Straight through the veggie garden and at the bottom of our orchard, the cherries are slowly gaining their rosy blush. The large sour or tart cherry tree, Prunus cerasus, is in the very center of this photo.

As harvest draws nearer, we’re planning which ladder to use with our extendable picking stick to collect as many beautiful, juicy cherries as possible. I am reasonably certain this is a Montmorency. Often these are called pie cherries.

Although we picked over 10 pounds from this 25′ tree with Son’s help last year, we ran out of steam and let many go to waste. Now that I’ve seen just how wonderful it is to have jars of homemade cherry pie filling in my pantry, I want to be certain we pick them all! None of that fake red, gloppy pie filling in this house. These cherries have yellow flesh, so the pie or other baked treat ends up a more blush red color.

One thing of note is the birds don’t bother our sour cherries much. Perhaps they’re still stuffed from the last of the over-ripe strawberries. Or maybe they’re distracted by the shiny red currants and the ripening raspberries.