At the end of August, the cherry orchards around Cromwell were still asleep. Bare branches, frost on the grass, bird nets rolled up and waiting. Inside the packhouse, though, the conversation was already about December.
We'd gone down to meet a collective of nine cherry growers who pack their fruit together in Bannockburn, just outside Cromwell. Most of their year goes into growing the kind of cherries that fly overseas: big, glossy, dark and spotless. Every one of them runs down a grading line that checks size, colour and the tiniest mark on the skin, and only the picture-perfect ones make the export cut.
Which raised the obvious question. What happens to the rest?
Plenty of them still find a home here. But this summer, for the first time, the growers have built a grade just for us. A very special grade, Cherry Picked just for Wonky, so more of each harvest gets eaten, not just the best-looking part of it.
The wonkiness is skin-deep. Here's what gets a cherry into our box:
And what doesn't: anything soft, bruised, mouldy or freshly split, or anything that won't travel well. If it wouldn't be lovely to eat, it stays out.
Cherry growers spend the whole year watching the sky, and this spring has given them plenty to look at.
The good news first. It's been one of the warmest springs in Central Otago in over a decade, with decent winter chill and good pollination days, and the trees have responded. The growers tell us they're tracking early, with the first pick possibly as soon as the second week of December. The early varieties, the ones that land before Christmas, have set well. The later varieties are a little lighter than the growers had hoped.
Then came Labour Day weekend. A big wind tore through the region, and some blocks lost a bit of fruit, a few bird nets took a knock, and the trees were left looking, in the growers' words, a bit sad and beaten up. It's not a show stopper. They've been giving the trees some extra care, and fruit counts are happening over the next fortnight. If you spot a few more beauty spots in your box this year, that's the wind's doing.
What happens next comes down to rain. Forecasters are watching an El Niño building over the Pacific, expected to peak this summer, and nobody can say yet whether that means a wet harvest or a dry one in Central Otago. Rain close to picking is the thing cherry growers dread most. A ripe cherry draws water in through its skin until it cracks, and fresh splits don't travel, so they never make it into a box. A dry, settled run into December and growers are talking about one of the best seasons in a long while. After last summer, when cool, wet weather pushed harvests back by weeks, everyone down there would welcome it.
We're heading back to the orchards in early December to see the first fruit come in, and we'll share what we find.
Cherry Picked is our first ever cherry box, in 1kg and 2kg sizes. It's a pre-order: choose your delivery week, and your box is packed and sent straight from the growers in Bannockburn in December, while the season lasts. It travels on its own, separate from any Wonky Box delivery. Already a Wonky Box customer? You can order one through your account.
When yours arrives, pop it straight in the fridge. Then tip them into a bowl, find the twins, and keep a saucer handy for the pips.
Get your Cherry Picked box → here
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