Cherry lovers across Canada rejoice. Cherry season has arrived.
This is not only great news for cherry lovers, but fruit lovers in general as the arrival of cherry season traditionally kicks off the annual harvest for a huge list of B.C. fruits grown across the entire Okanagan Valley and many other parts of the province.
Laura Hernandes-Garcia, whose family has owned and operated the iconic Fernandes Fruit Stand and adjacent Fernandes Packinghouse in Osoyoos since 1960, said the first few thousand pounds of Chelan variety cherries were picked last Thursday.
Three new varieties, including Titans, Sandra Rose and Christalinas, started being picked by crews Wednesday morning.
By the next two weeks, almost all 10 varieties grown on the Fernandes’ property will be ripe and ready for picking, she said.
“We had our first Chelans arrive five days ago and we had people lined up and ready to buy them last Thursday morning,” said Fernandes-Garcia.
“As long as the sun keeps shining and we don’t get any rain, I’m hoping we’ll have all 10 varieties on sale in a couple of weeks. We’ve had some really nice weather and that’s made things a lot easier.”
The South Okanagan is always the first and only place in Canada producing cherries in early June, she said.
This year’s June 15 start to the season was only a few days later than the beginning of last year’s cherry season, but not as good as two years ago, she said.
“I think it was two years ago that we were selling cherries on June 1,” she said. “That was the earliest start to a season that I can remember in a very long time … maybe the earliest start ever.”
Despite the influx of thousands of young Quebecois and Mexican workers, Fernandes-Garcia said the family operation is still having a difficult time finding enough pickers and other workers early in the cherry season.
“We’re having a tough time finding enough pickers right now,” she said. “We’ve brought in a few Mexican workers the last few days, but we’re still short and looking for help. We know almost all of the other cherry growers in the region and they’re having the same problems.
“There are signs posted up and down the valley looking for workers and we’re all having a tough time filling positions,”
The Osoyoos and Oliver and some parts of the Similkameen Valley near Keremeos and Cawston are always the first places in Canada to offer cherries in June and are usually two to three weeks ahead of growers in places like Summerland and Kelowna, she said.
“People do get excited every single year when the cherries are ready,” she said. “It’s a real right of spring here in Osoyoos and it’s always exciting to be producing the first cherries being grown anywhere in Canada.”
The “funny part” about cherries is that two or three weeks after the season has started, customers “quit asking about cherries and they want to know when the peaches and pears are coming out,” she said.
Glen Lucas, the longtime general manager with the B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association (BCFGA), agreed that it’s always exciting news when the cherry harvest takes place every spring.
“Yeah, it’s always an exciting time of the year because so many people are waiting for it to happen,” he said. “Cherries are obviously the first tree fruit to harvest every spring and it gets everyone excited about the coming season.
“A funny thing is that no news is good news, which means I haven’t been hearing much from cherry producers. I don’t hear from them when things are going well … I usually only hear from them when things are going bad.”
Lucas confirmed cherry growers in and around Osoyoos usually battle growers in and around Keremeos for bragging rights about having the earliest harvest.
While the Canadian market will always be the biggest customer, Lucas pointed out that cherries grown in the Okanagan Valley are amongst the very best in the world and many growers save their best cherries in certain varieties for the international market.
“That’s where they get the best price for their cherries,” he said.
Lucas said he was astounded to visit a market in Spain two years ago in September and the only cherries in that market were from the Okanagan Valley.
“It was September and they tasted fantastic,” he said. “The price they were charging literally made my eyes pop out of my head. They were selling those cherries for 18 Euros per kilogram or the equivalent of well over $15 a pound.”
With the season now well underway in the South Okanagan, cherry producers across the central and north Okanagan should begin harvesting within two weeks with the “peak season” across the entire region being the middle of July, he said.
Cherry producers in B.C. can produce more than 15 varieties, but most of them stick to the 10 biggest sellers, he said.
In 2016, B.C. the industry produced 16,500 tonnes of cherries, an increase of close to 60 percent from 2011 figures, which saw the industry produce 9,300 tonnes, he said.
“That’s an average of 12 percent annually each of the past five years,” he said. “To be on the safe side, we generally go with the figure of 10 percent projected growth year over year.”
The only thing that can harm the cherry harvest moving forward is rain, he said.
“Once cherries start to ripen, they hate the rain because that makes cherries split and forces the producers to have to sort the split cherries with the good ones and it becomes a real problem,” he said. “Up until cherries turn red, they aren’t affected by the rain at all, but that all changes once they start to ripen.
“We’re all just hoping the rain stays away for the next few weeks until the harvest is over.”
