Harvest Spotlight
Cherries.
The earliest, latest,
and all around greatest.
Murray Family Farms is
first and foremost
A CHERRY FARM!
We have the largest selection of cherries of any commercial grower in all of California!
We're the first place where cherries are harvested in the ENTIRE WORLD!
We grow a huge variety of cherries on our farm. It not only lets us have a good selection of flavor profiles, but it also gives us the ability to constantly offer fresh picked produce, as each family of cherries has a slightly different harvest time.
The Big Red Secret
The Cherry on our logo is a real cherry!
The Tulare Cherry has a habit of a strong arch and pointed crest giving it the look of an adorable little heart! We chose the heart-shaped cherry for more than just the fact that they are absolutely adorable.
The three connected cherries symbolize the three most important things to us.
Our staff, our Customers, and our Farm!
The Regal and Royal Rainier!
A Golden Cherry
What makes the rainier such a thunderously delicious cherry? The Rainier is a cherry low in acidity, giving it a honey-sweet flavor as opposed to the traditional sweet-tart of most cherries.
Flavor
Brix are the scientific measurement of sugar inside a fruit, where One degree Brix is 1% Sugar. Our Rainier regularly come in at 20 and sometimes as high as 25 Brix! That means that 25% of the cherry is all sugar!
Brix
It was developed in 1952 at Washington State University by Harold Fogle, and named after Mount Rainier in Washington. It is a cross between Bing and Van cherries. The Bing is dark as can be, yet the Van is red! Why is it yellow?
Well, we don’t really know!
Why is it yellow?
Don’t forget the little ones!
MiniRoyal and Sweetheart varieties of cherries tend to be small but have a flavor that recalls hints of Cranberry or Rhubarb.
While both varieties have a unique light pink flesh the Sweetheart is just a little sweeter, true to it’s name!
More of our cherries…
The Brooks Cherry is the Yin to the GG1's Yang. Whereas the GG1 is Sugartown, this variety has a beautiful acidity that preserves it’s crispness and imparts a rich sweet-tart flavor.
The Brooks was bred from Burlat and Rainier Cherries. You can see it in the lighter color despite a fully ripened flavor. By mixing the delicious Rainier with the early Burlat, farmers are able to grow an exemplary cherry that comes off the tree when we want it. (As soon as possible!)
The GG1 cherries are wildly famous among Family Farm Fanatics. They are HUGE, dark, and unbelievably delicious. They are very low acid, which allows the sugar to stand out!
GG1's may have a silly name because... well, they don't really have a name! You won't find these mega cherries anywhere else because they are from a cherry breeding farm. They come from Row G, Lane G, Tree 1. It's breeding designation was 441B18, but GG1 sounds so much better.
Hmm.. Cherry Interesting!
We can't finish a Fruit Spotlight without showing some love to our Family Farm Fanatics! The Cherry on top, all the weird and awesome cherry facts you could ever need.
Cherries have a very short season, so when something is referred to as being "Cherry," it implies that it's new! You won't ever find an old cherry!
In cherry condition…
The Ah-Bing Cherry
Bing Cherries aren't named after Bing Crosby! They're named for an orchard foreman named Ah Bing. The story goes that the farm owner named the cherries in Bing’s honor after the foreman returned to China and was forbidden from returning under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
In 1000’s of cherries…
The Largest Cherry Tree in Japan…
From Lamberts to Lapins to Rainers and Royal Anns, there are more than 500 varieties of sweet cherries, and almost as many tart ones. But only a small percentage—around 20 or so altogether—are used in commercial production. We're going to change that!
Jindaizakura in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture is believed to be one of Japan's oldest cherry trees at 2,000 years old. The ancient cherry tree is said to have been planted by Prince Yamato Takeru (an ancient hero of Japan). The name Jindaizakura means “divine generations cherry blossom” in Japanese. I really suggest you click on the image to see it in full. It's absolutely too gorgeous!
