Bittner, who likes to make cherry jam, said she wasn’t in any hurry to fill her container, as time spent in the orchard is quality family time, a sentiment echoed by others out for the start of the U-Pick cherry season at Ridgetop Orchards.

While the skies were leaden and the grass was wet, nothing could dampen the spirits of those who traveled from near and far to fill up bags, sand pails, baskets and buckets with the freshest fruit available.

Clarence Robson of Johnstown comes every year, usually picking about 100 pounds of fruit. This year, he checked out with nearly 120 pounds of cherries that his wife will use to make pies. She’ll also freeze some, he said while standing atop a ladder to reach the topmost branches on a trio of trees he’d been picking for several hours, arriving at 8:30 a.m. and packing up shortly before noon.

Mark Wyant of Claysburg and his grandson, River Brown, 5, were picking cherries to eat and to give away. River, tired from his busy morning, needed a pick-me-up in the form of a fresh cherry slushie, a new addition to the cherry-picking tradition in the orchard.

Clarence Robson of Johnstown picks cherries at Ridgetop Orchards in the Fishertown area Tuesday morning. Robson picked nearly 120 pounds of cherries from three trees. Mirror photo by Holly Claycomb

In addition to slushies, there are fresh-from-the-kitchen cherry donuts, cream hand pies, cherry butter and cherry salsa, said Kylie Vitovitch, who has worked at the orchard for seven or eight years. The new offerings help “mix it up a bit” to give visitors more options, she said. The treats also give customers some ideas to try with the cherries they take home.

The options all tie in to make the experience of picking cherries something special, said Mark Boyer, who was busy trimming branches to help make the picking easier.

Boyer, whose family owns Ridgetop Orchards near the Chestnut Ridge Middle School in Bedford County, said the opportunity given to visitors to pick their own cherries is “a great community thing. … It’s unique.”

Few orchards in Pennsylvania grow cherries, due to the state’s colder temperatures, but cherries have been a staple at Ridgetop for decades, he pointed out.

The orchard has several varieties, with the sweet black Bing and the sweet/sour Jubileum now in season, to be followed shortly by sweet Queen Anne. The old-fashioned sour cherry, Montgomery, was hit by frost and is very limited this year, Boyer said, adding that orchards are like any other agriculture endeavor in that the weather plays a major role in production.

The Bittner siblings, Avery (right), 6, Riley, 4, and Kacey (back), 2, help their mom, Emily Bittner, pick cherries. Mirror photo by Holly Claycomb

Despite the slight setback with the sour variety, this year’s cherry crop is close to being a banner year, with cherries measuring in at the premium size on the cherry row sizer tool Boyer uses to gauge the crop.

For a comparison, Boyer said Washington state cherry growers pick, pack and ship their premium cherries to market in China. In the Asian market, he said, having fresh cherries is a luxury, a sign that a person is well-off financially.

That’s a marked difference from Ridgetop, which thrives on making family memories and on the camaraderie enjoyed by both employees and visitors during the public U-Pick sessions.

“The amount of smiles we see. … Kids on a ladder smiling. … That to me is a successful cherry crop season,” Boyer said.

To get that successful cherry crop that the community eagerly anticipates, Boyer said Ridgetop added several wind machines in the last few years. Looking like small windmills, these machines, when in operation, siphon or pull warmer air from above the crop zone and mix it with the lower cold air. This helps the orchard save the trees from freezing temperatures and frost, he explained.

Riley Bittner is surrounded by foliage as she picks cherries Tuesday morning at Ridgetop Orchards. Mirror photo by Holly Claycomb

The orchard also uses frost dragons to stave off the colder temperatures that could damage the fruit long before the trees even bloom.

Thanks to those innovations, the orchard is enjoying a successful cherry season this year, and with more than 9,000 cherry trees on 18 acres — roughly 500 trees an acre — Ridgetop should have cherries for a week or more.

It would be nice, though, Boyer said, if some sun would break through the clouds.

“Last month was the second-wettest May we’ve had since 1989,” he said, pulling up a chart on his cellphone.

It may be wet, but the rain hasn’t affected the taste of this year’s crop, he added. For anyone who has never eaten cherries that have ripened on the tree, Boyer simply said “the flavor is unbelievable.”

Riley Bittner is surrounded by foliage as she picks cherries Tuesday morning at Ridgetop Orchards. Mirror photo by Holly Claycomb

Ron Rhodes of Everett agrees with that assessment. Rhodes said he had “big expectations” for his cherry-picking endeavors and usually gets about 10 pounds of the sweet fruit.

“I just eat them … ’til I get a bellyache,” he said with a laugh.

U-Pick cherries will continue daily, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., while supplies last. More information is available at ridgetoporchards.com.

Riley Bittner, 4, shows off a cherry she picked Tuesday morning at Ridgetop Orchards. Mirror photo by Holly Claycomb

The Bittner siblings, Avery, 6, Riley, 4, and Kacey, 2, helped their mom, Emily Bittner, pick cherries. Mirror photo by Holly Claycomb

Mark Wyant of Claysburg gets a cherry slushie for his grandson, River Brown, 5, at Ridgetop Orchards on Tuesday. Mirror photo by Holly Claycomb

River Brown, 5, prepares to enjoy his slushie. Mirror photo by Holly Claycomb

This year’s cherry crop is close to being a banner year, with cherries measuring in at the premium size on the cherry row sizer tool used to gauge the crop, according to Mark Boyer, whose family owns Ridgetop Orchards Courtesy photo