it was marvelous and mesmerising, but i managed to tear myself away. we have a new washing machine, see, after finally giving up on the seven-year old beast that for the last year and a half has never quite made it through the final spin cycle, especially when a towel is involved, instead making groaning noises for fifteen minutes before opening the door to a sodden pile of tangled clothes. on tuesday it valiantly rattled and clunked through the spin… and then the little laundry enclave quickly filled with a smoke that smelt of industry burning.

so now. there’s me, crouching in front of our shiny new appliance, watching towels and other bits being gaily tossed about. when it reaches the final spin, it sounds like an airplane preparing to takeoff. tops.

but what i dragged myself away from the laundry for, what i really wanted to tell you about was a flyer i found on a rack in the visitor information center in young (as you will remember from a previous post, the cherry capital of australia). so without further ado, and verbatim:

Cherries
History Sweet cherries were named after the town where they were first grown, Cerasu in Asia Minor (Turkey). They’ve always been a favourite fruit with the stones found in many Stone age caves in Europe and cliff dwellings in America. In Australia cherries were brought in by European migrants and grown. Cherries were first grown in the Young District in 1847. They realised that the Young district was ideally suited to the growing of the high quality sweet cherries and today the district produces about 60% of Australia’s cherries, producing approximately 4500 tonne. The cherries are shipped throughout Australia, Asia, Middle East and Europe.

Handling and storage Cherries are picked in the cool of the day and cooled as quick as possible, packed and sent to market. Most cherries are in the market within 24 hours as the fruit is best eaten fresh. Cherries if stored should be kept at 0-2 deg and with very high humidity, they must also be mature, as it’s the sugars that keep fruit. Immature fruit or green fruit will not keep and like all stonefruit doesn’t ripen after picking.

Varieties There is a large number of varieties to choose from to extend the season. There is Red, Black and White varieties of which are all sweet to eat. It is the late season varieties that are sort after being larger, sweeter and harvested around Christmas. Although a smaller cherry is sometimes sweeter than the larger ones. The Rons seedling has always been a favourite for people, and is on the market end of November, early December.

Nutrition Cherries are low in kilojoules and contain many vitamins, minerals and are high in potassium helping with cramps. In the U.S they have been putting a cherry powder in with hamburger meat to help lower cholesterol and it has been known for many years that cherries are an aphrodisiac and have been sought after for that reason.

How to choose the right cherry Cherries must be firm, shiny, well coloured and most of all have a fresh green stem as this is a sign of well looked after cheries in the orchard, packhouse, and retail outlet.

Cherries are a fruit that has always been admired and sort after by people for 1000’s of years. It is one of the few fruits that are truly seasonal and are better value per weight than chocolate.