There are so many joys in summer, one of which is that the fruits are abundant in season, and you can buy whatever you want. Grandma is a fanatical fan of cherries, in the summer shopping supermarket must buy cherries, home chase a few episodes of TV series, cherry cores can be piled into a hill.
Recently, the cherry orchards in the Netherlands have also ushered in the harvest season, and the people who come to the orchards to pick them have been wave after wave. What is the difference between the dutch picking gardens and the country? This place not only allows you to pick good food, but also makes you have fun, and you don't want to leave when you come.
Lively cherry festival
We know that the Dutch people are very fond of festivals, and when the cherries are in full bloom, there is also a grand cherry festival in the picking garden. The first Cherry Festival was held in 2000, and this summer coincided with its 20th edition. Every year, the "Cherry Queen" and "Cherry Princess" are selected, and the Cherry Queen and Princess wear burgundy dresses and smiles to lead everyone to various events at the Cherry Festival.
▲ This year's Cherry Queen Chayenne and Cherry Princess Emée
Source: wijksnieuws.nl
Tourists who want to pick it, each hand has a woven basket, and they can pick as much as they want. The Dutch picking garden has a special teaching that tells you the precautions for cherry picking: pinch the stem of the cherry, gently lift it upwards, and pick the fruit with the stem, so that it will not destroy other fruits.
In the picking garden, you can also take a tour of the orchard by Kersexpress, which is a "small train" made of cherry boxes, in front of which is a tractor-like locomotive, and a wooden square box connected to the back, which can be used by adults and children.
▲Source: dekersenhut.nl
Under the tall cherry trees, dutch people who love to do business will also set up stalls to sell things. It's like a small bazaar with jewelry, hats, bags, ornaments... Anyway, if you don't shop for nothing, maybe you can find your favorite treasure.
In addition, you can also visit the Cherry Museum (Kersenmuseum), where visitors can learn about the history of cherry cultivation. The museum was formerly an auction room, and those interested can play the "auction game" and experience the feeling of bidding for thousands of dollars.
▲Source: dekersenhut.nl
Music is indispensable to the cherry festival, the band assembled in the picking garden, playing and singing, taking the atmosphere in the garden to a new level, and tables and chairs have been prepared under the cherry trees, so that visitors can sit and watch the performance. Kids aren't bored either, there's a small playground for kids, where they can run and jump or watch a play show.
Eating cherries can supplement vitamins, running can exercise, and combining the two healthy lifestyles gives you a "Kersenrun" - running in a cherry picking garden. Children under the age of 10 can participate in the 750-meter run, children under the age of 15 can participate in the 1500-meter run, in addition to 5 kilometers, 10 kilometers, more suitable for adults.
▲Source: dekersenhut.nl
Freshly picked cherries are fresher
Cherry season in the Netherlands came early this year, says cherry grower Jo Schaepkens: "Thanks to the long hours of sunshine, cherries ripen faster and taste better. In his family business, they grow no less than 17 different varieties, with good harvests of cherry varieties in the early and middle stages.
In recent years, there have been more and more varieties of cherries in China, such as red lights, early mornings, rubies, black pearls... There are also many names that uncles can't call. In the Netherlands, there are also many varieties of cherries, such as these high-quality varieties:
Spithoven – an early cherry, a man named Spiehoven accidentally discovered this variety in his cherry tree and named it after him.
Vroege Duitser – The flesh is sweet and soft, and when the cherry is ripe, the core separates from the pulp.
Meikers – small, soft bright red cherries with rounded shapes, sweet and sour.
Kordia – Late cherry, one of the most popular varieties, ripens late in the cherry season.
Because of the climate, the southern Netherlands is slightly warmer than the north, making it more suitable for cherry cultivation, while the northern Netherlands has a lower cherry planting rate. In an agricultural census, the Netherlands found that there are more sweet cherries in Gelderland, and the sour cherries in the Netherlands are planted on a larger scale than sweet cherries, and the sour cherries are mostly used for processing, most of which are produced in the Dutch province of Limburg.
▲Source: dekersenhut.nl
From mid-June to August, it's a good time for the Dutch to pick cherries. Some of the cherries in Dutch supermarkets are imported from Greece, Italy or France, because some cherries are picked before they are ripe, given the cost of transportation. The advantage of Dutch native cherries is that they can wait until the cherries are fully ripe before they can be quickly listed, ensuring the freshness of the cherries. You can also go straight to the grower orchard to pick and choose your favorite.
Cherries have a short shelf life, and fresh cherries are best eaten as soon as possible. The Dutch also eat cherries, in addition to eating directly, they can also make cherry ice cream, cherry dessert, cherry jam, cherry wine...
▲ Cherry wine that netizens drank at the cherry festival
Source: Twitter@irismeerts
In addition to cherry orchards, there are also various picking gardens such as blueberries, raspberries, apples, and pears, which are open to visitors when the fruits are ripe. The Dutch Picking Garden seems to be a natural amusement park with rich activities and complete functions, and I look forward to some innovation in our domestic picking garden, so that the parents of us who are wandering babies have a good place to go on the weekend.