I love eating gobs of fruit when it is fresh in season. I have decided that I would rather eat delicious handfuls of fresh cherries for only a few weeks than eat tasteless supermarket cherries every day. I learned about a cherry orchard about 2 hours away and since they were in season, I decided a visit was in order.
I thought about which of my friends might be willing to drive two hours to pick cherries … and thankfully Jamie and Mary were both up for the adventure!
So we drove to Levering Orchard in Ararat, Virginia, got our buckets, climbed some ladders, and picked to our hearts' content!
We decided to pick only sweet cherries for eating instead of sour cherries for pies. They had sweet, sour, and yellow wax cherries. I was surprised at the size of this hundred year old orchard.
There were ripe cherries everywhere we looked!
Unfortunately, the cherries ended up being a bit more expensive than I anticipated, so I only picked about 10 quarts. Even though they were only $2.49/pound, the price added up quickly!
I'm sure you're wondering what one does with 10 quarts of cherries … so far I have made several batches of these cherry almond scones, which I am going to say may be the best scones I have ever made, we ate plenty of fresh cherries, and I froze the rest to use in smoothies. Delicious!
Fun!! thanks for posting!
we live less than 15 minutes from there! And I didn’t even get the first cherry this year! Go figure. (however, I’ve never been to Levering’s cause they’re they “tourist” place and all the other lesser known orchards are cheaper.) i just bought a box of YUMMY plums and nectarines and peaches are starting to come in too. i’m so excited.