The recent heat wave pummeling the Flathead has most of the valley’s inhabitants running for shade. But some of the valley’s most popular characters – the Flathead cherries – are basking in the sun.
A warm beginning to summer has the upcoming cherry harvest about 10 days to two weeks ahead of schedule, but sweet, red fruits are thriving.
“They’re going to be early; early for us,” Pat McGlynn of the Flathead County Extension Office said. “We’re really fine. We’ve still got our cool nights, which is our saving grace over here.”
Extra heat hasn’t hurt the existing crop, which overall is a bit smaller than previous years due to a large winter kill that happened last November. The self-thinning effect from the winter kill, though, has given the surviving fruit better size and flavor, McGlynn said.
And orchards that weren’t affected by the freeze, such as those on Finley Point, are almost at over-production, she said.
Ken Edgington, a member of the board of directors for the Flathead Cherry Growers group, said his crop at Bear Dance Orchard in Yellow Bay is doing well despite the weather.
“We figure we’re about 10 or 11 days earlier than normal. The heat might speed it up a little bit,” Edgington said. “The water supply for the trees seems to be holding.”
Most of the orchards are irrigated, McGlynn said, and the cherry trees are enjoying the sun while their roots pull in extra water.
The early arrival of the cherries won’t likely hamper Flathead cherry growers as far as the markets with Washington are concerned, McGlynn said. Though Washington typically floods the market early on with its cherries, the state has received the same heat, and the crops there are also ahead of schedule.
McGlynn also said some of the Santina cherries planted in test plots in some local orchards as part of a cherry variety research project are now providing fruit. Having fresh, local cherries before the Fourth of July has rarely, if ever, occurred, she said.
This will help local farmers compete with Washington cherries as well.
“We have one that will take the place of people bringing them in from out of state,” McGlynn said.
Barring any sort of meteorological event that could hamper harvest, such as a heavy rain right before the cherries are picked, McGlynn and Edgington said the 2015 cherry season will likely provide as much happiness and sweetness as in previous years of a good crop.
“It’ll be interesting to see how may tons (the cherry growers) get,” McGlynn said. “It’ll be interesting to see how it all shakes out.”