* Sour cherries at the University of
Saskatchewan
* Orchard People blog May 2, 2022
* Montana State University Western Agricultural Research Station video 2021
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7 year old Carmine Jewel at Bozeman, MT. Grass kept away, fertilized with manure.
Tart Cherry Benefits
6 benefits - NDTV Food
1 TBSP 2x/day for Arthritis
Growing Cherries
Dwarf sour cherries prefer well-drained, sandy loam or loam soils, with a pH between 6.5 and 8.0. It is very important to keep perrenial weeds away from them as they stunt the trees' growth. Organic matter level between 2-3% is very important if you have clay or sandy soil. They do well under mulch. Water them a few times deeply to get them established. Here is one customer's story from Iowa, a visit to a cherry orchard in Saskatchewan, and an interview with a cherry picker at our orchard in Minnesota.
Size of full grown dwarf sour cherries is dependent on several factors. While listed at 6 1/2 feet tall in zone 2 in Canada, they can reach 12 feet in height in zone 4. Keeping encroaching grass and weeds away is also critical, as is appropriate moisture. Cherries do not like wet feet, but thrive with consistent watering especially the first three years. Pruning excess growth from the center of the bushes in late winter/early spring is also beneficial. Michigan State U affirms modest pruning can be done post-harvest on mature trees that have filled their space.
Ripening sequence in Saskatoon, SK (zone 2):
-Carmine Jewel (late July)
-Juliet
-Crimson Passion
-Romeo
-Evans Bali
-Lutowka
Peak bloom times in 2015 zone 3a:
- Juliet - May 15
- Romeo - May 20
- Carmine Jewel - May 21
- Cupid - May 23
More info: VARIATIONS IN NEW AND EXISTING U of S Sour Cherries, ADF report March 2011
U Mich Picture Table of Fruit Freeze Damage Thresholds
Renewal Pruning
growingfruit.org" reports one of Dr. Bob Bor's emails dated 7/1/14:: "For best longevity one should grow the cherries as bushes with multiple trunks. Using renewal thinning you should get rid of a trunk or two every year or two to allow new ones to form or let suckers in the row come up to replace them. Our original seedling rows are 22 years old and are still alive and fairly healthy. On a severe -50C winter, we didn't lose trees but we lost the oldest trunks of most trees. Specifically it was those branches that had born fruit for many years and were hardly making any growth. Perhaps a trunk should be removed somewhere around 7 years old? Maybe 10? I'd think the bushes could go on for many decades."
Harvesting
Hand picking
Over the row trial at MSU on other tart cherries
Extreme climate testimony
The cherry trees I have ordered in the past are doing great. This past year we were able to put up cherry jam. That may not sound like a a big accomplishment but for us it is. I live in New Mexico at high altitude, 7300 feet, and we get late frosts all the time. I have had fruit trees planted for the last 10 years and this is the first time I have had fruit of any kind except currants and grapes. Even though we are listed as zone 5B, the average last frost here is June 3rd. The cherries were blooming into June. I would have had cherries the previous year but it went down to 22 on June 16th. I planted one of the cherries in a hoop house to see if it would grow better there. I grew much faster and is twice the height of the ones outside. However, it blossoms too early and gets frosted. I am moving it outside this year. Below is a picture of one of the cherries netted to keep off the birds.
-Peter
History of U of S cherries
2019 Award
Tarts with a touch of romance - Good Fruit Grower Aug 2018
Cupid pits too large for tart cherry pitters.
Wowza originated at the U of S, called something like "Big Red" for its interesting, oblong shape and good taste, but not as productive as the other varieties (Dr. Bob Bors, MSU webinar 4/17/20)
How to plant your own cherry seeds
BHG
Favorite Recipes
Cherry Date Nut bars (sugar free)
From Saskatchewan, Canada - Shifting Roots Recipes:
How to Harvest & Preserve Sour Cherries including Cherry Jam
No Churn Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Cherry Jelly
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Cold Hardy Fruit Bushes and Products for Sale
Carmine Jewel Cherry
Tartest Pie Cherries
5" tall cherry year-old
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Prunus cerasus x P. fruticosa
* Dark purple skin and flesh, small pits
* Good for fresh eating and processing, best pie cherry
* Some people prefer the extra intense flavor and tartness over the milder, sweeter varieties for fresh eating
* Fruit averages 3.5 gram, 15-17 Brix, with large flesh to pit ratio
* Early harvest, ripening first in the season, mid July in zone 3
* approx 12'x12' after 10 years if left unpruned, recommend 10' spacing
* High suckering, can sucker up to 20' away.
