Cherry Season 2019!

We went to Wandin to get some cherries today. There were sooo many people with the same idea that all the cars caused a traffic jam in Cherry Lane (where many of the orchards are located). It was crazy.. Cherry Haven next door had to turn people away because there was literally no room to fit anymore into their carpark. Nearby cherry orchards had signs up stating U-Picks (pick your own) had closed because there were no more cherries on the trees.

We were told that the cold season had not been good for the harvest, so there were less cherries to go around. Perhaps there will be more when we finally get more sunshine and warm weather in Melbourne, by the next couple of weeks perhaps. 

Cherryhill was buzzing with activity. There was a line of people with big buckets waiting to go into the orchard to pick all those goodies off the trees. There were a little cafe that sells cherry spritzers, cherry soft serves, cherry ice creams, and prepacked boxes of cherries. Out in the yard, there were entertainment in the form of a singer with a guitar, food trucks, photo ops with the beautiful view of the valley. It was a well oiled commercial machine. They even had Mandarin speaking staff to assist the tourists. 

Incidentally, this was also the place where someone opened their car door right into ours in the parking yard and then walked off in full view without apologising or even acknowledging what they had done. It was not a good experience. What should have been a relaxing trip to the country turned into what felt like pre-Christmas shopping frenzy. You know, where people wrestle each other to the ground for the last turkey roast, and driving like lunatics in the shopping centre carparks. 

While cherries were in short supply, we managed to get a 1kg box from another orchard which was less commercialised, less busy and caters more for locals. The cherries were bigger than the ones available right now in the markets, but of course one has to pay for quality. They were $22 per kg. The verdict? Juicy, but not as sweet as imagined. Perhaps the crop in two weeks' time, will be better.