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| Image found at agricultureguide.org |
1 Cherry Tree = 30 Cherry Pies
I recently went with some family to go cherry picking, it was my first time. It's a small cherry farm around Landcaster, CA. The way it worked was you grab a bucket and if you filled up your bucket it was about $40. It was fun for about 5 minutes for me. I got bored and started taking some silly and artistic pictures. There is a catch 22 when it comes to picking fruit. All you want to do is eat the fruit right after you pick it off the tree, but that is against the rules. As you drop the cherry into the bucket, you feel separation anxiety because you really really want to eat it. Then you want to fill your bucket all the way to the top where it over flows then you stop! It cost $40 a bucket, then you realized I will be happy with my half a bucket. I started to think about the first person that looked at a cherry and said, "Hum I am going to eat this." I think this is a good simple minded person activity, good for small children. I think it would have been better with learning some history and more about cherries. There was not enough mental stimulation or learning. The plan after picking the cherries was to meet up and make pies. It was an all day thing with a last pie in the oven at 10 o'clock at night.
Cherries are a great Super Fruit. The darker cherries are higher in antioxidants and vitamin levels. All cherries help to reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. Cherries also have Melatonin in them that help regulate the heart rhythm and sleep cycle. Cherries are a great source of Vitamin A, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Folate and Fiber. Cherries are good for the brain for the prevention of memory loss. It is a natural anti-inflammatory which it is great for those with arthritis and it has been used for many years for gout. There has been studies done that proved that cherries combat body fat and lower sugar levels.
In the United States there are more than a 1,000 different varieties of Cherry trees Most of the trees blossom over a three week period, in late May and early June. America crops produce 300 million pounds of cherries. About 75% of the American crop comes from Michigan. Go Cherries!
