Return to the Cherry Orchard

Summer brings a colorful abundance of flavorful fruits and vegetables with none more beautiful and delicious than the cherry. Gathering these garnet gems is a celebration of the season, but only lasts a very short time!

      Once again, I took a drive to visit one of the many cherry farms in Leona Valley, California to pick a few pounds of my favorite fruit. Before I went, I decided to look up the place I went to last year, Copeland's Cherry Farm; I enjoyed the surroundings of this small, intimate farm and looked forward to conversation about the Cherry Festival and the beautiful cherry cupcakes made by a local bakery.
Unfortunately, I quickly learned from a post on the page that the farm was closed this season due to the frost we had in the region earlier this year. Copeland lost their entire crop, and had no cherries on the farm.

     I continued my online search to find Villa del Sol, a family-owned farm, which I had actually passed the previous year because it was packed with people. Since I remembered that, I planned my trip to take place early in the morning to avoid the crowd and enjoy the quiet of the morning in the orchard. I took my son and daughter with me, and we enjoyed the drive, listening to music and sharing funny stories. When we arrived at Villa del Sol, people were already filling the dirt lot as the sun rose into midmorning.

     Many families unloaded mini vans filled with children and grandparents, loaded with cameras and sunscreen. Most of these travelers had driven for two hours to come here, and they approached the entrance with the same enthusiasm as people entering Disneyland; stopping to take photos at the entrance, expressing joy at the sight of the throng of cherry trees loaded with giant red and golden fruit, and listening intently to simple instructions on how to pick from the trees:

1. Do not eat until you pay.
2. Leave the stems on the branches and pick the cherry carefully
3. You pay for what you pick.

The staff at Villa del Sol is comprised mostly of family and close friends, and they treated us like we were a close relative. They were kind, and patient, and wanted you to enjoy your stay and get the best fruit they had to offer, assisting by pulling the branches down close to help you pick the sweetest, ripest cherries. As we filled our baskets, we chatted among the shade of the trees with Ty, Austin, Dylan and Travis to only discover we had more in common than we realized. That is what happens when you stop and say, "Hello" at Villa del Sol. You find friends among the cherry trees.

Roaming among the trees also means dressing appropriately for hot, dry weather. Opt for breathable cottons and comfortable shoes. Blue jeans cover your legs to protect from bugs and scratches. I chose a bit of Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in "Beso" for a cherry-red POP!

Now is the time to plan your cherry picking for the 2019 season. Visit upickcherries.com to sign up for email cherry alerts at Villa del Sol!