It was one of those summer days with heat beating down on the cement so hard that one could fry an egg on the sidewalk. Two siblings, Jeremiah and Rosie were determined to stay busy all summer.
Their summer bucket list had been long just a few weeks ago, but had quickly diminished. They had tried all of the popsicle flavors at the local ice cream shop. They had walked every dog on their block, plus a couple others at the park.
And most importantly, Jeremiah had climbed all of the coolest trees in town. Rosie wasn’t as thrilled by this, but she still enjoyed cooling off in the shade of each tree with her favorite book. Mr. Harold's cherry tree was at the top of Jeremiah’s list of cool trees to climb. They had spent at least seven afternoons hanging in and around that tree.
One day they found themselves with no plans. They sat around the table finishing their lunch of sandwiches and cherries from their beloved tree. Just as Jeremiah was popping the last bit of his tuna sandwich into his mouth, he saw Mr. Harold loading boxes into his car.
That seemed like an interesting adventure for their afternoon, so Rosie and Jeremiah walked over to see what Mr. Harold was up to.
Jeremiah shouted, “Hey! Mr. Harold!! Where are you going with all of those boxes?”
“Hey kids, you’re just the ones that I was hoping to see. I actually have some news for you two,” replied Mr. Harold.
Mr. Harold explained that he was moving away and there would be new people moving in.
Several very busy days passed. Jeremiah and Rosie helped Mr. Harold pack up his car many times over as he moved his possessions to his new home across the city. He even left Rosie and Jeremiah with a few of their favorite things, including the cherry tree. Mr. Harold had joked about moving it across town a few times, but Jeremiah and Rosie knew that was impossible because the cherry tree was so old and large.
Eventually the day came, it was time for Mr. Harold to say goodbye.
No more than three days passed before a moving truck pulled into Mr. Harold’s driveway. The new neighbors followed right behind. After they finished moving everything into their house, they were rarely seen again.
Until one afternoon, Jeremiah and Rosie had just begun one of their days spent in and around the old cherry tree in their neighbor's back yard when the lady came outside.
The woman screeched, “Get away! You can’t climb my tree!” Jeremiah and Rosie were startled, but quickly scurried away.
Soon after, they found themselves at the local popsicle stand ordering their favorite flavors discussing where they will spend their afternoons now that they can’t go to their favorite cherry tree. Neither of them had a good idea until Rosie said, “You know, Mr. Harold told us last summer that the cherry tree wasn’t there when he moved in. He said he planted it himself when he was a young boy. Maybe we should plant our own cherry tree since that lady won’t share hers with us!”
The next day, Jeremiah and Rosie took the bus to Mr. Harold’s new home in order to ask their list of questions about how he grew his cherry tree. They had stayed up late the night before brainstorming a list of all the questions they thought they would need answers to.
When they reached the bus stop closest to Mr. Harold’s home, they got off and ran the rest of the way bursting with excitement. They arrived at his doorstep, out of breath and eager to begin their cherry tree adventure.
They were quickly welcomed in, offered their favorite snack, and got right to business telling Mr. Harold all that had happened. Then of course, they began to ask Mr. Harold their long list of questions.
Rosie started, “What type of cherry tree should we plant? We want a big tree that’s good for climbing and produces yummy cherries just like yours!”
Mr. Harold responded, “Well if I remember correctly, the tree that I have planted in my old backyard is a sweet cherry tree.”
Jeremiah inserted, “They never tasted very sweet to me!”
“Oh, they’re much sweeter than others. Plus the sweet cherry tree can grow up to 35 feet tall and 25 feet wide. That should be plenty of space for climbing and picnicking underneath,” responded Mr. Harold.
“Oh, that reminds me!” Jeremiah responded, “Your tree is thriving where it’s planted. Where should we plant our cherry tree to make sure that it grows just as strong?”
“Well I do remember that cherry trees don’t like to sit in water, so you want to make sure that they are in a spot that isn’t too damp. Of course you don’t want it to be too dry either. And be sure that there is plenty of space for it to grow big and tall. That means it should be about 35 feet away from another tree or a building. Being too close to something else would limit how wide and strong the roots could grow and could keep the tree from getting enough sunlight.”
“We should plant it in that big open corner of the back yard. I know that dad uses mulch sometimes to help keep the soil of plants by the house just right. Maybe mulch would help our cherry tree too!” added Rosie.
“That’s a great idea, Rosie.” said Mr. Harold.
Rosie asked the next question, “So Mr. Harold, when you planted your cherry tree, did you get a baby tree from the plant nursery or did you plant a cherry pit?”
Mr. Harold took a breath and began to explain, “I remember planting a tree from a nursery, but maybe you could try planting a pit! You do have to be careful about what type of pit you plant though. It would be safest to plant one from my tree because we know that type of sweet cherry tree will survive our climate here in Michigan and any local diseases. Here are the steps that I was taught to follow when planting a cherry pit. First, eat all of the fruit off of the pit and then dry it out and store it until later this summer when it’s time to plant. Then in about August or September, you will plant a few pits about an inch deep in soil about a foot apart. You want to plant a couple just in case one doesn’t make it. After that fill the hole back in and cover the ground with an inch or two of sand to help protect the seed while it’s growing. Throughout the fall, you should water them a couple of times. In the spring, you will hopefully have a cherry tree or two that germinated and began to grow. If you have multiples that have begun to grow, space them out at least twenty feet so they can grow strong.”
Rosie and Jeremiah quickly scribbled down all of Mr. Harold’s instructions to make sure they did it all just right.
“We’ve got this!” exclaimed Jeremiah. “But one last question,” he continued, “when will our tree start to actually grow cherries? I don’t think I can go too many summers without fresh cherries.”
“Fortunately cherry trees are one of the quicker fruit trees to begin producing fruit, but it still might be longer than you would like,” responded Mr. Harold. “I believe that my old cherry tree didn’t begin to produce fruit until it was about four years old. You might have to settle for cherries from the farmer’s market until your tree begins to bear fruit.”
“Oh well,” replied Jeremiah, “I suppose I will be able to survive on the farmer’s market cherries. There’s one other way though, Mr. Harold. Is there any chance you could just move back to your old house?”
“Sorry Jeremiah,” Mr. Harold chuckled, “As much as I love our neighborhood, this is where I need to be now. You know you’re welcome to visit anytime! I know you have lots to do now with getting your cherry tree seeds ready and all!”
“You’re right!” exclaimed Rosie. “Jeremiah, let’s head home and get started!”
Jeremiah and Rosie could hardly contain their excitement as they rode home. They reviewed the steps that Mr. Harold had given them. They devised a plan for sneaking a couple cherries from the old cherry tree at dusk.
As soon as they were home, they got to work. Jeremiah and Rosie added the important dates to their calendar. They snuck into their neighbor’s yard at dusk to sneak a handful of cherries, and they followed Mr. Harold’s instructions perfectly.
They ate the fruit off of the pit.
Then they dried the seeds for a few days. And then they stored them in a dry container.
A couple months later they planted the seeds and covered the soil with a little bit of sand.
And then they waited all winter. By next spring, Jeremiah and Rosie saw a couple little trees sprouting.
They moved them far enough apart to allow for the trees to continue to grow strong.
Four years later Rosie and Jeremiah got back on the bus to travel across town and visit Mr. Harold. This time they had offered to bring the snack.
Once again, they got off the bus and ran all the way to Mr. Harold’s door step. When he answered the door, Rosie and Jeremiah proudly presented Mr. Harold with the fruit of their labor.
A bowl of fresh picked cherries. This time though, it was from the tree they had grown together.