Of all the unusual names for cherries, few have raised as many questions as the Black Republican.
On a recent visit to McCormick Place, we explored the biodiversity in their rooftop garden. The specialist onsite was tending and harvesting spring items. She encouraged us “Eat the cherries! There are so many!” So we did and wow! The most juicy, delicious cherry I’ve ever had. She explained the tree was 5 years old and it was the first year it bore fruit. What a delight!
But it gets better! I asked her if it was some type of heritage varietal. She told us she got the seeds from Ark of Taste and that it’s a Black Republican Cherry Tree. I was curious so looked into this.
Here are excerpts from an article by Tyler Boudreaux:
“The story of the Black Republican cherry begins with Henderson Lewelling, the eldest son of a Quaker family who ran a successful nursery in Iowa in the late 1830s". [...] Today, his house in Salem is preserved as the Lewelling Quaker Museum. It’s also a federally recognized landmark, though not for its fruit trees — the Lewelling house was once a stop on the Underground Railroad".
"Located just 20 miles from the Missouri border, Salem was a Quaker settlement where runaway slaves were welcomed.”
It is always important to celebrate the significance of such history, but this week especially. Biodiversity is both plant and human diversity; they are naturally intertwined.
Read the full article here: https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/special-programming/blacker-the-cherry-republican-lewelling-abolition-horticulture
Image: SL Fruit Service
24 May 2024
Although the season is a few days late, Washington, which is close to cherry production on the West Coast, is early. ‘There is a rush to get into the market before Washington starts producing, which usually reduces the value of the crop.’
06 Feb 2024
Sweet cherry growers in central and eastern Washington faced devastating challenges throughout the 2023 season. Unusual weather patterns caused growers losses of more than 50%, according to the United State Department of Agriculture.
30 Oct 2024
"Most traditional cherries need a minimum of 800 hours of chilling, but our low-chilling varieties can produce fruit with less than half of those hours. This opens up cultivation opportunities in areas with milder winters."
30 Oct 2024
One of the restrictions imposed by the Chinese authorities concerns the packaging warehouse, which has to establish how to apply differentiated fruit handling throughout the process, from receipt to packaging and storage of the cherries.
