GREEN BLUFF, Wash. — Summer in eastern Washington is marked by one thing and one thing only: cherries.
At Beck's Farm House, harvesters are ready to start picking cherries this weekend. According to owner Todd Beck, this is one of the rare occasions where cherries have been ready in June.
In this case, cherries are ready just in time for the holiday weekend.
“We’re gonna be ready by next weekend. It was quite shocking, we weren’t quite ready to say we were going to start picking this early," Beck said. "It's time to be picking this stuff and it's time to be out in the fields and getting their fruit.”
Beck's Farm House has more than 500 cherry trees and most of them are ready.
“This is a little unusual this year, but this is a sign that it’ll be a great summer," Beck said.
Some farms in Central Washington have had delays in cherry production due to the weather in fall and winter. However, there has already been some improvement.
"Thankfully, this year, growing conditions have been much more ideal," said Tim Kovis, the communications manager at the Washington State Tree Fruit Association. "Mother nature is our members' silent partner.”
The 2022 season was the smallest cherry crop in 14 years, according to Kovis. This season, however, he’s expecting a 50% increase in cherry production.
“Folks will probably begin to see more and more cherries," Kovis explained. "I just saw at my local grocery store, Washington cherries were on the shelf a few days ago.”
Stemilt growers in Yakima have also noticed the same trend. Their cherries were delayed about a week, but they are now right back on track. They don’t foresee a drop in profits or much of an impact to customers this season.
“I was surprised when we came out here today and they were going full on cherries because usually it’s a little later than this," Green Bluff visitor Rick Hofstrand said.
Another Green Bluff farm is noticing an abundance of cherries.
“I'd say we have a very heavy crop this year," said Ronda Bosma, the owner of Cherry Hill.
Bosma says this year’s harvest already looks better.
“It just worked out really good this year," she said. "And we didn't have a lot of rain when they were blooming here up on the bluff.”
Washington’s cherry season is projected to go into August this season.
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