We have had such a glut of cherries here in Washington this season. Bad
news for the growers because they have so many of them they have to sell
them at lower prices or let them rot. Good news for cherry lovers and
preservers. Safeway has had them for 97 cents a pound this past week and
with a club card, they were only 77 cents a pound. I bought about 7 pounds
this morning and then washed and pitted them all. Gave them a few pulses in
the food processor to chop and measured them out into 4-cup containers since
that's the amount the Ball pectin calls for to make a batch. I got enough
for three batches, but I've put them in the refrigerator for now. It's noon
and the temperature in the house is 85F and 87 outside and it's supposed to
be 98 today. Tomorrow they say it may be 100 to 105. This is Western
Washington we're talking about! My house is not air-conditioned [sigh].

I also realized I don't have enough sugar so I have to make a trip to Cash
and Carry to buy a 25-pound bag. And I'm not sure where I put all my pectin
(that's what happens when you decided to tidy up your preserving cupboard!).

At least I have plenty of jars, lids and rings.

-Marilyn

Marilyn wrote:
> We have had such a glut of cherries here in Washington this season. Bad
> news for the growers because they have so many of them they have to sell
> them at lower prices or let them rot. Good news for cherry lovers and
> preservers. Safeway has had them for 97 cents a pound this past week and
> with a club card, they were only 77 cents a pound. I bought about 7 pounds
> this morning and then washed and pitted them all. Gave them a few pulses in
> the food processor to chop and measured them out into 4-cup containers since
> that's the amount the Ball pectin calls for to make a batch. I got enough
> for three batches, but I've put them in the refrigerator for now. It's noon
> and the temperature in the house is 85F and 87 outside and it's supposed to
> be 98 today. Tomorrow they say it may be 100 to 105. This is Western
> Washington we're talking about! My house is not air-conditioned [sigh].
>
> I also realized I don't have enough sugar so I have to make a trip to Cash
> and Carry to buy a 25-pound bag. And I'm not sure where I put all my pectin
> (that's what happens when you decided to tidy up your preserving cupboard!).
>
> At least I have plenty of jars, lids and rings.
>
> -Marilyn
>
>
I found Bing cherries for $1.99 a pound a few days ago and we have been
enjoying eating them. Normally they're $3.99 to $5.99 a pound.

I finally found a cherry tree that will grow here but the pollinator for
it doesn't do well here. I hate to plant two trees just to get one to bear.

We visited friends in the Kennewick, WA area a few years ago and it was
marvelous to pick ripe fruit from the trees in their backyard, plums,
peaches, cherries, all the good stuff. I would not want their winters
though.

"George Shirley" > wrote in message
news
> Marilyn wrote:
>> We have had such a glut of cherries here in Washington this season. Bad
>> news for the growers because they have so many of them they have to sell
>> them at lower prices or let them rot. Good news for cherry lovers and
>> preservers. Safeway has had them for 97 cents a pound this past week and
>> with a club card, they were only 77 cents a pound. I bought about 7
>> pounds this morning and then washed and pitted them all. Gave them a few
>> pulses in the food processor to chop and measured them out into 4-cup
>> containers since that's the amount the Ball pectin calls for to make a
>> batch. I got enough for three batches, but I've put them in the
>> refrigerator for now. It's noon and the temperature in the house is 85F
>> and 87 outside and it's supposed to be 98 today. Tomorrow they say it
>> may be 100 to 105. This is Western Washington we're talking about! My
>> house is not air-conditioned [sigh].
>>
>> I also realized I don't have enough sugar so I have to make a trip to
>> Cash and Carry to buy a 25-pound bag. And I'm not sure where I put all
>> my pectin (that's what happens when you decided to tidy up your
>> preserving cupboard!).
>>
>> At least I have plenty of jars, lids and rings.
>>
>> -Marilyn
> I found Bing cherries for $1.99 a pound a few days ago and we have been
> enjoying eating them. Normally they're $3.99 to $5.99 a pound.
>
> I finally found a cherry tree that will grow here but the pollinator for
> it doesn't do well here. I hate to plant two trees just to get one to
> bear.
>
> We visited friends in the Kennewick, WA area a few years ago and it was
> marvelous to pick ripe fruit from the trees in their backyard, plums,
> peaches, cherries, all the good stuff. I would not want their winters
> though.

No, not at all. My parents were raised on the eastern side of the state and
when they got married, they moved here because they hated the blistering
summers and the freezing winters. With the coop that I belong to through
church, what they do is take orders from people and someone makes a run over
the mountains to the central Washington and picks up the produce and brings
it back. We're making our annual end-of-summer camping trip to the north
central part of the state at the end of August and on the way back, we'll
pass through Wenatchee. Lots of fruit stands to buy from just north of
there on Highway 97, which runs along the Columbia River. I'm going to try
to squeeze in some fruit.

-Marilyn