Farmers looking for sweet success with cherries

BY SARA KEDDY

Kings County Register

If farmers can convince the deer to stop browsing the tops off baby cherry trees, Nova Scotia orchards may produce a new, sweet crop in a few years.

Craig Nichols showed off 1,000 new trees in his Millville block, planted this spring, to visitors on the N.S. Fruitgrowers’ annual orchard tour August 12.

“I really didn’t know anything about cherries, I went to California last year and cherries seemed to be a popular topic. the Valley seemed a good spot, and we need the ‘critical mass’ to see if the industry has a chance here.”

About 15 acres of cherries have gone in in the last year, between Scotian Gold co-operative members and independent growers, Agrapoint’s Bill Craig said.

“It will be interesting over the next five to 10 years to see how they do,” Craig said, as research is just starting out to see how a Nova Scotian climate will affect the trees and their fruit.

Cherries like sweet soil, the trees grow on various training systems, harsh winters can kill off trees and, Scotian Gold rep Larry Lutz said, “the jury’s still out on whether or not you need to cover them or not - time will tell.”

Cherry orchards are often covered by huge tunnels for several reasons: bird protection and controlled moisture, as the fruit will often crack from too much rain.

“They’re a hot topic worldwide and production has mushroomed, there’s huge money on the export market and there are a lot of perceived health benefits,” Lutz said. They crop in late July, well before the apple season, and farmers who do bring in offshore labour can put workers to efficient use on the cherry harvest.

“But - before anyone gets too excited, the world demand is for big fruit, and have challenges growing them here. They are definitely not something you can plant and walk away from.”

And even at harvest time, Craig said, there is a trap for farmers: “everyone picks cherries as soon as they’re red - before the birds get them - but they’re not ripe. It’s a serious problem to balance reaching sugar levels and beating the birds to ‘em.”