Cherries on the Farm opens this weekend.
It is the latest agricultural attraction offered along Interstate 5 in Lathrop by the Dell’Osso family that has been farming in the South County for a century. The family’s other offerings include the corn maze during October and Holidays on the Farm with a snow sledding hill and ice skating.
The main event is picking cherries this Saturday and Sunday, May 14-15, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and then possibly another three days starting Friday, May 20, until cherries run out.
More than 1,000 trees were planted five years ago featuring Coral, Bing, Brooks, and Tulare cherries.
You pick cherries are $4.50 a pound. Already picked cherries are $7 a pound.
While the farm attractions that are offered during October won’t be open, there will be a wide array of baked items using cherries available. The list includes cherry cobbler, cherry jams, cherry turnovers, cherry kettlekorn, cherry chip cookies, cherry pie, cherry chip doughnuts, and cherry butter.
If the response is good, the Dell’Osso Family will plant even more trees with the idea of adding a cherry festival complete with farm attractions in the coming years.
Linden Cherry
Festival May 21
If you want a bit of family fun and a chance to enjoy even more cherry offerings, then you can make your way to Linden for the annual Linden Cherry Festival on Saturday, May 21, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Linden-Peters Chamber of Commerce is staging the street festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Linden Elementary campus off Highway 26 in the heart of the East San Joaquin County cherry orchards.
It will include typical street fair food and craft vendors, a parade at 10 a.m., a car show, a cherry pie eating contest and other games as well as various cherry products as well as fresh picked cherries.
Cherries are the county’s fifth largest crop behind almonds, milk, grapes and walnuts. The value of the cherry crop — harvested from orchards mostly around Linden— exceeded $186 million in 2020.
For more information on the Linden Cherry festival go to lindenhamber.net.
Additional details on the Dell’Osso Farms offering go to cherriesonthefarm.com
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
