Stella Creek Cherry Orchard Announces Twilight Cherry Picking to Beat the Rain

Dec. 15, 2011 - PRLog -- The rain is coming to Adelaide again this weekend, continuing the unusually wet summers we have been experiencing over the past few years. For many people and businesses, the extra rainfall is a great boon.To cherry growers though, it can be devastating! One Adelaide Hills cherry grower has decided to try to beat the rain by introducing twilight cherry picking.

Stella Creek cherry orchard of Forest Range has been open for ‘pick your own cherries’ for the past 6years. Last year’s crop was three weeks late and was badly affected by rain in the week before Christmas(around 60% of the crop was destroyed). This year Stella Creek is going on the front foot. On Thursday 15 and Friday 16 December, from 5pm to 8pm, Stella Creek is opening its orchards for twilight picking. This enables families and those who work to head up to the hills and to pick ripe, fresh, sweet cherries before the weekend (and the rain!).

Alan Mayne, owner of Stella Creek, said today “We have a magnificent crop of fruit this year and we love to see Adelaidians enjoying the experience of picking cherries straight off the trees. Many families will be heading for the hills to take in the delightful Christmas lights at Lobethal so we invite them to come up an hour or two earlier and pick some cherries on the way. Picking the cherries now will help us to reduce the damage that is likely to be caused by the rain this weekend. It would be heartbreaking for us to have another season like 2010.”

All cherries are $8kg and varieties include Stella (the namesake of Stella Creek) and Van. A sausage sizzle and fresh cherry ice cream and sorbet will be available. There is an orchard entrance fee of just $5 per person ($2 for children under 12) which is refunded when 3kg of cherries are picked.

ABOUT STELLA CREEK – Stella Creek is a family owned boutique cherry grower with around 2700 trees on 42 acres. Its elevation is 550 metres and it has some of the most spectacular views on offer in the Adelaide Hills. The main cherry orchards are permanently netted so picking is easy and crop loss to birds is minimal. To Find more about Stella Creek Cherry Orchard visit http://www.stellacreek.com.au/