A Sweet Cherry With A Bittersweet Story

A sweet cherry with a bittersweet story. I'm Susan Allen with the Fruit Grower Report. Stemilt Growers are now shipping Skylar Rae Cherries. The bicolored variety is named in honor of Tip-top Orchard owners's Kim and Troy Toftness daughter Skylar Rae. Skylar died in 2004 of a genetic defect.

Here is Kim on how this special cherry came to be. Toftness: "We lost her when she was 7 weeks old. Shortly after that Grandpa was working out in the orchard and a rainbow came down over the hill and it just kind of helped him heal and we've always kind of associated rainbows with Skyler when we ever we see them. Shortly after that we discovered a new tree out in the orchard, it was a unique variety and hit had unique characteristics and we were able to patent the tree. So the family got together and decided they wanted to name the brand after their daughter. With brix levels in the 23-25 range Wenatchee based Stemelt is calling them "the sweetest and firmest cherry they grow". According to Packer online "Stemilt is packing the cherries in random-weight pouch bags and dome-style one-pound clamshells. The company is offering retailers stand-up displays ideal for checkout lanes." Stemelt has such high regard for this cherry named in honor of one precious little girl that they're forecasting that by 2020 they will be selling as many volumes of Skylar Rae cherries as rainers. Given the magnitude of this family owned company, that equates to a whole lot of cherries