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Over the weekend, Joe and I went cherry picking. This was our second year visiting U Pick Orchards in Morgan Hill. They have five ranches in Morgan Hill and Gilroy. The cherry picking season is brief – it seems to be a few weeks max here (late May through mid June). Luckily there were still plenty of cherries at the farm we visited.
We visited Ranch 5, which only had Bings left. They are located at: 550 Monterey Road, Morgan Hill, CA. They are open from 9AM-5PM and should take 20-30 minutes from San Jose, depending on where you’re coming from. The cherries are $5/lb and they do accept credit card. They provide bags – you can’t bring your own. I think those are all the crucial details!
The ranch we visited still had an abundance of cherries (as of June 6th). We picked over 3 pounds in under half an hour. You’re not able to climb trees or use a ladder. It’s handy that I have 6’4″ tall husband 🙂 We tried to avoid pulling off any leaves, as they said it could hurt future crop. The cherries are perfectly ripe and came off easily. There wasn’t an entrance fee or parking fee. It seemed like there were a decent amount of cars but honestly the u pick did not feel crowded.
HOW TO CLEAN
Once we got the cherries home, it was time to clean them. We use Arm & Hammer Fruit & Vegetable Wash with all of our produce. This product safely eliminates pesticides, wax, and soil. It contains all pure ingredients, including baking soda, salt, and plant-derived cleaning agents. It cleans 4x better than water alone. I also appreciate that it doesn’t leave before a taste or odor. All you have to do is spray your produce with this wash. Then, gently rub produce to remove soil and wax. Finally, rinse under water to wash away any pesticides, wax, and soil. Enjoy!
WHAT TO MAKE
Since we ended up picking over 3 pounds, I figured I should probably find some recipes. Of course we love to eat fresh cherries but realistically we aren’t going to eat them all before they go bad. Naturally we thought of pie first. Who doesn’t love baked goods with fresh fruit?! We’re only two people so we opted for Cherry Hand Pies. These are great because we can share them with friends and family and freeze some. Here are some other recipes that look good: cherry muffins, bourbon cherries, and cherry jam.
I hope these tips helped you. I’m shocked that I haven’t done a summer fruit u pick post before! I did share a Bay Area apple picking post last fall if you want to save it off for this year.
Thank you, Arm & Hammer, for sponsoring this post!
