We made a special trip this Father’s Day weekend, venturing out to Markham, Virginia to go cherry-picking at Hartland Orchard. It is sour cherry season, a variety of cherry that many enjoy fresh, but they also make excellent pies and jams. Add that they are only $1 per pound, you may not even cringe at the fuel cost for the 45-minute drive.

Hartland is a family farm that largely caters to "u-pick" customers. My family loves the experience of picking our own produce, and while the cherries are not organic, they are probably not sprayed as much as a high-yield commercial farm. I feel that fresh-from-the-tree at a small orchard beats the unknown treatments endured by fruit that is chemically prepared for a journey across the country - or the continent.

After calling to confirm that fruit was in fact on the trees, as the farm recommends, we drove out I-66 West until we reached exit 18. We followed the signs into Hartland Orchard and then followed the signs for cherries – you will pass a roadside stand and fields of blueberries and raspberries before making a right turn. The road approaches a farm house, which may have you question whether you are going the right way since it looks like you are pulling into someone’s driveway, but keep going. You will finally see the farm staff wearing their signature tie-dye t-shirts and they will give you plastic bags for cherry collection and direct you to the trees.

People drive their cars right down the rows so you can steer yourself right up to the section you like. People tend to start picking at the trees closest to the road, so the most fruitful branches are towards the back. The trees were bursting with color; a real-life candy-land with each branch coated in nature's round red treats. It was hard to suppress the urge to systematically strip each branch and go home with a thousand pounds of fruit, but the reminder that each cherry will need to be pitted should keep your harvest in check. Last year we learned to bring a household step ladder to reach higher branches since climbing is discouraged because it will break the fragile trees.

After we filled our bags with enough cherries to make several pies, we laid a picnic blanket beside our favorite tree and had lunch, like many other families did. We decided to pick just a few more handfuls before driving back to the scales where we paid for our pickings and headed home.

Hartland Orchard is located at 3064 Hartland Lane Markham, VA 22643 and they can be reached by phone at 540-364-2316. Check their calendar for a variety of seasonal offerings.

I will be making a pie with my cherries tonight, using this recipe:

Ingredients

4 cups pitted sour cherries
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 pie crusts (store bought or your own recipe)
1 ½ tablespoons butter, or butter substitute

Instructions:

In a saucepan, heat cherries until some of the liquid cooks off and then remove from the heat. Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a bowl and stir into the warm cherries, then add the vanilla extract. Return to the burner and simmer on low heat until the mixture thickens. Let filling cool and preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pour cooled filling into your prepared crust and dot with butter (I use Earth’s Balance to make a vegan pie). Place on the top crust and pinch the edges, or lay on lattice crust if you are fancy! Place on a foil lined cookie sheet to catch any drips and bake for 50 minutes or until crust is golden.