Thank you to everyone for a wonderful harvest. It was fun seeing all the members again and watching the kids grow. Last year in this field, next year will be exciting. New place and meeting a new tree.
Please stop by the Fruit stand at 2931 Hwy 3 in Creston, next time you pass by. We would love to see you.
July 9, 2011
The cherries are a little behind in ripening this year. I hope they catch up. The crop looks good.
June 3, 2011
Nice green cherries. They are starting to size up. Soon the June drop will happen
May 21, 2011
The cherries are forming. We are now in the stage referred to as "husk fall" You can still see the remainder of the flower.
May 11, 2010 The orchard is now in full bloom and the bees are very busy.
May 9, 2010 Blossoms are just starting to open
April 24 The buds are still swelling, ready to open.
April 23, 2011
The buds are really swelling now, it will not be long before they open.
April 6, 2011
Green tip is just starting. It is late this year, and the snow still wants to fall. Pruning is finished and mulching the limbs is starting.
February 7, 2011
Still more snow, and the pruning continues.
The pruned limbs are in the middle of the rows.
Just some fun photos of the snow
You can see that the buds are very tightly closed. Thankfully they are still sleeping.
Jan 28, 2011
Pruning has started, and snow is making it fun to play with alot of toys to keep you going.
A silvery moon
DECEMBER 21, 2010 WINTER MOON OVER ORCHARD. FROST COVERED LIMBS.
December 6, 2010
Through the icicle drop
Icicle heaven
Through the blue sky icicle drop
Nov 3, 2010
Fall is here, the colours are gorgeous. The Skeena trees have a much redder colour than the Lapins.
October 25, 2010.
The start of winter, snow on the mountain tops.
October 21, 2010
The orchard is getting ready for the winter and so are we. The leaves are starting to go yellow and it is getting cool at night.
July 23, 2010
One week to go and the cherries are looking great. They are red on the outside, now we need them to ripen on the inside. They are the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
July 8, 2010
The cherries are starting to turn red and get some size to them.
These are Skeenas, they are slightly behind, but they will catch up.
This is a photo of the Skeena cherries.
July 5, 2010
Harvest dates for the 4th annual gathering have been set. We will be starting July 29 and going until August 7. We will be booking times every hour, starting at 7 am and the last picking will be 11 am. Please call us or email us to book your time. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
When you come for the harvest all you need to bring is a container to bring your cherries home in. We will supply all the picking equipment, (ladders, totes, and harnesses). We also enforce that proper footwear is worn. We do not allow flip flops, sandals or high heels, as this is a working orchard we require that you wear closed toed shoes (runners).
See you soon!!
June 24, 2010
The growth of the cherries really slowed down, as we have had cool and wet weather. They are now getting larger and starting to turn "Strawberry" in colour. The cherries that look red will fall off, they did not set properly.
June 1, 2010
We are now entering June Drop stage. The small red cherries you see on the top of the branch will fall off. These cherries did not get pollinated or were hit with frost. This is Mother Nature's way of thinning.
This is going to be a nice clump of cherries.
May 17, 2010
The cherries are now forming, and the blossom is dropping. You can see the blossom still hanging on in the photos. The cherry is small and green, they will change fast now.
May 6, 2010
The blossom period is starting to come to an end. The cherries are starting to form.
April 25, 2010
The bees have now arrived and we are almost in full bloom. The orchard is looking white with a hint of green.
April 20, 2010
In one week the buds have come a long way. The stems of the cherries are starting to form and the buds are showing white. There is the odd bud that has now blossomed, but most are just showing the white tip.
Can you spot the bee in the photo below, he just can't wait to do his job. The blossom is just opening, it is a tight fit. This is a bunch of cherries at the very top of the tree. These buds always open up first.
April 15, 2010
The cherry trees have now entered into the "Bud Cluster" stage. You can see the buds opening up and showing where the blossoms will open. These will become the cherry.
March 14, 2010
The buds are just starting to swell. The pruning is finished, now the clean up begins. The prunings are mulched.
February 1, 2010
Wow, January has come and gone and it was mild. Gord has been able to get some pruning done. We had very little snow this winter, (so far). Here is a very foggy day, with the sun trying to break through.
December 7, 2009
Pruning has now started, the leaves are all off the trees. The orchard looks bare, but it is just preparing for spring.
