Ten fun facts about Cherries

Fact 1
The biggest cherry pie in the world was baked in Canada. The pie weighed 39,683 pounds.

Fact 2
Since 1925, Traverse City, Michigan has held an annual National Cherry Festival to celebrate cherries. It is ranked one of the top ten festivals by USA Today.

Fact 3
While many sweet cherry trees can produce fruit in about 5 years after being planted, it takes 10 to 15 years for full fruit bearing production to occur.

Fact 4
Cherry cultivation is extremely expensive and takes a lot of work. A cherry shaker alone costs at least $175,000.

Fact 5
Maraschino cherries can be produced in custom colors, although the most common are red and green.

Fact 6
With the production of 200 to 250 million pounds of cherries per year, Michigan leads in the production of tart cherries.

Fact 7
The bark on a cherry tree is very distinct because they appear smooth like satin. It is also marked with openings or pores called lenticels, that are very noticeable.

Fact 8
Sour cherries have less sugar and calories than sweet cherries, but both are high in Vitamin C, carbohydrates and water.

Fact 9
When buying cherries, their stems should be attached and they should have no brown spots. Sour cherries should be red and sweet cherries should be dark in color.

Fact 10
The term cherry came from the Latin term 'cerasum', which is where the name 'Cerasus' came from, the city where the cherry was first exported to Europe.