DOOR COUNTY CHERRIES!
Jul
10
Written by:
7/10/2012 5:52 PM
Door County is famous for Cherries. The crop this year though is not anywhere near what is typical. Each year the weather affects the crop. The warm days we had in March led the trees to blossom too early and then freeze.
There are still cherries available to purchase in the area.
With Door County being such a cherry county, its fun to learn more about cherries. Here are some cherry facts for you!
Cherries: Fresh, hand-picked tart and sweet cherries are usually available mid July-mid August for purchase.
Varieties of cherries:
• Montmorency: tart cherry, very versatile-mostly used for baking
• Balaton: "late harvesting" tart cherry, very versatile-mostly for baking
• Bing: sweet cherry, eating
• Queen Anne: sweet cherry, eating
• Rainier or Royal Anne: sweet cherry, eating
Cherries may not always be in season, but there are many options to choose from during the off-season. (Dried cherries and frozen cherries are available, and they are some of the most popular options for baking, etc during the winter months.)
Cherry Facts
• Wisconsin grows approximately 5% of the nation's cherry crop.
• The total U.S. tart cherry crop is 200-400 million pounds of cherries!
• Tart, Montmorency cherries is the variety grown primarily in the U.S.
• Door County is a great area to raise cherries because the lake tempers the spring frosts.
• Tart cherries are mostly sold frozen, dried or in juice.
• Cherry pie filling is the #1 canned pie filling seller in supermarkets.
• The U.S. leads the world in sweet cherry production - the total production is about 370 million pounds.
• Most sweet cherries are sold fresh during the summer months.
• The most famous sweet cherry variety is the Bing Cherry
