Jamison Discusses Cherry Season, Agritourism, More

What makes a farmer decide to get into the agritourism game?  Well, for Jim Jamison of Jamison U-Pick Cherries in Richland, it’s a mater of passion.  Jamison, who grew up on a large farm in Nebraska started farming outside of Richland in the mid-1980s.  But, he says it was difficult to get enough cherries ripe at the same time, making it challenging to get the fruit to packing houses.  He said after several years of exploring other options, he decided to go the agritourism route.

“We just came to enjoy it much more.  It’s a time when we get to see people we’ve come to know over the years and only see once or twice a year.  It’s intense, it occupies us fully for a period for anywhere from seven to 14 days, but it is enjoyable.”

As far as this season, he says Mother Nature treated his operation well.

“The water year is strong, we had terrific snowfall here and rainfall after the snow melt, so the soil moisture is great.  The pollination season was OK, the weather was not great with periodic winds and chills but the bees did a marvelous job, and we ended up with a terrific fruit set.”

After two dry years, Jamison says it was nice to see 2017 return to a more seasonable year for the Inland Northwest.  To contact the Jamison Farm, visit their Facebook Page.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com