How To Milk A Tree

A cluster of beautiful Montmorency pie cherries.

There is a certain amount of country wisdom one acquires living in rural settings. From my neighbor "Sam," an octogenarian from Ellensburg who formerly drove pack trains out of Stehekin, I learned how to grab on to my horse's tail and allow it to pull me up a steep hill; for example, if I were to break a leg on the trail.

From Sam I also learned the enormous advantage of the 4-1/2 foot solid iron bar, used for digging fence post-holes.  I bought a bar for around $35 dollars back in the early 1980's and have never looked back; the bar continues to chisel out fence post sized holes, almost as fast as my neighbor can drill them with his tractor auger.

Another bit of country wisdom is the technique for "milking a tree."  Since I have only used this method for picking sour pie cherries, such as the Montmorency, Morello, and Early Richmond, I can't say how well it would work for other varieties of fruit. Milking pie cherries certainly does not preserve the aesthetic beauty of the individual red globes, however, milking fruit directly from the tree totally eliminates the additional step (and expense) of buying a mechanical cherry pitter. Bottom line, if your aim is to make a cherry pie, and your only aesthetic concern involves loading the space between the crusts with tasty pit-less fruit, then the milking technique just might be for you!

The process of milking a tree is just as it sounds. Much like milking a cow, picking is done with both hands working simultaneously, and depositing the fruit into a pail, positioned waist or chest high, suspended from your neck by a rope or strap.  You can pick an amazing amount of fruit this way, both hands pumping up and down like pistons, juice dripping from your elbows, keeping a periodic watchful eye on the contents, checking to weed out leaves, stems, and the occasional pit that might find its way into your pail. To milk the cherry from the pit, simply grasp the body of the cherry in the middle with your index/thumb, or thumb/index/middle finger and squeeze gently, simultaneously placing downward pressure on the cherry.  This process will cause the cherry to crack or erupt where the stem meets the fruit.  Performed successfully, the meat of the cherry will slide from the pit, the pit remaining attached to the stem and hanging on the tree.  It takes a little practice to get a “feel” for this process, but once you’ve got it, it’s like skipping rocks or riding a bicycle . . . the process becomes automatic and you will likely never forget.  The following series of photos shows the milking process, from a cluster of beautiful Montmorency cherries, to a bare cluster of pits.

Step 1 – Grasping the cherry in the middle. Step 2 – applying pressure to the cherry. Step 3 – Cherry and pit part company!

Step 4 – A well-picked cluster of pits. These will eventually drop when the tree goes dormant in the winter.


So, the season for pie cherries is NOW! In return for your efforts, your home or freezer will be blessed with the aroma of freshly cooked pies, and mountains of fresh, pit-less cherries, ready for the perfect pie, jam, jelly, or tart. Stay tuned for article number two; how to make the perfect cherry pie.

- Tim Wittman

 

 

Post
comments:
(There are no comments yet.)
add a comment: