Every year when the black sour cherries are ready, families come from all over to our pick-your-own weekend, which starts on a Saturday in July.  For some, this is a family tradition going back generations.  It is a Brown family tradition as well, because it takes a family reunion to get enough people to work.  We open as soon as someone is awake enough to let people in (and as Mark is an early bird, this has occasionally been 4 or 5 in the morning!), yet there are often people waiting for us in their cars at the end of the driveway.  Depending on the size of the year’s crop, the black sours may last into the next week, or be gone by Sunday.

             Cherry Ridge Farm still uses a Monitor Cherry Pitter patented in 1929.  It successfully removes over 97% of the pits, compared to more modern machines that use pit detectors to remove about 95% of the pits.

 

             Once the pitter is running for farm use, customers may also pay to have their own cherries pitted—from here, or another farm.  The pitter is generally up and running by Cherry Weekend.

This Year’s Black Sour Cherries:

 

July 19, 2008

Date may still change—call the week before to check or if you have any questions:            (518) 828-7018

             First the cherries are run across the conveyor belt.  They are washed at one end and sorted as they go by—on a busy day, there could be six or more people just sorting!  Smaller amounts can be done on only half the belt, but must be washed by hose.  Then they go up through the pitter, the pits are spit out the side into a wheelbarrow to be dumped, and the cherries come out ready to be packed.