Topic: Morello Cherry

[tricia]

This was my 10 year old Morello cherry tree just before I started picking, (2.2 kg)  today. There are at least another three kilos on the tree. They have to wait a couple of days though - till my hands have recovered from pitting those I harvested today! (Arthritis is no fun, believe me!)

I think the harvest will be slightly lower than last year which was 6.4 kg but I will still be supplying my friends and neighbours with cherries for jam, pies or crumbles! - and loaning out my cherry stoner too .

Tricia 

Blossom and fruiting:





 

[galina]

love your pictures of these red jewels.  There is an intensity about morello's colour that isn't there in ordinary cherries.  Sorry about your hands.  Congratulations on a nice haul Tricia 

[Yorkshire Lass]

How have you managed to keep the birds off these lovely cherries?

[Vinlander]

How have you managed to keep the birds off these lovely cherries?

All the books say (and my own experience fits this) that birds don't go for morello cherries - or at least they are low down their list - normal cherries and juneberries (saskatoon) seem to be top of it at this time of year, with blackcurrants quite close once they start to get sweet.

There is something missing from the flavour of morello cherries when they are raw and I assume that's what puts the birds off but I still really enjoy them raw (I may be 'lucky' in this respect - I can detect something much more important missing from all cooked fruits - though pears & maraschinos are still delicious).

Cheers

[tricia]

I've been meticulous over the years and have netted the tree as soon as the fruit begins to colour - but I think that Vinlander may be right because the tree is still full of fruit and the birds haven't been near since I took the netting off yesterday morning . I might think again about netting next year, it's not easy for me to do so I think I'll just keep an eye on it as the fruit ripens to see if the birds do take an interest.

I planted a Sunburst sweet cherry last year. It had just one fruit which ripened a week or so ago. Would you believe I was so determined to get a taste that I protected the cherry with a tiny piece of gauze from the moment it started to swell. It was worth it - tasted great, so I'm looking forward to a proper harvest next year.

Tricia 

[sparrow]

It looks fantastic Tricia, congrats.

I replaced Mum's dead tree with a new fan-trained one (easier for her to get to now she's not so steady on her pins) and that is now netted. Perhaps Kingston birds have different tastebuds, but her old tree would be stripped by blackbirds and starlings if she didn't start picking sharpish. They descended en masse when the cherries ripened.

[Vinlander]

..... Perhaps Kingston birds have different tastebuds, but her old tree would be stripped by blackbirds and starlings if she didn't start picking sharpish. They descended en masse when the cherries ripened.

I'm in north London so not much is different except we don't get swarms of starlings here  - result! (I celebrate the death or absence of any bird that doesn't eat mainly insects - like every good gardener should - maybe every good human).

But I still think the availability of something they greatly prefer to morellos is the key - and that can have huge variations if the weather affects some fruit species more than others - I don't know of any easy way to predict what can be ripe when morellos are.

At the moment for example the last blackcurrants are literally dropping off the bushes and they were very sweet when my morellos coloured up enough to eat.

Cheers.

[tricia]

My Bird feeder station is less than two meters away from the tree with multiple choice menus - maybe that is why the birds show no interest in the cherries!

Tricia   

[squeezyjohn]

I've found that birds only eat your fruit in large amounts if it's a hot and dry spell ... I suspect they use it more to get a drink than something to eat!  I'm considering putting bird baths/water drinkers up around the fruit I can't net next time as I lost a lot of fruit in the couple of really hot days last week.

[Vinlander]

I've found that birds only eat your fruit in large amounts if it's a hot and dry spell ... I suspect they use it more to get a drink than something to eat!  I'm considering putting bird baths/water drinkers up around the fruit I can't net next time as I lost a lot of fruit in the couple of really hot days last week.

Now that's what I call proper lateral thinking - I must try it too - though I might be very tempted to take a pop at any pigeons if they aren't in front of my fruit.

Cheers.

[squeezyjohn]

Thanks ... I don't grow morellos because there's loads of wild old trees by the roadside near me to collect from, most of which are the dark morello type.  But I have also noticed that the birds go for almost any other type of cherry first before they touch those morellos.