CherryHill Orchards: cherry picking

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There’s so many good things about summer: the long days, the sunshine, the fruit. Oh, the fruit! All of my favourites are in season: mangoes, lychees, blueberries and cherries.

The cherry season in Victoria runs from late November to January, and several orchards around Melbourne have the option to pick your own fruit.


Last weekend, Alastair and I headed out to CherryHill with Maztech and Dazzle, plus Bro and his gf, to pick us some cherries.

Going to the country, gonna eat me a lot of cherries. Going to the country, gonna eat me a lot of cherries.

There’s an entry fee of $8/$10 (the cheaper price is for prebooked tickets online). This gives you access to the orchard, a bucket to collect cherries, and as many cherries as you want to eat. Any that you don’t end up scoffing can be purchased to take home at $10 a kilo.

Growing up, my only pick your own fruit experience was with apples. I must say: cherries are much more fun. All I can recall from apple picking is that it was wet, muddy, and cold. I was too short to pick the good apples, and we always returned home with kilos and kilos of fruit which lasted for an eternity. .

Cherry picking is a zillion times better. The sun was shining, it was warm, cherries are easy to pick, it wasn’t muddy, and we finished with ice cream. Winner.

I’d recommend going earlier in the day – definitely before lunch – it started to get pretty hot in the sun, and it’s quieter in the morning. And definitely be selective and only pick the dark red cherries as they’re much sweeter. Oh, and finish with a tub of cherry ice cream ($5) on the way out. Cherrio!


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CherryHill Orchard
474 Queens Road
Wandin East 3139
Phone: 1300 243 779
Web: cherryhill.com.au