Deep-red and delish, Okanagan cherry harvest is on!

Cherries are loving this week's hot, dry weather.

As a result, they've grown glossy-red, plump, juicy, sweet and delicious and are ready to be picked.

"Summer has arrived! " exclaimed Glen Lucas, general manager of the 400-member BC Fruit Growers' Association.

"Cherry season has started in the South Okanagan (Osoyoos, Oliver, Keremeos-Cawston). With the warm weather this week, later season varieties (in the south) and early season varieties (in the north) will start up."

The most common early ripeners are Tieton, Chelan and Van cherries.

The most common late ripeners are Lapins, Skeena, Sweetheart, Sovereign, Sentennial and Staccato.

Traditionally, the fresh cherry season was short-lived in the Okanagan -- usually only a month from late June to late July.

But the Summerland Research Station helped develop later-ripening cherry varieties to extend the fresh season and make cherries and even more important cash crop in both the domestic and export markets.

As a result, fresh cherries are now available into September, making the season a scrumptious three months long.

This all means farm gates, fruit stands, farmers' markets and grocery stores are selling the first of the harvest now.

What makes cherries so glorious is that they seem exotic, tropical and glamourous, yet they are grown right here in the Okanagan.

They're bite-sized glory makes them desirable for eating fresh, either straight up, in a sundae, on a jubilee, in a salad or in a smoothie.

But, they're also prized for juice, jams and jellies and baking (everything from pie, cake, crisps, and cobblers to salsa, sauces, glazes and cocktails).

Cherries also freeze well, so you can haul them out any time of year to use in any of the ways listed above.

"The quantity of cherries is expected to be about 20% less than 'full production" due to cold weather damage to some fruit buds in December," said Lucas.

"But, availability should be good and BC cherry lovers should have no problem finding and enjoying BC cherries."

Full production is considered to be about 16,000 tons per year.

A 20% reduction would be about 3,200 tons, taking this year's crop down to 12,800 tons.

However, individual cherry size could be bigger and firmer -- both big pluses.

At an average 16,000 tons per year coming off 5,000 acres, the economic impact of cherries is around $300 million annually.

That's small compared to apples, which is still king of Okanagan tree fruits with 110,000 tons annually coming off 6,700 acres and accounting for $410 million economic impact.

However, cherries are a growth industry (28% increase in the past eight years because of to meet domestic and export demand) while apples are in slow decline (8% decrease in acreage over the past eight years).

Cherries are more of a speciality fruit and, as such, fetch a hefty price per pound -- sometimes as much as $5 a pound.