6-21 IAT Frozen Cherries

  Treasure Valley cherries take a pretty bad hit. Last week, Channel 7’s Andrea Lutz had a great line when she reported that  “Preparations began Monday for the 79th annual Emmett Cherry Festival. The festivities include four days of events that range from classic car shows, to music, and even the Miss Gem County pageant.

However, one very important factor is missing from this year’s famous festival -- the cherries. The culprit was frost taking out cherry blossoms and many producers lost roughly 90 percent of their seasonal crop. I called Roger Williamson owner of Williamson Orchards and Vineyards:  “How badly were your cherries affected? We lost 1/2 to 2/3 of our crop. What about the apples? Apples aren’t too bad, we’re okay.” Roger told me that the other fruits that he has seemed to be more robust to frost than the cherries but there are other elements involved, meaning when the blossoms are out and when the frost hits and how hard. My recommendation, if mother nature ever comes calling around your house, do not offer her any cherry pie.