We noticed the other day that there were actually Rainier cherries on our tree, a lot of them! Every year we have been here, the birds get the vast majority of these cherries, and we get a handful. So Tom quickly picked what he could reach with our ladder, and the fruit higher in the tree will go to the birds.
We have been eating cherries each day, but there are so many that today I canned 6 quarts. I have never canned sweet cherries before.
So canning season is starting early this year at Schoonover Farm.
I love Rainiers! When we lived in Idaho, we had a 4-in-1 cherry tree. One of the four types was Rainier, so I was happy! I canned a lot of cherries!
So what did you do with the canned Rainiers? I have always canned pie cherries before now.
I added a little sugar to each jar, and we saved them for winter, used them just as we would Bing cherries – in a little bowl for dessert. We all enjoyed them. I hope you see this reply! I missed your question!
Nice! It seems to be a good year for cherries – a friend of mine in Olympia is also overrun with cherries this year and my own tree is loaded as well (no squirrel eating up all the unripe nubbins last month helps a lot). My tree is really tall and, since most of the cherries are unreachable, the birds are having a feast. I love seeing all the birds so it’s a win-win for me. I bet the cherries will be yummy this winter over some ice cream. 🙂
Maureen
Oh. I did not think about ice cream. I was wondering what to do with canned sweet cherries. Now I know!