Flathead cherry picking in full swing
<p>David Lepez dumps a 30-pound box of cherries into a larger bin Tuesday morning at Mitchell Orchard along Flathead Lake near Yellow Bay. July 29, 2014 in Yellow Bay, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Workers harvest cherries Tuesday morning at Mitchell Orchard along Flathead Lake near Yellow Bay. July 29, 2014 in Yellow Bay, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Katrina St. Sauver counts boxes of cherries and marks a punch card Tuesday morning at Mitchell Orchard along Flathead Lake near Yellow Bay. July 29, 2014 in Yellow Bay, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Cherries hang from a tree Tuesday morning at Mitchell Orchard along Flathead Lake near Yellow Bay. July 29, 2014 in Yellow Bay, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Angel Alpizar sits on a ladder to harvest cherries from the top of the tree Tuesday morning at Mitchell Orchard along Flathead Lake near Yellow Bay. July 29, 2014 in Yellow Bay, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Alan Achoa carries empty cherry boxes Tuesday morning at Mitchell Orchard along Flathead Lake near Yellow Bay. July 29, 2014 in Yellow Bay, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>A worker harvest cherries Tuesday morning at Mitchell Orchard along Flathead Lake near Yellow Bay. July 29, 2014 in Yellow Bay, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Esmeralda Achoa moves a ladder into place Tuesday morning at Mitchell Orchard along Flathead Lake near Yellow Bay. July 29, 2014 in Yellow Bay, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Esmeralda Achoa picks a leaf out of a box of picked cherries Tuesday morning at Mitchell Orchard along Flathead Lake near Yellow Bay. July 29, 2014 in Yellow Bay, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
Roadside stands opening up around Flathead Lake can only mean one thing: The cherry harvest has begun.
“We’re right smack dab in the middle of it,” said Louise Swanberg of Point Caroline Orchard. “We’ve been incredibly busy. Every day we load up a flatbed truck and take another 10,000 pounds to the warehouse.”
Swanberg has been picking Lambert cherries at her orchard north of Lakeside and expects to be picking Lapins next week as they grow sweeter. She said the extra rain in June and the cool nights have helped her crop.
“I have 100 to 200 pounds of cherries on a tree compared to last year where I had about 75 pounds,” said Swanberg, adding that this year’s cherries are firmer and bigger than last year’s.
Flathead Lake Cherry Growers Association President Bruce Johnson expects this year’s crop to surpass last year’s light harvest of 1.75 million pounds.
“This year’s harvest should be right around 2 million pounds,” Johnson said.
“Give or take a hundred pounds,” he joked.
An average harvest is about 2.5 million pounds. This year’s harvest isn’t expected to reach that and Mother Nature isn’t the only factor, Johnson said.
“A lot of orchards, including mine, are in the process of replanting trees,” Johnson said.
Johnson has planted Skeena and Sweetheart cherries on his 5-acre orchard in Blue Bay. Both are red, sweet cherries that ripen in August after the Lapin and Lambert cherries. Johnson said that many of the growers in the cooperative are switching to later-season cherries. It takes these trees at least four years to mature and produce a full crop.
About 75 growers belong to the Flathead Lake Cherry Growers cooperative that ships chilled cherries from the cooperative’s plant at Finley Point to Monson Fruit Co. in Selah, Washington, for processing.
Johnson said that it is too early to tell how the heavy rainfall in July impacted this season’s profit margins.
Rainier cherries also are being harvested and Dan Getman, a grower in Yellow Bay, has been busy picking them and shipping them across the world. He has been impressed with this year’s quality.
“I’ve never seen better fruit. We got some remarkable stuff. With this year’s heat and rain it’s like all the elements in the universe came together and gave us a great bounty,” Getman said while busy picking on his 300-tree orchard. “The Rainiers are big, sweet and perfectly colored. They have everything you’re looking for. I have the perfect Rainiers in my hands right now.”
Getman has been testing 100 Lapin cherries each day and said every day they are getting bigger and sweeter. He should be harvesting them soon.
“We only pick the biggest and best ones. We don’t pick the little ones — they need to be perfect,” Getman said.
Reporter Aaric Bryan may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at abryan@dailyinterlake.com.