* Self-pollinating
* Usually produces a few berries in 3 years, rapidly increasing to 25+ lbs 5-6 at years of age
* Cross between 'Kerr's Easy Pick' x 'Northstar', University of Saskatchewan 1999 (Rick Swatzky)
* Zones 2-8
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d'Artagnon Cherry
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D'Artagnan fruit has a delicious, juicy tartness great for fresh eating or processing. Its dark red berries look similar to Carmine Jewel but lighter in color when cooked. With its shorter height, and more flexible branches, d'Artagnan is the easiest variety to maintain needing far less pruning. To form a solid hedge, plant 3' apart in a row, but further apart for easier picking. Mulch the area so there is no grass or weed competition for the first few years. When suckers begin to appear, let the suckers grow up to fill in the rows.
U of S cherries Patent info
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Cupid Cherry
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Cupid produces the largest fruit of all the University of Saskatchewan sour cherries. The fruit is dark red to black. Later ripening. Pits too large for tart cherry pitters (maybe an olive pitter would work). 'Cupid' is in a class by itself with low acidity and has the highest sugar:acid ratio. Potential as a fresh fruit or in products where sugar is not added. Very cold hardy and blooms later than other varieties.
ADF Grant report
Patent info
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Cutie Pie Cherry
* cross between Mongolian sour cherries (Prunus fruticosa) and European Sour cherries (Prunus cerasus)
* selected for being unusually dwarf, sweet, and having bright red cherries
* smaller than other cherries, about the size of a penny, and grows to half the height of Carmine Jewel
* suckers so good for forming a hedge
* may be even hardier than the other cherries
U of S cherries *
Patent
Sweet Thing Cherry
New in 2021 - a hybrid of 'Carmine Jewel' and 'Erdi Jubileum', is the highest quality sour cherry observed in the U of S sour cherry breeding program. Zone 4 hardy, trialing for zone 3 (did not survive -50C at one trial site)
U of S cherries
Valentine Cherry
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Medium sized, bright red fruit, hardy to zone 2, vigorous grower grows taller than other U of S varieties, highest yielding bush, may be too tart for fresh eating (tarter than Carmine Jewel) but great for processing and pies. Especially "preferred for dried cherries because the lighter colour of the fresh fruit results in dried cherries that look red instead of black." (U of S comments)
U of S cherries Patent
*** SALE *** (Reg. $45)
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Jan, Joel & Joy Prunus japonica x jacquemontii USDA zone 3-9 Hybridized by Dr Elwyn Meader of Durham, NH, these cherries grow 4'x3' and ripen in late summer. The fresh tart cherries can be eaten fresh or processed. The plants start bearing fruit in 2-3 years and will have a productive life of 20 years. Lovely pink flowers make it highly ornamental as well as an excellent plant for edible landscaping in the home garden. "Joel" is self-fertile but Jan & Joy need a companion for pollination and fruit production. If you're looking for a better "pie" cherry flavor and greater productivity, go for the larger U of S varieties, but these diminutive plants fit in great in small spaces and are edible though not as tantalizing as the U of S varieties.
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* Prunus cerasus caproniana , 'Evans' cherry, named after the plant pathologist who discovered it in Edmonton, AB
* Grows approx 12'x15' recommended 10' spacing
* Bright red cherries, long pits, translucent yellow flesh
* Ripens in late July in zone 3
* Self-pollinating
* Begins producing in its 4th year
* Our plants are grown on their own roots (versus some Evans Bali which are sold on less hardy root stock such as Mazzard)
* Zones 2 (poor) to zone 8. In colder zones do not water in fall. This will encourage dormancy and better survival over winter.
* Very similar to Polish Lutowka cherry
* Pure sour cherry with no Mongolian parentage, probably a close relative or seedling of 'Meteor', (per Growing Fruit in Northern Gardens"
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Juliet XL size