Sept 5, 2009
The harvest is now off and the orchard is getting ready for the winter. Weeds are now disappearing and pruning will start soon.
July 11, 2009
The cherries are now turning red, they still have to go to a dark mahogany colour. The estimate is 40-50 lbs per tree, (that will be two of the black totes for those who have picked before). The crop looks good, the cherries are starting to size up.
June 30, 2009
Cherries are not all created equal.
June 15, 2009
The cherries are getting bigger each day, and they are starting to go yellow.
June 8, 2009
We have now started the "June drop" period. This is the time where the blossoms that were not properly pollinated will fall off the tree. We call this natures way of thinning. You can see the size of the cherries now, if some didn't fall the clumps would be very hard to pick.
The cherries are starting to form. We have now ending the petal
fall stage and have started the husk fall. As you can see the cherries
are small and green.
The blossoms are now out and the bees are doing thier job.
The bees have now been placed in the orchard. The blossoms are starting to open.
The trees are starting to come alive. We are now into
the stage referred to as "Open Cluster". Soon we will see some
blossoms appear.
Update: April 7, 2009
The snow is finally gone and the pruning is almost finished.
The orchard is quiet right now, sleeping under a blanket of snow. The weather has been cold, but the trees are looking fine. Gord started pruning in the fall before the snow came, more pruning still to be done. Here is a photo of the a sunset over the orchard.
Nov 10, 2008
Fall is now here and the leaves are almost off. The trees have been fed and are now ready for the winter.
New for 2008 Season
You will be able to have your cherries pitted in minutes rather than
hours. We have purchased a commercial cherry pitter that will be
available to members ( and non-members) but members will get a reduced
rate. You will no longer have to worry about the hassle and mess of
pitting all your cherries when you get home. The unique family
experience just got better.
CHERRY PITTER
The cherry pitter was a wonderful addition, many members took the opportunity to have their cherries pitted before they went home. This made it easy to can, freeze, jam, etc.
July 24, 2008
One week before harvest and the cherries look wonderful. They are starting to size up and get dark red.
July 8, 2008
The cherries are just starting to turn red. June drop is now finished as well so we can actually see the quantities on the trees. It looks like the crop is going to be average. We did not seem to get set back by the strange spring weather that Creston encountered.
June 11, 2008
Snow in June???? Look closely at the mountains in the background.
June 8, 2008
The husk stage is now over, and we are entering into the "June drop" Stage. This is the stage that a cherry that is not properly pollinated will turn red and fall off the tree.
May 24, 2008
You can see the blossom is falling away (husk stage) and the cherry is exposed.
In the middle of the blossom, you can see the start of a cherry.
May 16, 2008
The bees have been busy, now the blossom period is almost over. The weather has finally warmed up.
Saskatoons in full bloom, May 15, 2008
May 8, 2008 The blossoms are opening up. The bees are thinking about pollinating, as the weather is warming up. The frost did do some damage, but I think that it will be a nice thinning of the cherries.
April 29, 2008: The buds are finally starting to swell. We have had a very cold spring, with alot of frost. Hopefully the buds were protected.
April 16, 2008: We are about 2 weeks later than last year with the start of the season. The trees are just starting to enter into the "green tip" stage. With snow forecasted for the weekend it will be interesting to see how they develop. The photo under the cherries is of saskatoons. They are really starting to come alive.
Updated March 26, 2008
Winter is still showing it's ugly head. Right now it is snowing. Gord has finished the major pruning, just some touch up work to be done. Gord is in the process of mulching the prunings.
We are also getting the ground ready for spring planting. We have decided to plant some apples, pears, plums, and more apricots. These trees will not have a crop for about three years, but you will have the fun of watching them grow. Yes some trees have come down to make room for the new ones, but we promise that we have not pulled out anyone's tree. All the members trees are in a different block in the orchard, well protected.
Photos taken in January 2008
This is the start of the 2008 crop. As you can see the buds are enjoying a blanket of snow. We have had quite a bit of snow this winter, so there should be lots of moisture in the summer.
September 2007
Harvest is over and plans are being made for improvements for next year. It was a wonderful harvest and we enjoyed meeting all the members of the 1st annual family harvest.
We look forward to seeing you all next year.
