted jars for the jam and then we will go after containers to store the dried ones in.

But even after giving away four bag fulls on the way home last night and Le taking 2 with her today to give away, we have 'tons' of cherries, a bag seems to fill 7 qts... and I have five bags waiting, and TJ is coming to take her waterbath canner back today and it is almost 1:00 so I am done posting, eh? Tiney is bringing my waterbath canner back WITH HER next Monday ;-}