Sour Cherry Harvest

It's been two, maybe three, years ago that my husband planted our orchard by the side of our house. A couple of apple trees, a peach tree, and two sour cherry trees. They are still tiny trees (you can see the trunk of our peach tree in the background of the above photo) and they are no taller than I am with my arms reaching up. We have gaurded them best we can from the deer that graze our property and this year, we noticed small peaches on the peach tree (which have since succumbed to worms) and cherries on (only) one of the cherry trees. Annie and I went out to pick the cherries yesterday and we got more than I thought we would. I pitted and froze those tiny cherries so that sometime I can make a mini cherry pie. Mark says sour-cherry pies are his all-time favorite which he remembers from his childhood. I can still remember my Grandma making the prettiest, brightest-red jam from Oregon sour cherries which we would spread on hearty toasted and buttered bread. Hopefully this little tree will continue to grow and produce even more cherries so our kids can have those memories too.