Cherry picking time

[vilasman]

In 2-3 weeks my cherrys will be ripe down in S.W. Va. . My issue is I live around the capital beltway in Maryland. I have a pressure canner, a food saver and a huge pot for water bath canning. I am probably going to run to the farm shake 30 or 40 gallons of cherrys out of the trees over a weekend.
My question is I want to make about 4 cases of pint jars of jelly or jam or preserves and have enough cherries to make maybe 10 pies or cobblers later like at thanksgiving and christmas and to have enough to make a few gallons of ice cream.
The rest I'll freeze in foodsaver bags.
Now whats the best way for those cherrys to make the 5-6 hr trip back?

I'll have to do the same thing with peaches,bosc pears, apples, berries and next year strawberrys. And I may get lucky and get some grapes this year. Any thoughts?

 

[Michael in FtW]

Now whats the best way for those cherrys to make the 5-6 hr trip back?

A 5-6 hour trip in the trunk of your car shouldn't be a problem ... if you feel they should be kept cooler ... try transporting them in the backseat of your car. If you want to transport them in the trunk, and it's above 90-F, you could place a couple of blocks of dry ice in the trunk (wrapped in newspaper and placed in a triple thick cardboard box).

 

[Constance]

30-40 gallons! That's a lot of cherries...think 8 five gallon buckets. I would put as many as possible inside the car, but if you have that many, you'll probably need to use the trunk as well.
Michael's idea about the dry ice is a good one.
You could also put a layer of ice in the bottom of a large cooler, then line the cooler with a garbage bag. Fill the bag with cherries and close the lid. Or seal the bag and put more ice on top.
You're really not worrying about spoilage here...you just don't want them to cook from the heat in the trunk.

I hope you are going to have help pitting all those cherries! I put up about 10 gallons for pies and toppings one year, and by the time I got done pitting them all, my arms were like sour cherry suckers from all the juice dripping down them. Of course, you won't have to pit the ones you use for jelly.

One thing you can look forward to...your car will smell like cherry pie for several days. I brought home a backseat full of strawberries one time, and the aroma lingered in my car for some time.

 

[vilasman]

So get them home, keep them cool and process them as soon as possible afterwards.
Got it

 

[CharlieD]

Lucky, we do not have cheries here, I kate that. I love cherie preserve so , so mucg grrrrrrrrrrr

 

[Swann]

To transport that many cherries you must have a truck or a van. Damp towels on the top will help in cooling. You will be using boxes of low depth so as not to crush the cherries ergo, wet towels and good air circulation.

Cherries are usually plentiful in the mkts at this time of year but so far..... none, zilch, nada, etc......

 

[Michael in FtW]

Swann brought up a very good point - use shallow boxes so the weight of the fruit doesn't crush the fruit at the bottom - and that goes for the other fruits/berries you intent to transport in quantity.

You might consider talking to the manager of the produce department at your local grocery store and see if you can get some of the boxes, hopefully the divider trays inside them also, they receive their produce in.