GROWING cherries is more than a job, it's a passion, SARAH HUDSON reports
"Cherry recipe" is not a phrase found in the vocabulary of a cherry grower.
- CHERRY STORAGE
- Once picked, cherries cease to ripen, so they should be eaten within four days of purchase.
- They last longer with the stem attached.
- Store cherries, loosely packed, in an airtight container or plastic bag in the fridge.
- Cherries can also be frozen, pitted, for up to six months.
"Maybe you could dip them in chocolate or stew them up with ice cream and liqueur', Alison Jones, from Wandin Valley Farms in Wangaratta, reluctantly suggests.
"But the best way to eat them is picked fresh."
Yarra Valley cherry grower Michael Aumann says between peak picking time - November to January - they're too busy to cook their pickings.
"At this time of year it's all about survival - a lot happens in a short time," says Michael, who has run MJ and GA Aumann cherries since 1971.
"If I said to my wife 'can you bottle some cherries?' she'd get the jars and throw them at me."
With 80 calories per cup, cherries are low in fat and cholesterol and high in antioxidants. They are said to reduce belly bloat, ease aches, help with sleep and are believed to have anti-ageing powers.
Alison's Wandin Valley Farms is a six-family partnership with 550ha of 20 different cherry varieties, which last year saw a good crop of 400 tonnes.
"We have had to buy a lot of water this year - $60,000 to buy water rights which is the biggest amount we've bought," says Alison.
Michael says the difference between Wangaratta and his smaller 12ha in the Yarra Valley is "chalk and cheese".
"If Wangaratta has no water then the trees die, but that won't happen in the Yarra Valley," he says. "Sometimes we get too much rain.
"If anything you could say climate change is benefiting our cherries because it's not as wet in the winter.
"It is a high-risk fruit. Last year we had the best crop in about 38 years but because of two rain events we lost it.
"But we're not complaining, because that's the way it is. It's our choice."
Michael says cherries generate passion.
"They are not apples. I don't want to be critical of apples, but you can eat them all the time," he says.
"People know its cherry season and it's a short time."
There are more than 50 sweet and sour cherry varieties grown in Australia and both Alison and Michael have their favourites.
"Americans say 'Bing is king', but not here, it's a bit tart," Alison says.
"There's better varieties.
"Merchant is the first cherry of the season and it's the glamour one.
"It's firm and full of flavour with a shorter stem and a rich mahogany colour.
"My favourite is simone and its twin or half sister is lapinis, which is heart-shaped and fleshy."
Sweetheart and ron are also popular.
Ron is round with a beautiful stem, black, nearly crunchy, with a shine and full of flavour.
She says blush, or white cherries, used in Cherry Ripes, were not so trendy but are becoming popular again.
Michael says if consumers had a trusted retailer they could ask for specific varieties.
"If I was blindfolded I might have some difficulty picking the difference (between varieties), but if I'm able to see them I can tell them all apart," he says.
