Early Cherry Crop Greets Those Who Can’t Wait : Leona Valley: Half a dozen orchards will be open for family picking. The rest will be ripe by Memorial Day.

It’s the time of the year to grab the sunscreen and head for the tiny community of Leona Valley in the west Antelope Valley, where thousands of trees are bursting with cherries, ripe and ready for picking.

And don’t forget to wear grubby clothes--cherry-juice stains.

Half a dozen cherry orchards will be open this weekend, offering pickers a chance to get the early varieties, such as black tartarian.

Some trees with the popular bings are ready for picking but are not expected to be ripe in mass quantities until Memorial Day weekend, when all 30 of the Leona Valley cherry orchards will open, said Tom Wade, president of the Leona Valley Cherry Growers Assn.

Growers open their orchards to the public, allowing visitors to pick the sweet fruit right off the trees.

Cherry picking has been a Leona Valley tradition for years, Wade said, noting that some trees in the community are more than three decades old.

Don Hobart, owner of Hobart’s Sweet Cherries, said he planted Leona Valley’s first cherry orchard 34 years ago. It opened as a “U-Pick” orchard six years later, with 265 trees offering eight varieties.

Today, there are 30 orchards in the growers association, with about 7,000 Trees, Wade said.

Wade said cherry picking is a popular family outing, and many people come back year after year.

This year’s crop is expected to be one of the best because of the weather, Wade said. Leona Valley received 43 inches of rain during the winter, providing ample water for the trees, he said. And so far, there have been no late frosts or other crop-damaging conditions.

Hobart said he expects a bumper crop. The fruit is large this year because of the rains and should be plentiful for at least four weeks.

The growers in the association avoid using pesticides on their fruit trees, Hobart said.

Joe Dymerski, who will open his Dymerski’s Cherries on Saturday, estimates that he has thousands of pounds of fruit on his 100 cherry trees, most of which are bings. Although bing cherries are most popular for eating fresh, Dymerski and many of the other growers have recipes for pies, jellies, brandied cherries and tarts, among other items.

The orchards are generally open 7 a.m. to dusk, seven days a week during the short, sweet cherry season. Most orchards sell the stuff for $1 a pound.

In mid- to late June, the sour cherries, commonly used in pies, will be ripe for picking.

To get to Leona Valley, take the Antelope Valley Freeway to Palmdale Boulevard. Head west on Palmdale, which becomes Elizabeth Lake Road, for about 10 miles and look for the signs directing you to the orchards.