Comments on: Cherries, pie and a worm or two (dozen)

By: Jal/

Jal/ — Wed, 04 May 2011 17:36:13 +0000

Before I eat or cook my cherries I let them soak in water for about 15 to 20 minutes. The worms will come out of the cherries. You can then remove the worms. It’s not a cure but it works for me.

By: Cheap Like Me

Cheap Like Me — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:55:11 +0000

@Erin – Well, forewarned is forearmed (maybe). You might get a lot next year — we got 12 cherries last year, I think, but this year I’ve used about 7-8 cups and threw out another 5 cups or so of obviously wormy cherries.

Supposedly the grubs eat their way out of the cherries and fall to the ground, overwinter underground, and then come up to hatch — that’s when I’m hoping chickens could eat them? But perhaps the cherries are ruined by the time they emerge. More research needed.

By: Erin

Erin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:33:19 +0000

Ew. Ew, ew, ew. Yuck. I really wish I hadn’t read that.

Deep breath.

Your pie is gorgeous. We just planted 2 cherry trees a friend gave us and got…4 cherries! Yeehaw! They are getting loads of leaves right now so I have high hopes for next year (maybe 16 cherries?).

We just got chickens and I happen to know they love cherries so how can you get them to just eat the grubs?

By: Cheap Like Me

Cheap Like Me — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:23:28 +0000

I don’t think they are toxic, but maybe call your county extension office to be sure. I know a couple came up when I boiled the pitted cherries, and I removed them. A few cherries were obviously yuck, so I discarded them. I picked the rest this weekend and checked each cherry – 1/3 were fine, and I used those.

By: Food, Inc. - Free screenings | Cheap Like Me

Food, Inc. - Free screenings | Cheap Like Me — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:39:25 +0000

[...] I haven’t seen the movie, although I would like to. The official site for the movie is here, and it includes a trailer (which will hopefully appear below) as well as other information about the issues of what is in our food (besides bugs). [...]

By: Frances Gilbert

Frances Gilbert — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:55:50 +0000

I have three cherry trees that were loaded with cherries. We picked two trees with my 4 grandchildren eating as many as they picked.We were having a family picnic in our back yard with 10 other kids and 24 adults, all eating fresh picked cherries from our last tree, when one pulled open a cherry and said look a white worm.I thought everyone would freak out but no one did. My question is it safe to pick the rest and pit them and evict the worms???? I really hate to destroy all the cherries…Next year I will have to do something about the protein in the cherries.

By: Cheap Like Me

Cheap Like Me — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:13:07 +0000

@Q – I don’t know about tea spray! I am planning to call our local agricultural extension office this week to ask for their take.

@Angelique – Some wasps will eat the flies/maggots, but apparently they aren’t hungry enough to eat all of them. We have some aphids, as well, and the tree is crawling with ladybugs patrolling for those.

By: Angelique

Angelique — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:48:31 +0000

Gorgeous pie, S… are there any natural predators you can introduce into your garden? I didn’t even know you could buy bags of ladybugs until the news did a story on the ladybug swarms happening in Jeffco. Maybe you can buy bags of maggot eaters, too??

This article is one good argument for being ignorant (and filled with bliss). You’ve got me thinking, though, and the next time I buy cherries at the farmer’s market, I’m going to do a thorough check for maggots.

By: Q

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:49:22 +0000

What about a tea spray. I’ve heard of organic vineyards using this, I’m not sure if it would help you, or what exactly it entails… Or if you’ve looked at it already for that matter. But it might be worth a boo.