About Cherry

The cherry fruit is part of the Rosaceae family which also includes almonds, peaches, apricots and plums.

They are small and fleshy, red or reddish black fruits that contain a hard seed on the inside. It is believed the Romans discovered this fruit in Asia Minor around 70 BC. They then introduced these cherries to Britain in the first century AD. Available in many species, the two kinds that are commonly eaten are the wild or sweet cherry Prunus avium and the sour cherry Prunus Cerasus. Cherries are known to have a very short fruiting season. Areas of Northern America see these cherries as the first ones to ripen amongst other fruits; therefore the term 'in cherry condition' has been derived which means something new.
Michigan has around 35,000 acres of tart cherry trees. This place grows almost 75% of the tart cherries which are produced in the United States. The Traverse City is therefore called the Cherry Capital of the World. Depending on the conditions of the growth, about 7,000 cherries grow on an average tart cherry tree. A cherry pie is made out of about 250 cherries. Thus, 28 pies can be made with the cherries from one tree.
150 to 200 pounds of tart cherries are produced annually in Michigan which has almost 4 million cherry trees.