Armando Bona, 1302 County Hill Road, St. Johnsbury, VT 05819 gaucho@hcr.net

Today I harvested five quarts of the Evans cherry on two trees I have growing in my orchard. My chipmunks also harvested another five quarts, but there are more coming along.

Well, it was quite a thrill to go out in this horticultural hell of northeastern Vermont and be able to harvest some cherries grown on trees which I had planted. The Evans cherry is sold here in the U.S. by St. Lawrence Nurseries over in New York State; the catalog lists them under another name – I believe the name of a daughter of the owner.  In any event, if you have this catalog it is readily identifiable.

I have two trees which were given to me by a friend who sold his place, and who wanted a good home for them (he got them from St. Lawrence).  They have been in the ground five years now and, while they did produce last year, they really are having a bumper crop this year.   The fruit is bright red, somewhat tart, with yellowish flesh, and a rather thick skin.  They are not particularly juicy.  However, I would hold it on a par with  – if not superior in every way – >to Montmorency, which I have growing as a graft on a native black cherry.  They are similar to Montmorency in flavor.

Montmorency is very soft and produces too much juice for good jam-making, and it makes a cloudy-looking jelly.  On the other hand, the Evans’ low juice content and ability to hold its shape under high heat lends it beautifully to making a great jam (in addition to making a great pie).  I think it would make a terrific cherry wishniak, too, but haven’t tried that yet. Note:  after I wrote this article, I did make cherry wishniak.  I tasted some the other day and it is really wonderful and rich with cherry flavor,  and had a beautiful color too.

I highly recommend this cherry to anyone living in Zone 3 where cultivated cherry trees are otherwise non-existent.  I have tried Meteor and North Star without success – they gradually winter-kill over a period of four to five years.

As I recall, NAFEXer Bernie Nikolai up in Edmonton, Alberta, did submit an article or two on the Evans cherry to Pomona some time ago - it was he who put me on to it (thank you, Bernie!).

Otherwise, this is a disastrous year for me here with the apple orchard and plums. We had record rainfalls in April and May along with low temperatures, so there was little pollination.  It’s too bad as both apples and plums (Waneta, Kahinta, Pipestone, and Toka) were loaded with blossoms.

Last week I visited the Health Orchard up in Stanstead, Québec, to meet the new owner, Chris Rawlings.  He said he had to import eight hives in order to be assured of pollination.   It paid off, as his trees look terrific, and production is about where it should be for late July.

Next week I’ll drive up to Abbottsford, Québec, one day to check out the apple orchards. They are magnificent and stretch as far as the eye can see – mostly dwarf and semi-dwarf trees, beautifully cared for and managed.

Right now the local markets have terrific strawberries from Québec – now available all summer long. I went up two weeks ago and got 25 lbs. at a pick-your-own operation near Coaticook.  Québec berries are the very best; I don’t know what it is – the soil?  Management of the fields?  They know how to do it right.  Soon we’ll have magnificent late summer melons from there, too – and let’s not forget those wonderful peaches from Ontario, individually wrapped and beautifully packaged in their own colorful baskets, and not at all expensive either. 

Here in the U.S. we tend to pooh-pooh Canada as much of a garden spot, but they are doing wonderful things up there in spite of the climate – cluster tomatoes and hydroponic tomatoes year-round, cukes, salad greens, etc.  So who needs California? (Just kidding!).