Gilroy
– Cherry lovers don’t fret.
The weekend rains did not ruin the melt-in-your mouth delicacy
that sweetly reminds us summer has finally arrived.
Gilroy – Cherry lovers don’t fret.
The weekend rains did not ruin the melt-in-your mouth delicacy that sweetly reminds us summer has finally arrived.
“They’re mostly susceptible when they’re starting to turn pink and ours are still green,” said Andy Mariani, owner of Andy’s Orchards in Morgan Hill. “For the most part, average-wise, I don’t think there’s significant damage in this area.”
Unlike strawberries, another popular fruit in the South Valley, the stone fruit are extremely sensitive and have an extremely short season. A storm will hurt strawberries but it doesn’t completely wipe out the fruit “whereas with cherries if you get a rain right before harvest you might as well put your ladders away,” Mariani said.
Tom Chiala, co-owner of George Chiala Farms in Morgan Hill, said his business was hurt, having lost about 1,000 boxes of strawberries. But that just sets them back this week. They’ll replant and be fine.
“The one thing people don’t realize is a farmer will spend all year cultivating his orchard,” he said. “Rain at the wrong time can ruin an entire year’s effort.”
Fortunately the rains fell this weekend and sunny skies are in the forecast, but if the orchards are soaked next week, the stone-fruit growers will be in trouble.
If cherries are starting to turn color, the rain will cause it to swell and crack, making the fruit unmarketable. Mother Nature both hurt and hampered the cherry crop this year. The unusually rainy winter delayed the season – which at the most lasts three weeks – by about two weeks.
Chuck Buckley, another local cherry farmer, also said his cherries had yet to turn color and weren’t affected by Sunday’s rain. In the Central and San Joaquin valleys the damage was a bit more pronounced, but not substantial.
Tom Gotelli, owner of Stockton-based O-G Packing, said they lost between 5 percent to 15 percent of the crop because of the rain. Still, he said they were “blessed and fortunate” that the damage wasn’t more significant, considering an inch of rain fell on their orchards.
But like other cherry farmers, Gotelli is facing a light crop, about 70 percent less in the Central Valley than usual. And the cherries are about 10 to 12 days behind the normal schedule.
For locals looking for a cherry fix, Mariani believes people who picked up a basket of cherries at a local stand recently didn’t receive high-quality fruit, he said.
The farmer said the cherries have to hail from elsewhere, don’t yield as high a sugar content and we’re probably picked off the tree while still green.
“Santa Clara Valley’s the best district in the whole state for cherries,” he said. “People should be patient and wait for better cherries.”
Heather Bremner is a staff writer. Reach her at hb******@gi************.com or 847-7097.
