Last week’s YOUR PRODUCE MAN’S PRODUCE PUZZZZLE dealt with Summer Corn: Summer Corn: Is Corn a fruit or a vegetable? The simple definition of a vegetable is the root, stems or leaves of a plant. Well, that’s not Corn. The simple definition of a fruit is it has seeds and ripens. Well, that’s not a corn either. That’s right. Corn is neither a fruit nor a vegetable. It is…a grain. This week's YOUR PRODUCE MAN’S PRODUCE PUZZZZLE still deals with Summer Cherries: How did the Bing Cherry get its name? See next week’s Fresh Tips for the answer.

Bing Cherries are here today and gone tomorrow. Here are the average peak weeks for harvesting Bing Cherries in California.

BING CHERRIES (Monday, June 6): Bing Cherries live in the fast lane. They are here today, gone tomorrow. Everything about the Bing is fast. From blossom to harvest is a short 60 days. To give you an idea of just how fast that is, from blossom to harvest of a Pink Lady Apple is about 200 days. Think of the Bing Cherry as driving a Mazarrati. They are fast, which means they can also crash fast. Overnight, literally, a crop of Bing Cherries can be ruined. One day, a farmer is looking into the orchard, and the Bings are coloring from a gorgeous pink to that unbelievably beautiful dark mahogany. The next day, after a freak late Spring rain or hail storm, the Bings are gone. This year, Mother Nature turned another cruel shoulder to the Bing Cherry growers in the San Joaquin Valley of California. California grows about 2/3 of the nation’s supply of Bings. The rest come from Washington. California growers were looking to have one of the nicest crops, but then storm after storm hit the orchards. At first, growers thought they were safe. “The storm came just before the Bings started coloring to red, and the storm was cold,” one grower told me, “so that means the Cherry didn’t draw the moisture in.” Rain plus a ripe Cherry means a split Cherry, which cannot be sold in the markets. Just when growers started to breathe again, more rain hit. This time, many of the orchards were too far along in the ripening process to stop the splitting. Then more rain hit, and more Cherries were split. Some growers, with early-to-mid-season Bing Cherries lost about 50% of their crop to splitting. During harvest, the orchards are packed with workers. Within 6 weeks, the crop is picked, packed, and done. So it’s time to take a 6-week vacation from the ordinary. Cherry growers are some of the biggest gamblers in the world. One way or another, cherries are here today, gone tomorrow.

The beautiful Bing…on a string.

These are the main Bing Cherry growing regions in California.

BING CHERRIES (Tuesday, June 7): The Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts in 1620. By 1629, they had their cherry trees planted. First things first, you know. There are lots of states that can’t grow a Bing Cherry. California growers pity you. California Bing Cherries feature an appetizing red-mahogany color, a relatively small stone, and fruit that is crisp and juicy. But the biggest benefit is its distinctive taste; it explodes with rich sweet flavor. Northern California is renowned for its quality produce. But perhaps California Bing Cherries are the finest example of the region's unique growing conditions coming together to create an equally unique fruit. In the cherry orchards of the fertile San Joaquin and Santa Clara Valleys, every tree receives the ideal combination of nutrient-rich soil, sunny days and mild nights. The result? Superior growing conditions and bountiful harvests. Add a commitment to quality that begins in the orchards and continues through careful handling, it's easy to see why California is one of America's top Bing cherry producers. In fact, California harvests about 70 million pounds from around 10,000 California acres. About 80% of the cherries grown in California are grown in the San Joaquin Valley. As with most stonefruits, cherries were first cultivated in China, near Cerasus, where “cherry” got its name. Cherry pits were found in Stone Age caves and the cliff dwellings in Southwestern United States. The earliest known mention of cherries is in Theophrastus (372-272 B.C.) 'History of Plants', in which he indicated that cherries had been cultivated for hundreds of years in Greece. Pliny suggested that Roman General Lucullus introduced cherries to Europe around 74 B.C., but some research suggests that cherries were known in Italy at a much earlier date. Lucullus is said to have committed suicide when he realized he was running out of cherries. Cherries are drupes, or stone fruits, related to plums and more distantly to peaches and nectarines. They have been enjoyed since the Stone Age -- pits were found in several Stone Age caves in Europe. The Romans carried cherries throughout Europe and England along the routes of conquest. Broadway in New York shifts west at East 10th Street because a cherry tree once stood there. There are more than 1,000 varieties of cherries in the United States, but fewer than 10 are produced commercially. Seventy percent of the cherries (both sweet and tart) produced in the United States come from four states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah). Michigan has over 35,000 acres of tart cherry trees and grows almost 75% of the tart cherries produced in the United States. Traverse City is called the Cherry Capital of the World. The cherry is the state fruit of Utah. Kane, Pennsylvania, is the Black Cherry Capital of the World. At one time it was against the law to serve ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas. There are thousands of Japanese cherry trees that circle the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. The trees were originally planted as a gift from the people of Tokyo, Japan, in 1912. In 1910, a previous donation of 2,000 cherry trees had to be destroyed after they were infested with insects. Each spring, the National Cherry Blossom Festival, a two-week-long celebration, attracts tens of thousands of visitors from around the world to see the magnificent trees in full bloom. The Cherry Pit Spit began in 1974, when Herb Teichman, a Michigan cherry farmer, was looking for 'something to do' with cherry pits. Growing from a neighborhood get-together to an international competition, the Cherry Pit Spit is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as an official competition. 'Pellet Gun' Krause is the 10-time winner of the International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship. Each July hundreds of people from across the country and around the world gather for the Championship. The contest marks the beginning of the harvest of tart cherries in southwest Michigan. Until 1993, Rick 'Pellet Gun' Krause of Arizona held the world record with a spit of 72 feet, 7 inches. Believe it or not, that's more than 20 feet less than the current world record. According to the Guinness Book, the world record is now 95 feet, 9 inches. About 65% of the cherry crop grown in the U.S. is the Bing. Ed Proebsting is a horticulturist at Washington State University. “The Bing is the standard for the industry,” says Professor Proebsting. The story behind the Bing is a big as the cherry itself. Seth Lewelling brought his family to Oregon in the 1870s. In his covered wagon were some fruit tree seedlings wrapped in burlap. Two cherry trees among them. When he arrived to Milwaukee, Oregon, Lewelling settled down and became a renowned nurseryman in the region. In the summer of 1875, a workman was in the cherry orchard, checking out the cherries. On one of the branches, on one of the trees, the workman noticed the sunlight dancing off the cherries. These cherries were bigger, redder and beautiful. He crawled up the tree and scrapped some of the cherries into his hand and took them to Lewelling. He couldn’t believe how dark mahogany in color they were, and how firm. He took out his pocketknife and sliced it up. He couldn’t believe the flavor. Lewelling said, “These will become the best cherry in the world.” And they have. Lewelling named that cherry after the workman who found that cherry. A Chinese workman named Bing.

