Cherries now in season at Fresno State

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Bright red cherries were carefully harvested in the Fresno State orchard.

Rob Willmott manages all of the orchards on campus. The thousand acre farm is out in the open so customers always want to know when crops come into season.

"They've been calling for cherries for the last week. People, when they drive by the field they see the trees, When are they going to be ready? When are they going to be ready?"

From huge bins in the orchard the first cherries were transferred into baskets so they could be sold at Fresno State's Gibson Farm Market.

"So the cherries have definitely brought in a lot of traffic to the Gibson Farm Market. We're definitely seeing a lot of happy faces," said Angelica Famano, Gibson Farm Market.

Cherries are grown on a small plot on campus, just an acre and a half but the trees are full of fruit.

"They're in a nice easy row for poppin off and pickin," said Willmott.

Peaches are also available along with several types of citrus in the farm market. But right now the cherries seem to be attracting the most attention.

"Here today, but may not be here tomorrow because they're gonna go," said Famano.

For cherry growers it is a very tight window to get the crop off the tree.

"So for here at Fresno State it's about two and a half weeks. We pick the first variety and the second variety is about a week behind," said Willmott.

Yellow Rainier Cherries will soon be available as well at the farm market.