Candying Cherries

[andiesenji]

One of my friends used to live in a suburb of Hamilton, which I think is pretty far east, and she used to buy cherries for canning in the early summer from farmstands a few miles outside of the city.  The same place sold apples in the fall. 

There might be a directory of farmstands, etc., in eastern Canada somewhere on the 'net.

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Hamilton may be pretty far east, but I am further east yet. And north.

I have never seen sour cherries at a farm stand in our area...we are in a different zone than Hamilton. I think that barring driving south and west, a grocery store may be my only source. And we do not have any grocery stores here like Trader Joe's or Whole Earth.

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I emailed Gina this morning and just got an email with this website address.

re growers in the area

[Darienne]

I emailed Gina this morning and just got an email with this website address.

re growers in the area

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I guess I should say thanks, but that is one depressing article!!!

[andiesenji]

I emailed Gina this morning and just got an email with this website address.

re growers in the area

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I guess I should say thanks, but that is one depressing article!!!

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I know the article is sad but the source site might be a way to find other growers.

[MelissaH]

I've never lived anywhere that sour cherries show up in a regular grocery store. Farmer's market and farmstands, yes.

When we lived in NE Ohio, if I wanted sour cherries, I had to put in a request at one of the local farmstands. When they came in, I'd go pick them up. And if I'd guessed wrong about the quantity I wanted, tough luck.

Here, they just show up at the farmer's market, in more than one vendor's stuff. They're generally around for a few brief weeks.

I'd find a farmstand or farmer's market vendor that has sweet cherries, and ask them about the sour ones.

And---I've always been asked many many many more questions about what I'm bringing into the U.S. than what I'm bringing into Canada!

MelissaH

[Darienne]

Thanks all for all the information. I have a feeling that sour cherries are about to go to the end of the list of 'things I have to deal with in the next few weeks'. That's life sometimes.

Thanks again.

But...I will keep the information in mind for next year......

[Lindacakes]

What about using Italian canned sour cherries? Amarena, Luxardo brand. They actually have them on Amazon. You can also get jars of sour cherries in Eastern European groceries.

[TylerK]

I saw frozen cherries mentioned earlier in this thread. Will they work reliably for the slow candying method? Because of the weather this year I couldn't find fresh sour cherries at any of the markets around here, and the candied bings I made instead just don't taste the same. My grocery store carries large tubs of frozen uncooked sour cherries though, and I was hoping those would work.