Tart Cherry Harvest

The "tarts" are ready to harvest

Montmorency is our primary variety, and is the only variety of tart cherry grown commercially to any extent in the U.S.

(right) This is one of our favorite photos and shows the exceptionally heavy crop in 1999. The branches of the trees are just loaded with Montmorencies. We grow over 100 acres, and that is a lot of cherries, so let's get to work!

The equipment

First, we will have a look at the equipment used for the cherry harvest. A variety of specialized equipment is kept available and maintained all year for the brief harvest period. The cherries are mechanically harvested from the trees using a piece of equipment called a shaker. The cherries are immediately immersed in cold water in tanks, and forklifts bring tankfuls of cherries out of the orchard to what is called the cooling pad. At the cooling pad the cherries are cooled for at least 4 hours with fresh water before being trucked to the processing plant.

 

Each tank has a rib around the perimeter for strength and guides on the bottom for the fork lift tines.