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 testimonies
New Mexico high altitute
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
Wasilla, Alaska freeze/thaw cycles
South Central Alaska is affected by freeze thaw cycles. So its all about chill hours…once the cherries get their chill hour and the weather runs up to mid 40’s for a week with rain they come out of dormancy and then the weather changes back to minuses within a couple days. We have numerous micro climates here. My 5 acres has its own share.
Cherries never survived in the main orchard so I had to move them to the highest elevation on my property and blocked by the winds for them to survive. (I have about 21’ of elevation change on my 5 acres. I am sloped to west so the higher ground allows coldest air to drain away from cherries. My 5 acres are at 500’ elevation.
Winter of 2026 we had 100 mile an hour winds, +45F and rain for 9 days then it dropped to -30F (coldest ever in 26 yrs here) couple weeks later it went back into the 40s and then again dropped to -20F.
What I learned was Carmine Jewel is the hardiest! The only variety that none were lost. However all the blossoms bloomed but then all the tips of branches the blossoms were on died back so no cherries. Partly thinking I let it go too long without pruning old branches out and its weakened by age.
Juliet only has a few small leaves. Cupid lost half the branches but have a couple cherries forming and same with Romeo. Valentine is struggling as well. Big Red, D’Artagnan, Cutie pie all dead.
Depending on one's micro climate determines if cherries survived or not.
Kevin Irvin, SunDog Orchard, Wasilla, AK
History of U of S cherries
2019 Award
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
Cherberry Jam
How to make cherry preserves video
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Juliet XXL size
