Cherry Season Sweet but Short : The crop could be running out by mid-July, so pick up some Bings at the market soon.

Like a summer shower, the cherry is with us for what seems to be one pleasurable moment and then is gone, not to be seen for another season.

This year’s crop first hit the markets around the beginning of June, so we’re already nearing season’s end. So folks, if your vice is the cherry, come mid-July it will be hard to come by.

The Bing cherry--that plump, dark ruby-hued sugar factory--is the most common variety found in produce outlets. Its sweetness is unmatched, although look-alikes include the Lambert, black tartarian, Chapman and Burlat. Besides the sweet cherries, there are sour types available. But you are more likely to find these in a can or in the frozen food section--destined for making pies and other culinary delights. These include yellow-skinned varieties such as the Royal Ann.

Although nary a commercial tree grows in Ventura County, California’s part in the cherry scheme of things is an important one. The first crops to ripen do so in the Stockton area, where hundreds and hundreds of acres are planted. Next to ripen are the cherry trees along the more coastal region of Gilroy and Hollister.

But most Northern California growers had a tough go of it this year, as rains hit at an inopportune time and affected both supply and quality.

“They got rain at a crucial time--four to five days just before harvest,” John Choumas Jr. said, co-proprietor of L.A.-based Choumas Produce, a large cherry distributor.

The result of unseasonal rain: cherries swell and split open. This further depletes supplies in an already short season. And the cherry bounty from the Northwest regions of Oregon and Washington, which generally supplement our production, also took a bath. They too were stricken with untimely bad weather and “they’re pretty beat up as well,” Choumas said.

As Fourth of July holiday nears, cherry production from the Northwest normally kicks into high gear. That’s when prices begin to drop as retailers put out vast supplies of the fruit.

“You won’t see that happening this year,” Choumas said. Limited supplies mean rationing shipments to retailers as growers try to stretch out the season as long as they can, he said.

“There won’t be any 99-cents a pound bargains,” Choumas said. He does, however, expect prices to remain at current levels. Good quality fruit is now going for about $1.69 a pound at the chain stores. You’ll find premium quality fruit at specialty and gourmet markets--such as Mrs. Gooch’s (Thousand Oaks) and Gelson’s (Westlake Village)--going for $2.29 a pound and up.

At the farmers’ markets in Ventura County, you’ll most likely be buying cherries from Vito Scatiglia’s farm in the Antelope Valley. While the markets attract growers from Northern California, they have already come and gone until next year.

Scatiglia--who attends the Thousand Oaks, Oxnard and Ventura (Saturday) bazaars--is offering his cherries for $2 a pound.

Southern California is dotted with small plots of cherries, mainly in the Antelope and Leona Valleys. These farms are tiny and generally produce fruit only on a “you-pick”it basis.

“We’ve had real good luck this year; there’s nothing wrong with our cherries,” said Scatiglia, whose large tree fruit farm near Little Rock includes four acres of the Bing variety. “We just started out here and expect to have fruit for another four weeks.”

SWEET CHERRY PIE INGREDIENTS

2 1/4 cups flour

1 1/8 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons ground almonds

2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening or 2/3 cup lard

4 to 5 tablespoons cold water

5 cups pitted sweet cherries

1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 egg yolk

* DIRECTIONS: Combine 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt and almonds in bowl. Cut in shortening. Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at time, mixing until all flour is moistened and dough almost cleans side of bowl. Gather dough into ball.

Divide dough in half and shape into 2 flattened rounds. Roll 1 portion to round 2 inches larger than inverted 9-inch pie plate. Fit pastry into pie plate leaving 1-inch overhang.

Toss cherries with sugar, lemon juice, remaining 1/4 cup flour and 1/8 teaspoon salt and almond extract. Turn into pastry-lined pan. Roll out remaining dough and cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips.

Place 5 to 7 strips across filling in pie plate. Weave 1 cross strip through center by folding back every other strip in opposite direction. Continue weaving until lattice is complete, folding back alternate strips each time cross-strip is added. Trim edges of strips. Fold trimmed edge of lower crust over ends of strips, building high edge. Seal and flute.

Bake at 425 degrees 25 minutes. Beat egg yolk and brush over lattice and crust edges. Continue to bake 15 more minutes. If top crust browns too rapidly, cover with light tent or strips of foil. Serve warm or cold. Makes 6 to 8 servings.