The orchard is quite right now, the tree is preparing for the winter. The energy of the tree is going into creating strong buds for next year's cherries. Pruning will start soon and continue on until the spring.
Some photos of the 2007 harvest are shown below, please visit the Photo Gallery for many more photos during the past year.
2007 HARVEST
Gord will prune out branches in the middle of the tree to let the light and air get in. He will also prune out any branch that is growing too fast. Gord will only want around 10 fruit bearing branches, each branch should have at least 4 pounds on it. By leaving a small number of branches on the tree it allows the tree to produce very large sweet cherries. (The more branches the smaller the cherries.)
Update: March 14, 2007
Pruning is now finished and the snow is gone. Gord will now mulch all the prunings, we do not burn them to help the environment.
The buds are starting to look alive. In these pictures you will see the tight buds. The buds that are single and tight against the limb will most likely produce a leaf, the buds in a cluster are your fruit buds. Each bud will produce up to one or two cherries. Where all the buds are connected to the tree is called a spur. This spur will produce fruit for up to 7 years. When you pick your fruit this spur must stay on the tree so that it can produce next year. You can see how a cluster of cherries will be formed.
These pictures are taken on March 14, 2007
UPDATE: April 3, 2007
In these pictures you can see how the buds are starting to swell. The ones taken on March 14 are closed tightly, now they are showing green. They are starting to become "green tip".
April 9, 2007
The buds are starting to open up, we have had a beautiful weekend and this has brought the buds alive. The buds have opened up revealing what will now become blossoms, you can see that most open up with three blossoms in each bud.
April 15, 2007 update. The cherry blossoms are forming. You can see from the photos that the stems are starting to form, the blossoms will be opening soon. You can see on the far right that a leaf is opening up as well.
April 23, 2007 The first blossoms have opened, and the bees are excited and getting into every flower even if they are not fully open. These pictures were taken from the Royal Anne tree. The Lapins are just starting to open and the Skeenas have a bit of growing to do yet.
April 30, 2007 The lapins are now in full bloom. We have not had many sunny days, but the bees are still very busy. We have bee hives brought into the orchard to help pollinate all the trees. Below is a photo of the hives as well as some scenic ones.
May 11, 2007 Update
The orchard is starting to look real green, as the leaves are filling out. The above and below photos are of the lapins.
Bees are gone, Weeds be gone. The photo below is in the Skeenas with the saskatoon bushes in the front.
MAY 22, 2007 (Below) The cherries are starting to become very noticeable. These photos were taken in the early morning, after a heavy dew.
You will see in some of the pictures that there are some small red looking cherries, these are blossoms that did not get pollinated and these will fall off the tree. This stage is referred to as "June Drop"
June 20, 2007
The cherries are turning straw colour. The red cherry is a cherry that did not pollinate properly and is now called a June drop, it will not grow anymore it will just deteriorate. It also looks like the birds have gotten to this one. Hopefully this cherry will fall on it's own to leave the others to grow big and healthy.
In the picture below, the cherries are starting to turn red, and fill out. These cherries are sun exposed all day long, so they are slightly ahead of the rest, if you look closely you will see that the ones behind the red ones are still quite green.
JUNE 27, 2007
July 15, 2007
Time is fast approaching, we have only 10 days to go. The cherries are getting red, but the redness is only skin deep. I have opened a cherry so that you can see the white just below the skin, the dark red colour next to the pit needs to go through the whole cherry. The sugar content is way too low right now, they have no flavour. The cherry will turn a mahogany colour, then it will be ready to pick.
You can see the white just under the skin.
There is a tiny bit of the mahogany colour starting to show next to the pit.
I squished the cherry trying to open it. That is why one side looks dented.
July 21, Less than one week to go. The cherries are getting dark and the sugar content is getting up there. The weather has cooled off a bit so this gives the cherries a chance to slow down.
Below is a picture of the Royal Annes, these will be ready soon.
The pruned limbs are in the middle of the rows.
Just some fun photos of the snow
You can see that the buds are very tightly closed. Thankfully they are still sleeping.
A silvery moon
DECEMBER 21, 2010 
Through the icicle drop
Icicle heaven
Through the blue sky icicle drop
These are Skeenas, they are slightly behind, but they will catch up.
This is a photo of the Skeena cherries.
CHERRY PITTER
