Artist, Orchard-Vineyard Grower, Working Class Hero Building Co. ,Sheryl Getman Art Studio, We design and build new Orchards, Writer, Websites, Organic Vegetable Grower, Fruit Preserves, Cooking& Real Food Advocate, Tibetan Terrier Breed, AKC Fancy, and Montana born.
We are moving our Harvest start date to July 18, 2023. No rain and hot temperatures are ripening the cherries beautifully. The cherries have had time to grow large. They are firm and perfect.
Call farmer Dan a day or two before you want to visit. We will open each day, after July 17, at 8:00 am. We will close at 1:00 pm. Farmer Dan will give you directions to our Bigfork, Montana, Orchard. (406-871-5499)
Here are a few photos and video taken last evening, July 8, 2023. We both work for this special Harvest time. Our service in life is to provide the very best fruits to our wonderful and special customers. Happy Days.
Practicing Patience is required during this pre-harvest time in 2023. At the East Shore of Flathead Lake, our Montana weather teases with a rotation of warm days and cool days. Knock on wood, we have not had hail.
We understand you all will want to hear, quickly, about our upcoming harvest. In our orchard, we like to give some of our trees an extraordinary space for growth. This photo is of a special Lambert tree that survived historical winters when the entire area lost their trees. Enjoy this photo while you read our particulars.
The harvest will probably begin the last week of July. This is nearly impossible to predict. Today, June 25, 2023, from our current observations, we will guess, last week in July for our start. If you want to come to the orchard, call 406-871-5499 from July 24 until we finish around approximately August 19. Call a day, or two, before you want to visit. We will pick during mornings. 8:00 am. -1:00 pm. You must call and talk with Farmer Dan. We look forward to a fun season.
In the orchard, we need to know each tree as an individual. They begin to ripen at various speeds. Eventually, they come together to make our crop. We are seeing various phases and colors now. When growth is achieved, we stop irrigation to develop flavor. The trees tell us what to do. We work to have the best cherries we can produce.
The cherries today: “straw”, is the name for this phase. The name describes the color and growth period.
We made some New Work Here for Us
During this waiting time, we have planted the new peach trees. The blueberries are in the ground. This new work will produce fruit in the next seasons. Here is a photo of Farmer Dan with just one of our new blueberries. These plants are astonishing. We are excited about our new peaches and blueberries. There are 90 new peach trees and many blueberries.
It has happened. A few days ago, our snow and sleet stopped. Yesterday, May 1, 2023 was 88 degrees Fahrenheit and today, 91 degrees. We are not sure how this growth situation will proceed. Our Bing cherries have burst into bloom. The lilac buds are gaining color. The Lapin Sweet Cherries are popping blossoms here and there. In optimistic hope, Farmer Dan predicts a cool down in temps and all will be well for a nice growing season.
I am listening to hot blowing wind as I write this news from the orchard. We cannot guess our harvest time. We may see some early crops. A smart farmer will not project outcomes at this time in May.
Our job during this heatwave is to get the work done and the momentum into high gear. Dan ran up the mountain yesterday to turn on our irrigation. We must conquer the fast beginnings of weeds. Our seeds and plants can go into the ground if they are new this spring. We are adding more blueberries, some peach trees, a few apple trees, and new hazelnuts. Pruning continues. We love our work and will hope for the best from Mother Nature for all of our plants and trees.
It was a radical winter and we are cheered by the life that survived. It seems that even the roses are coming in with new life. We got lucky.
Above all, we all must enjoy this glorious Spring wherever we live.
Farmer Dan opened cherry buds today. The Orchard looks good. The buds are beautiful, undisturbed, and promising. He is predicting the best cherries, yet! We have been through severe wind storms, below zero temperatures and many snow blizzards. We enjoyed every minute of this 2022 -23, unusual winter.
We have ordered our seeds, worked on interiors, and cooked up a storm. The preserved fruits are gems in winter. We made many green salads with special vinaigrettes, and fruits. Occasionally we made crepes or waffles with Orchard fruits. We lace the fruits into almost everything we cook.
Spring is beginning. Today, we ordered 100 hazelnut plants. We are never bored, even for a minute, here.
We look forward to a beautiful season, a time when Orchard grown fruit is a treasure.
Dan and I anticipate seeing our wonderful customers this year. Another season, another year; the children grow and all things change. We actually never truly know if our fruit will develop as before. We nurture and watch. Our policy is to never fret about outcomes. Growing over 1000 plants is a positivity exercise !
We are still here and nothing has changed in our sweet dance with the seasons.
A winter artwork of three Tibetan Terriers for Our Neighbor’s birthday. She owns the grandmother, Selena, and Selena’s daughter Phoebe. The granddaughter is our girl, Sunny. Sunny became an AKC Grandchampion Bronze last year.
Our Tibetan Terriers keep our humor exercised. This is Olive in the kitchen. She is preparing to request her dinner. Our Tibetans love the cold and snow, everyone was happy. They are highly anticipating the muddy season coming soon.
Our cherry season will begin AUGUST 1, 2022. Our cherry season will last through AUGUST 15. The past, late, spring has brought us a beautiful crop. Farmer Dan has pruned each tree for beauty and easy picking. The ORCHARD has been tended, watered, and nourished like a garden.
Enjoy our serene, clean orchard. An exquisite time to relish the outdoors and clean air. We are a family owned orchard.
CALL 406-871-5499 for an appointment.
We cannot ship cherries during 2022.
Prime sweet cherries, peaches, plums, pears, apples, berries, events. Located in Montana at Flathead Lake, Yellow Bay.
Getmans' Orchard and Vineyard 