It took nearly an hour for our gardener to pick these cherries at the allotment yesterday afternoon and he didn't even strip the whole tree. I was hoping the birds would have stolen most of them. They look wonderful but they are sour cherries. Even too sour for the birds.
The best - and most abundant - cherries I've ever tasted were grown in Armenia. Especially this white variety.
We were visiting Robin's cousin and his Armenian family during the cherry season,
which was a wonderful bonus for us as these were from their own cherry trees on their land,
so the house was always full of bowls of cherries to be dipped into any time. Which I did and still never tired of them.
After the Armenian white ones, the black ones that you can buy in this country are my favourite.
So even though we have a glut of sour ones, we also have one small tree, a sweet black eating cherry, planted by Robin all those years ago, which for the first time this year produced at least 30 amazing shining cherries - see below in the centre of the photo.
I ducked under the netting I'd flung and pegged over the tree and picked them all. Along with blackcurrants and redcurrrants. There should also be a punnet of strawberries in the photo as I picked those as well but must have left them on the newly strimmed grass path by the bed. I forgot to go back and collect them today so I expect the birds enjoyed them for breakfast.
Now I'm left with a huge bowl of glowering sour cherries in the fridge. I don't fancy making jam out of them - all that skimming the froth and pip editing. Probably need to get over my pique first - that they are sour and not sweet - accept what they are and find a way to love them. Cooking them with sugar, pips and all, to sweeten the sourness, would be a place to start.
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