Cherry Trees and More

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFruit trees and the installation of home orchards have become extremely popular these last few years.  Larger home lots in town can easily support several fruit trees and even smaller lots can have apple trees with the introduction of the Triple Play apple tree. and two new columnar apple tree varieties.   Larger lots and country acreages can easily have more fruit trees and with a variety of trees.

This week, we harvested enough cherries off of one of the young cherry trees to make our first homemade cherry pie!  What a treat!  Most cherry tree varieties are self-fertile so you only need to have one tree!  We carry a selection of cherry trees including Evans Bali Cherry, Meteor, Mesabi and North Star.

On our Plant Page we have our listing of all the fruit trees, small fruits and two different information sheets showing bloom time, ripening and what each variety offers as far as flavor, uses such as fresh eating, pies, jams, etc.  These are quite helpful in guiding you through the variety that provides you with what you want for your particular needs.

Here is the recipe I found for our first Cherry Pie!

Cherry Pie

4 cups fresh tart cherries (pitted) – 1 to 1 ½ c.  granulated sugar – 4  T. cornstarch – 1/8 T. almond extract

Your favorite pie crust (2 crust pie)

1 ½ T. butter – 1 T. sugar- to sprinkle

Place cherries in a saucepan and place over heat.  Cover.  After the cherries have lost considerable juice, which may take a few minutes, remove from heat.  In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cornstarch.  Pour this mixture over the hot cherries and mix well.  Add the almond extract, if desired, and stir.  Return the pan to the stove over low heat and cook until thickened, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat and let cool.  f mixture is too thick, add a little water.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare your favorite pie crust, and using a 8 – 9 inch pie pan,  pour cherry mixture over the bottom crust, dot with butter and place the second crust over the top, fluting the sides of the crust.  Cut 2-3 slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape, and sprinkle with remaining sugar.

Bake for approximately 50 minutes and remove to a rack to cool.