Northwest Cherry Season Is Here

You’ve probably noticed that local cherries have finally made their way to neighborhood grocery stores and fruit stands across the Northwest.  And the expectation this year is for a sizeable crop.  Northwest Cherries is expecting a crop this year between 22-22.5 million 20-pound boxes.  BJ Thurlby, President of Northwest Cherries, says Mother Nature was very kind to growers this year.

“We've just had this very nice spring, this, you know, a mild winter with, with enough chilling hours to get the trees good and set up for the season. And then we've had this mild spring that's, you know, we've had several plenty days in the 70s, lots in the higher 60s and that's truly just like perfect cherry production while.”

NW Cherry Crop Expected To Produce Fruit For Months

Thurlby noted that he’s expecting this crop to harvest fairly evenly, meaning a lot of great Northwest cherries throughout much of the summer months.

“You know what we're staring down the barrel of, I think is one of those great summers where there's going to be lots of fruit from Washington, Oregon, Utah, Idaho and Montana. And we're going to have it from June 1st all the way through the end of August.”

The latest forecast shows that local growers are reporting good sized fruit, which typically results in a good, juicy flavor.

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