Families celebrate Mother's Day with cherry picking at Dell'Osso Farms in Lathrop
Families spent Mother's Day filling buckets and making memories at Dell'Osso Farms in Lathrop, where crowds gathered Sunday for cherry-picking season in the heart of California's top cherry-producing county.
Dell'Osso Farms is entering its third decade as a pumpkin farm, and eight years ago, they decided to add cherries to the mix. The business is now in its fifth season opening the orchard to the public for U-pick events.
Among the visitors were Nikki Thomas and her 11-year-old son, Kalev, who took full advantage of it, picking cherries together at Dell'Osso Farms. Kalev spoke about what cherries mean to the area.
"Probably tradition because since they grow cherries every year, me and my mom usually watch movies together while eating the cherries," Kalev said.
For Nikki Thomas, the outing was less about the fruit and more about spending time outdoors with her son.
"The look in his eyes every time we do something outside, outdoors and adventure," she said. "He loves being outside like I do. So just seeing the sheer joy in his eyes and his face, his smile."
Providing a space for families to enjoy the great outdoors is exactly what Susan and Ron Dell'Osso hope for with 20 acres of land and 115,000 trees on their property filled with cherries.
San Joaquin County is California's leading cherry-producing region, thanks in large part to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta's unique climate.
"This is a huge cherry growing area because they don't grow everywhere,' Susan Dell'Osso said. "It has to have perfect, perfect weather. So we get the chill during the wintertime, which is important, but it doesn't get too hot either when they're fruiting."
But growers across the region have faced challenges this season after recent rainstorms damaged crops in some orchards. Susan Dell'Osso said rain can split cherries and knock blossoms from trees during critical growing periods.
"It's never good to hear about fellow farmers that have a bad crop because it hits us at all times," she said. "No one's immune from that and when it's your livelihood, it's really tough."
Dell'Osso Farms largely escaped the worst of the weather. Located on an island in the Delta and surrounded by rivers, the farm avoided much of the rain that impacted nearby growers.
"This year's crop is good," Dell'Osso said. "It's a bumper crop, probably about three times as much as last year."
The farm says it plans to reopen for cherry picking next weekend from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
