In most years we would be harvesting cherries this week. However, we have an almost complete loss of our sweet and tart (pie) cherry crops. The cold temperatures in April killed 99% of the blossoms. We had high hopes for the fruit that formed from the 1% of the blossoms that did survive the freeze. But over the past few weeks they aborted and fell off the trees because they were likely affected by internal cold damage.
Fortunately, one of our neighboring fruit growers (Mark Wilson) survived the freeze with a
sizable tart (pie) cherry crop intact, and agreed to allow us to harvest some cherries from his orchard. (He is probably one of only 2 or 3 growers in our region who were not completely wiped out of cherries by the freeze in April.) We visited Mark's orchard and found that his cherries meet our quality standards (they are beautiful!). So, although we do not have our own pie cherries to sell,
we are pleased that we can offer local pie cherries to our customers at some of our markets!
Because the majority of the markets we attend are dedicated to upholding the "grower-only" principle, we will not be able to bring our neighbor's pie cherries to most of our markets. However, the managers of some of our markets have been willing to work with us in light of our circumstances and have allowed us to sell our neighbor's cherries at their markets. We will have tart (pie) cherries for sale at the following markets this weekend (June 25 & 26), and the following weekend (July 2 & 3). So if you don't see pie cherries at your favorite market, then head on over and pay us a visit at one of these markets!!!
Vienna
Faith Baptist Church Parking Lot, 301 Center St. S.
Saturdays,
8:00 AM – Noon
Fairfax
Adjacent to Historic Fairfax County Courthouse
Saturdays,
8:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Fairlington
Fairlington Community Center, 3308 S. Stafford St.
Sundays,
9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Palisades
48th Place NW at MacArthur Blvd.
Sundays,
9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
If you'd like to place an order for pie cherries (prices are $7.50/quart, 2 quarts for $14.00, 6 quart flat for $40.00) at one of these 4 markets, please do not hesitate to call us at 717-334-2722 or send us an email at
info@kuhnorchards.com.
Please note: We can only take orders for the weekend of July 2 & 3. Please place your order by 3pm, July 1
.
As for this weekend, w
e have loaded plenty of Pie Cherries on the trucks for these 4 markets, with hopes that we have enough for all our customers. We will have the pie cherry sales (2 quarts for $14.00 and 6 quart flat for $40.00) at these 4 markets this weekend as well.
On a further note, in April we planted an additional 3 acres of Pie Cherries in a different location than our current plantings with hopes that it might be a more frost/freeze resistant site. But the realities of growing fruit are that there will be years when we lose an entire crop to a weather event.
