Besancon - Cherry Harvest

One of my tasks was to assist in the picking of the cherries. These are not the sweet variety that you generally see in the markets or shops. The variety growing on the trees were smaller and less fleshy but scarlet red in colour and they shone like rubies in the sunlight. Their taste is quite tart but very satisfying after a meal or just to pick up and eat during the day.

I was told that the harvest was not as plentiful as last year, where the branches were positively laden with fruit. With one hand you could hook the branches bringing them within reach and then pick the fruit with their narrow stems with the other. Looped over my arm or hooked onto a convenient branch was my woven straw basket for the fruit with a paper bottom to protect them.

A photograph of my basket hanging from a branch before I dropped it!

Once all that could be achieved reasonably at ground level had been completed, we climbed into the trees on ladders and commenced picking the cherries that were within reach and then resorted to the hook once more bringing the red gems closer for collection, hooking the basket onto a branch again for convenience. Casual conversation with Rene related a few stories about bow brittle the branches of a cherry tree could be. He urged, or advised me, not to climb too high into the trees or bear my weight on the smaller branches. He explained that at this particular time of year [July] the accident and emergency departments of local hospitals were full of people who had fallen from cherry trees. Heeding his warning and looking at the steep hillside where the trees were growing, I knew that if I fell, hitting the ground would only be the beginning of a lengthy tragedy, as I would no doubt accelerate down the hillside towards the dry stone wall, road and numerous wild boar that could be waiting for my demise. Obviously though, his concerns were that I might have been a little over the desired weight to be climbing in his trees, and if I became too adventurous I would break a branch of one of his valued cherry trees.

One of the normally aspirated environmentally friendly landmowers used to keep the grass in the orchard in check

Once our baskets had a fairly reasonable collection we retired to a large wooden table and began sorting the cherries , stopping only to taste for quality control and nourishment. Only the most perfect cherries were selected, stalks slightly trimmed and put to one side in a bowl for cleaning. In a large basin of water the cherries were carefully moved around by hand and what pieces of bark or insect that did exist were washed to the surface of the clear water and from there were skimmed off. Carefully dried, the cherries were placed in 1.5 litre jars, and over them was poured a divinely clear eau de vie distilled from plums. Just enough space left for about 450 grams of white sugar to sweeten the mixture and assist in the maceration of the cherries or griottes. The jars were rolled and turned over the next few hours to assist in the dissolving of the sugar. The process is complete and the griottes are at their best after 6 months, after this the quality of the cherries starts to decline.

Fresh green walnuts

At this time of year the walnuts and hazelnuts are still quite green but a walnut wine can be made from the young walnuts using a Cote de Rhone as a base, and this is very refreshing on a warm day or for an aperitif. When the walnuts are harvested in the Autumn they are dried to preserve them, and thereafter bagged up to be shelled later in the year. Once the cherries were finished we spent the rest of the morning shelling dried walnuts, a very pleasant task especially when you knew that they would soon be eaten in a salad or cakes over the coming days.

A basket of dried walnuts with special shelling tool