Finding Bings with green stems is a sign of freshness.

Cherry Chick is joining Your Produce Man

BING CHERRIES (Wednesday, June 8): Your Produce Man is being joined the rest of this Cherry week, with the original Cherry Chick, Susann Rivera from the California Cherry Advisory Board. At the market, pick a handful of cherries at a time and only select the best fruit. This may be time-consuming, but the reward will be better cherries. Good cherries should be large (one inch or more in diameter), glossy, plump, hard and dark-colored for their variety. Buy cherries with stems on — they should be fresh and green. Reject undersized cherries or those that are soft or flabby. Avoid fruit that is bruised or has cuts on the dark surface. If you find many damaged fruits at the market, consider buying cherries somewhere else, as a number of spoiled cherries will start the others to decay. Loosely pack unwashed cherries in plastic bags or pour them into a shallow pan in a single layer and cover with plastic wrap to minimize bruising. Store cherries in the refrigerator and cherries in good condition should last up to a week. Check the fruit occasionally and remove the cherries that have gone bad. Wash the fruit before eating. Cherries should be stored at 35 degrees F. Never in a million years should you store your Bings in the open air. Do not rinse your Cherries before you store them. Because of the high sugar content, Cherries will absorb the water and become soft. Plus, water can easily spread decay. Rinse your Cherries just before eating them. Cherries taste best if eaten at room temperature. Generally speaking darker color cherries are sweeter. You can freeze cherries by rinsing and draining thoroughly, spreading them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and placing in the freezer overnight. Once the cherries are frozen, transfer them to a heavy plastic bag. The frozen fruit may be kept up to a year.

If life was indeed a bowl of Cherries, it would be one very healthy life.

BING CHERRIES (Thursday, June 9): A cold cherry on a stem is like a miniature popsicle on a stick. The trouble is, you can’t stop at one. They are addictive. California Bing Cherries are more than just a great snack - they're great for building healthy bodies, too! They are low in calories and contain no fat. They are high in potassium, Vitamin C, B complex and minerals. In addition to being rich in potassium, vitamin C, and B complex, research has shown that cherry consumption can help the body prevent heart disease and cancer, as well as provide pain relief and improved bone health. These health benefits are possible due to the antioxidants found in cherries, the most vital of which are the flavonoids anthocyanins and quercetin, and the phenolic acid amygdalin. According to researchers, a flavonoid found in cherries that has anticarcinogenic properties called quercetin can help to prevent heart disease. Cherries are considered a nutritionally significant source of quercetin, containing large quantities per serving that surpass most fruits. A phenolic acid called amygdalin, also termed Vitamin B17 and laetrile, found in the kernels of cherries and other fruits, has been shown to reduce tumor size and further spread of cancer, as well as to alleviate the pains of the cancerous process. Populations such as the Hunza in Pakistan that have always incorporated amygdalin into their diets have remained cancer free, leading scientists to believe that its consumption could also be a powerful cancer prevention food. Anthocyanins found in cherries also block inflammatory enzymes, reducing pain. In fact, 20 cherries are 10 times as potent as aspirin and have positive effects on gout and arthritis pain. Sweet cherries are also considered to be excellent sources of boron, providing 396 ug/100g. Boron consumption, coupled with calcium and magnesium has been linked to increased bone health.

BING CHERRIES (Friday, June 10): There’s a lot more you can do with Bing Cherries than simply popping them into your mouth. Today, Your Produce Man is once again joined by Susann Rivera from the California Cherry Advisory Board. Here’s a very simple recipe:

CRISPY ROMAINE SALAD WITH SMOKED TURKEY AND BING CHERRIES
Ingredients
1 head Romaine lettuce, medium-chopped
1/2 cup crumbled Athenos feta cheese
1/4 cup green onion, diced, some green included
1 can mandarin oranges (11 oz.)
1 cup smoked Longmont turkey, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2/3 cup California Bing cherries, washed, halved and pitted
Balsamic vinaigrette (recipe below)
Instructions
? Toss all ingredients together except cherries in a large bowl. Drizzle balsamic vinaigrette over salad, reserving 1 tablespoon of vinaigrette, and toss salad. Drizzle remaining vinaigrette over cherries and toss to coat. Arrange salad on individual plates and sprinkle with cherries. Serves four.

Now, if you have any leftovers, don’t fret. The next day, take the leftovers and stuff them into a Pita Bread for a great lunch sandwich.

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