Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Cherry Picking

A few months ago a man arrived at French General with a huge bouquet of fresh lilacs.  Beautiful, fresh home grown lilacs - I thought I had died and gone to heaven.   A few months earlier, I had contacted Big John's Cherry Orchard to see about coming up and picking cherries with my family. Tim, the owner, decided to come visit us first. With over 300 large and mature cherry trees on 2 and half acres of flat ground, Tim grows Bings, Utah Giants, Black Tartarians, Brooks, Early Burlats, and Rainers completely pesticide free. Each tree gets tender loving care from seedling to full grown tree. They have been using a expert local bee keep for years, which insures natural pollination for every tree. Not only does Tim grow cherries at the orchard, but he has a five acre farm at home where he grows all sorts of lavender varieties and lilacs - hence the delivery to French General!  This weekend, with the cherries in full bloom, we drove an hour north of Los Angeles and set to work picking cherries. After tasting all sorts of delicious cherries we each settled on our favorite tree and picked to our hearts content. Afterwards, Tim took us up to his home where he gave us a full tour of the lavender fields. We set up a picnic under the shade and had a birthday lunch for Sofia. It was a great day - made me want to throw in the towel, move out to the country, plant an organic farm and raise black chickens. Thanks Tim for a wonderful day at your orchard and home, I can't wait to return next season! For those of you nearby Los Angeles, this is the perfect day in the country. Drive up, spend a day cherry picking and meet Tim - you'll come home with baskets full of cherries and a jar or two of his lavender honey.  

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