This is how cherries are grown in Valle del Jerte: how to visit a cooperative

"Excuse me...I have to leave you because it's starting to rain and I have to go pick cherries“, tells us the mother of Victor, young farmer Jerte Valley who is also dedicated to tourist activities in the company Hostel.

In the era of cherry picking in this valley of northern Extremadura, which takes place from May to early August, farmers are attentive to the sky every day.

A heavy spring downpour can ruin much of the entire season's work.

On the most recent visit I have made to Jerte Valley, not in the traditional cherry blossom season (which also...), but during the so-called Cerecera, I have been able to discover how the entire population lives off the cherry...and pays attention to it.

When you circulate around this time through the little ones towns of the Jerte Valley, You will see that in each garage the women are doing the selection and first packaging of the cherries that the men collect every day.

But when it rains, everyone runs to the fields to speed up the picking before the cherries get wet, because then, if they have not spoiled, they must leave them on the trees until they dry.

What is cherry cultivation like in the Jerte Valley?

At Jerte Valley Currently there are about 13.000 inhabitants who are distributed throughout the eleven towns in the region.

It can almost be said that everyone is dedicated to agriculture, in a family economy with small farms.

On average, each farmer has five farms distributed in areas of different heights in the valley, with an average surface area of ​​1,5 hectares.

They tell us that the crisis has barely been noticed, that there is work for whoever wants it, but that, in reality, they are always in crisis, that is, at the expense of the rains.

They remind us that in 1985 it rained non-stop since April, which ruined the entire harvest.

But how much do the laborers who work in the fields collect cherries earn?

The so-called “system” is usually appliedhalf“; That is, the group of laborers who harvest a field share the cherries harvested each day half with the farmer who owns the land.

For their part, laborers of Romanian origin, who prefer a fixed salary, are paid 55 euros for each day of work.

In the visit of the valley during CereceraIn addition to tasting the gastronomic or hiking, You can see how the cherries have been picked by hand, as it is a very delicate fruit and its harvesting cannot be mechanized.

To do this, farmers go tree by tree picking ripe cherries, which they store in baskets that end up weighing 5 to 7 kilos.

I have the impression that, really, in the valley they do not know the number of varieties of cherries that there is currently, because on each visit they told us a different number.

But come on, there are between 100 and 120, well, the most traditional and well-known varieties, where the five variants of pillory, and others with names as suggestive as navalinda, in versions Lemon Peak, black beak y Colorao Peak.

To these we must add those that the youngest and most innovative farmers have implemented in recent times.

What is the cherry cherry like, native to the Jerte Valley?

But you will be surprised to see how, as you walk through the field between trees full of cherries, Victor He recognizes the different varieties, which have very different flavors and sweetness.

Of course, I will tell you that the most famous variety is the Cherry pillory, of which there are five variants, four of them without peduncle (tail), which is released when picking the fruit from the tree.

Native to the Jerte Valley, is the great star of cherries, with its dark color and firmer texture.

Also the latest when picking it up, and the highest price.

Cooperatives in the Jerte Valley

Another aspect that will surprise you is the great tradition and cooperative feeling that exists in the region, which he transmits to us with his explanations Cello Bardon, farmer and rural development technician at the Jerte Valley Management Society.

In the Jerte Valley and the nearby region of Vera there are 16 cooperatives, so that each farmer, once he has collected the cherries, and many of them have selected them in their garages, takes them to the town cooperative, from where they are transport to the Association of Cooperatives of Valle del Jerte.

From there the marketing of the famous jerte cherries, increasingly directed towards export, where above all they have to compete with Turkish cherries...which are four times cheaper.

In this group, more than 16 million kilos of cherries are packaged each year, of which just under half are calibrated and selected on their increasingly modern production lines.

It is surprising to see how each cherry is photographed as it moves at full speed through the selection lines, and thanks to software, depending on its size, they automatically go to the corresponding packaging area.

With the cherries that are discarded (destruction) due to its deteriorated condition or small size, the group produces a very aggressive (42º), a sweet liquor (17º) and also jams and picotinas (cherries in brandy and sugar).

In addition to cherries, during other times of the year in the Jerte Valley olives and chestnuts are produced, but also figs, raspberries, currants or blackberries.

You can know all this by living the experience of visit of a cooperative, which is organized during the aforementioned Cherry.

Or in the guided tours for groups that at the time of collection carried out by the aforementioned company Alberjerte, in which you will learn to pick cherries…and you will surely taste some.