Page 14 Berthoud Weekly Surveyor
Summer in Berthoud
2022
Early summer cherries are a real treat!
T
he beginning of summer means cherry season. Those little round, sweet, and tart bundles of joy bring back memories of my childhood, sitting around big bowls of cherries and eating them until I was covered in juice and sick to my stomach. But cherries are not just for eating fresh from the tree. Cherries can be made into baked goodies or even ice creams and cocktails. Cherries and Berthoud have a long history going back to the late 1800s. At the turn of the last century, cherries were one of the main crops here in Berthoud and Loveland. In fact, The Loveland Cherry Company started canning cherries from all the available cherries grown in the area. Hundreds of cherry trees were planted in and around Berthoud and Loveland starting around 1867. The trees sometimes even had to be watered using tanker trucks, as irrigation wasn’t always available. Cherries were still a valuable cash crop up until the 1960s. After that, cherries became cheaper in other parts of the country. By the late 60s, the cherry orchards began to be sold off to build housing and other industries. Look around. There are references to cherries in street names and places throughout the Thompson Valleys. And the Loveland
Museum has a cherry pie festival in Surveyor early July. Columnist But that doesn’t mean we still don’t have access to delicious cherries here in Berthoud. Especially during early summer, the stores are full of them, and if you are lucky, you may even have a tree or two in your backyard. Here are a few recipes for enjoying these delicious fruits. Cherries are easy to prepare for cooking. They only require a cherry pitter David found in cooking stores or on Tisue Amazon. Of course, you can also just use a paring knife, but a pitter makes the job a breeze. I hope you try to cook with cherries. They are a great early summer fruit worthy of eating in all their glory. Cherry Bomb Cocktail Fresh cherries crushed into a delicious bourbon cocktail. 1/2 of a lemon, cut into wedges. 5 cherries, pitted and cut in half or quarters (I like mine cut into smaller pieces) 2 1/2 ounces of bourbon 1 tablespoon of maple syrup In a cocktail shaker, add the lemon wedges and cherries. Muddle together until you’ve released nearly all of the juice
