Bill Dugan, Editor and Publisher of Food Gardening Network

Are you a sweet type or a sour type? That’s not a question about your disposition, but about the types of wonderful cherries you prefer.

The amazing thing about cherries is their variety, starting with their type. You can grow sweet cherries that you can eat right off the tree, or sour cherries that are perfect for baking and preserving. Either way, they have powerful health benefits and they taste delicious!

There are 500 different sweet varieties and another 500 sour or tart varieties around the world—but don’t worry, we’ve picked out some of the most popular in our Plant Profiles for you to browse through.

Cherry trees take three to five years to produce fruit, but once they do, you’ll get as many as 1,000 cherries in your harvest. That’s why we’ve prepared this all-in-one guide for you about growing, harvesting, and eating—with some easy-to-prepare and tasty recipes—your own home-grown cherries.

In this collection’s Introduction, you’ll first learn some basics and history about cherries, to get you ready for growing your own. Then, in the Feature Articles, you’ll get specifics about cherry gardening—from types of trees and plants you can start with to watering, fertilizing, and controlling and preventing disease and pests.

If you’re already an advanced cherry and food gardener, some of this may be refresher content for you. But stick with it, because you’re certain to learn something new, especially when it comes to the history of cherries and the recipes!

In Plant Profiles, you’ll learn about six popular varieties of cherries, to give you specific details about the characteristics and best uses for particular varieties that you can choose to grow and enjoy.

Of the 1,000 varieties of cherries available, we’ve chosen these six cherry plants to profile because they are some of the most commonly grown. If you’d like us to include another cherry variety that appeals to you, please let me know by commenting below.

As a network of enthusiastic food gardeners, we value your input. We want to hear from our readers who are just like us: devoted food gardeners who want to enjoy all the benefits of growing our own delicious food at home!

One of the things that our readers love about Food Gardening Network is the assortment of super easy and delicious Recipes, so that you can enjoy the fruits of your gardening labor. And that includes marvelous cherries!

These cherry recipes include uses for desserts and main dishes. You will be sure to delight everyone at your table when you prepare cherries any of these ways, and these dishes will become staples in your cooking repertoire. Enjoy your cherry harvest with these tasty recipes, and your family and friends will be amazed at all your cherry gardening and cooking efforts!

Next, you’ll learn Nutrition Facts about Cherries to find out exactly which nutrients are found in cherries—and to what degree—and the most common vitamins and minerals. Home Remedies & Health Benefits of Cherries will help you learn about how key nutrients in cherries can help ease some diseases, such as arthritis and gout.

To help you explore the sweet world of cherries even further, we’ve included a Resources section that is complementary to this collection. We aim to give you everything you need to grow, harvest, and eat delicious cherries, but enjoy taking a deeper dive into these additional resources by visiting the links provided.

Finally, you’ll find a brief Glossary at the end of this collection in case you need a fuller explanation of any key terms and concepts.

Now it’s on to growing the most delicious cherries ever!