Crop Update and Reopening for You-Pick

We will reopen for both you-pick and order pick-ups tomorrow, Friday, 7/14/23, through Sunday, 7/16/23. Hours will be 9 to 5 daily, and this weekend will be the last opportunity for you-pick this year. The ripe varieties available are Bings, Rainiers, Vans (getting picked over but some still reachable), Tietons (only one tree, not much left), Montmorency sour/pie cherries (running low on pie cherries), plus the recently ripened Lamberts, Lapins, and Sweethearts. If you want to place an order for picked cherries, please call 509.493.4034, or better yet, message me via the Schmerber Farm Facebook page. Please place your order at least 24 hours before you plan to pick it up, and we’ll set up a pick-up date and time when I get back to you about your order.

If you’re travelling from some distance and we haven’t already talked, it’s a good idea to call or message me the day before to confirm we will be open as things can change unexpectedly and on short notice. If there is an emergency closure, I’ll post about it here.

Hope to see you on site! – Amy

Opening Day Saturday July 8th, 2023

We will open for you-pick and cherry order pick-ups starting this Saturday, 7/8/23, through Sunday, 7/9/23, from 9 AM to 5 PM. After this weekend the schedule should be as follows: Monday, 7/10/23, through Thursday, 7/13/23, we will be open for order pick-ups only. From Friday, 7/14/23 through Sunday, 7/16/23, we will reopen for both you-pick and order pick-ups. If I have to revise this schedule I’ll post an update here.

For starters this weekend, the ripe varieties available will be Bings, Rainiers, Vans, one tree of Tietons, and Montmorency sour/pie cherries. The Lamberts, Lapins, and Sweethearts are not quite ripe yet but should be by the weekend of 7/15. Prices will be $2.00/LB for you-pick and $2.50/LB for picked fruit orders. If you want to place an order for picked cherries, please call 509.493.4034, or better yet, message me via the Schmerber Farm Facebook page. Please place your order at least 24 hours before you plan to pick it up, and we’ll set up a pick-up date and time when I get back to you about your order.

As with previous you-pick seasons I can’t allow the use of ladders or step stools for you-picking due to insurance restrictions, so please don’t bring them from home. Note that due to the Tunnel 5 fire in Underwood, a section of WA Hwy 14 is currently closed west of the Hood River Bridge, so plan accordingly if you’re coming from the west. Also, if you’re travelling from some distance and we haven’t already talked, it’s a good idea to call or message me the day before to confirm we will be open as things can change unexpectedly and on short notice. If there is an emergency closure, I’ll post about it here.

Hope to see you on site! – Amy

Cherry Season 2023

I will be open for a limited you-pick season this year, limited because I now have about an acre of cherries to harvest as opposed to the previous 7 acres. I don’t expect to be able to stay open for you-pick for more than 3 – 6 days total, and I might do that as one or two consecutive 3-day weekends. Available varieties will be Bings, Rainiers, Vans, Lapins, and Montmorency sour/pie cherries.  Ripening is late this year, so I won’t open until sometime after the 4^th of July and I will post the opening date once I know it. I’ll also be doing pre-picked cherry orders as I have in previous years, so that will be an option. To place an order just give me a call and let me know what you want, and we’ll arrange a pick-up date and time. I’ll be able to fill orders for longer than I will be open for you-pick, including additional days for order pick-up when I’m not also open for you-pick. Update to follow with opening day, schedule, and additional harvest information.

Looking forward to seeing you all –

Amy

No Cherry Season 2022

We are closed this year and I will not be offering you-pick cherries, picked cherry orders, or cherries by the pound. After extensive deliberation, I decided to remove the majority of the cherry orchard so most of the trees are now gone. There are enough cherry trees left for a limited, future harvest, but I wasn’t able to maintain the trees this year and support a quality crop. The orchard removal decision was a difficult one, and it included operational, health, liability, labor, risk, climate, ecological, and water related considerations that I could no longer ignore. Regarding climate change, and in an atypical orchardist move, I had the trees I removed buried on site instead of burning them, so the carbon in all that wood has been captured underground instead of set on fire and sent into the atmosphere along with the smoke. Also, the organic matter in the wood is now back in the soil where it should be, decomposing and improving the soil.

I am planning to replant the orchard area with multiple varieties of apples and Christmas trees, so eventually my place may offer different crops for sale on site. When that time comes I’ll put the word out.

Thank you for all your support over the years.  I wish you all the best, and we will see what the future holds – Amy

Visit Schmerber Farm

Schmerber Farm is at 79 Snowden Rd. in White Salmon, Washington, just across the Columbia River from Hood River.

Call the cherry line at 509-493-4034 to confirm which varieties are at their peak.  Our hours are 8 AM – 6 PM daily during harvest season. Occasionally we have to close temporarily on short notice, so notice of those closures will be posted on this site.

From Portland, we’re just over an hours drive through the Columbia Gorge. So come join us for delicious cherries in a beautiful and memorable setting.