Cherry Season at Leona Valley Organics

(posted on Edible L.A. blog)

It is such a treat when at the end of a bumpy dirt road there’s a magical surprise. And that is just what’s in store when you arrive at Leona Valley Organics located in the sun cloaked mountains, approximately 10 miles west of Palmdale.

There are two ways to arrive from Los Angeles: the terribly windy Bouquet Canyon route that doesn’t please those confined to the back seat row, or the14 freeway that is much more straight forward.  It’s a quick road trip and without traffic shouldn’t take you more than one and a half hours.

On a blustery June day, a few friends and I headed up to Leona Valley for a cherry-picking excursion.  I had never been to a u-pick farm and imagined the giant Michiganian backyard cherry tree from my childhood.  That amazing tree’s gnarled limbs reached high in the sky so it needed either a rambunctious child to climb her way to the cherries or a very tall ladder.  Fortunately, neither one is needed at this farm.

Rob and Olga Lambert planted 700 cherry trees (none of them are Lambert cherries) five years ago on three of their seven-acre lot.  It takes five years until the trees produce fruit.  Our visit was perfectly timed because this particular weekend was their first opening to the public and the Brooks cherries were ripe.  We discovered this after we were set free amongst the perfectly manicured trees with our white cherry buckets in tow.  A few important rules were mentioned: do not take the stem of the cherry when picking as the growth for the following year will come from those spurs and start by looking low on the trees – there is some amazing low-hanging fruit.

There are various methods of picking and it’s actually quite fun to watch.  Some wander from tree to tree, grabbing handfuls of what is at eye level.  Others excitedly stop at the first tree in sight and then depart after their bucket is full.  I, however, chose a much more methodical approach.  I wandered around looking at all of the trees before choosing the one that I would delicately reach in and pluck from.  The feeling of standing with “your” tree and coveting every hidden gem is quite transcending.  Just when you think there couldn’t possibly be one more cherry to pick, you crouch lower and another bunch appears under the mossy green leaves.

Not only were the Brooks a glorious shade of burgundy, they had a crunch and sweetness that I may just declare the perfect cherry.  Some cherry aficionados may scoff at this idea but don’t until you taste these juicy bites of heaven. 

It could be luck to have such wonderful fruit your first year, but my feeling is that the intense amount of passion and hard work that went into creating this farm is what makes the cherries taste so good.

Rob and Olga didn’t set out to be cherry farmers.  Rob stumbled upon the property fifteen years ago before he was married and thought that the decaying house once fixed up would turn a good profit.  What he didn’t expect was that Olga would fall in love with the land.  She soon realized that while cars were piling in at the various cherry farms around them, there were so many inspirational ideas that had yet to be done.   She envisioned a farm without piles of dead trees or branches that could poke your eyes out.  They both chuckle and exclaim, “yeah, we call them the eye-pokers.”

They saved up for ten years to be able to afford two wells so that their future cherry trees could be watered.   Rob takes it all very seriously.  He spent years studying their soil type so that he would know how to manage the water.  “You need to know how many inches of water your soil will hold.  Drip irrigation is meant to work in conjunction with your soil type.  There is no need to waste water,” he says.

They decided to become certified organic because no one else was doing it in the area.  It requires a tremendous amount of documentation and those records must be kept for five years.  There are no accidents here, everything is extremely well thought out and planned.

The cherries were planted in a way that would maximize pollination.  Three rows of Bings and three rows of Brooks are patterned throughout the orchard with every third tree in every three rows being a rainier.  Buckwheat and Sage Honey is sold from the local bees that pollinate the trees.

Currently, Leona Valley Organics is growing four varieties: Early Burlats, Brooks, Bing and Ranier.  The first to come into season (around Memorial Day) are the Early Burlats, which are a large and moderately firm fruit. Then are the Brooks, which are a 20-year-old hybrid of Burlat and Rainier that approaches Bing in quality when fully ripe.  Following are the Bing and Raniers.  The Bing have exceptionally large fruit with dark burgundy skin, almost black when fully ripe. The Ranier are a large crack resistant cherry.  It’s skin color is golden yellow with a considerable amount of red blush and very firm clear flesh with distinctive sweet flavor.  It has higher sugar and lower acid than Bing. 

Cherry season in Southern California is approximately one month long and typically finishes at the end of June. I’ve already been back twice and if you ask me what I’m doing next June, you’ll find me at Leona Valley Organics with cherry stained lips.

Note: I just got word that the farm got picked out early.  Their phone number is listed below if you’d like to be put on the mailing list for next year’s highly anticipated cherries.

Organic cherries are $3.60 a pound.  Honey sells for $6.00 for one pound and $10.00 for two pounds.

Leona Valley Organics, 39300 Bouquet Canyon, Leona Valley, CA  93551

661-270-0990

Saturday and Sunday 8am-5pm.  Open by appointment during the week.