Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
Up until a few years ago, Dean and Sylvia Kreutzer were city dwellers who longed for life in the country. Dean, a computer programmer, had always been an “extreme” fruit lover. He and Sylvia had checked out orchards from the Okanagan Valley to Fresno, California.
“We found this 25 acre parcel of cropland close to the Deer Valley lot development, just northeast of Regina. We loved the view. We did a lot of research, and we figured the place would be suitable for agritourism.”
This is their fifth year of operation, and so far, they have planted eight acres into fruit—over 3,000 trees in all.
“Looking at our climate here and the amount of land we had to work with, we made some choices. We knew we wouldn’t be able to grow peaches successfully, and we knew we were after a higher value crop than grains. I took horticulture classes at the University of Saskatchewan and started to network with growers within the fruit industry.
“Eventually, we set our sights on producing chocolate covered cherries. We had seen dried cherries covered in chocolate before and fresh cherries dipped in chocolate, fully knowing that fresh cherries are very seasonal—we opted to crank out all year round cherries that are frozen, then dipped into chocolate. As you can imagine, this is a very labour intensive and time consuming process.”
Over the Hill Orchards has been selling these delectable cherries successfully since last December. Their cherries can now be found in three stores in Saskatoon, at six locations in Regina, in Moose Jaw, and soon in Yorkton.
“When Her Majesty the Queen came to Saskatchewan this summer, one of our cherries found its way on her plate, and the plates of 670 other guests. When Premier Calvert looked for a Valentine’s Day present for his wife Betty, our cherries proved to be the perfect gift. Our chocolate covered cherries are part of the latest Saskatchewan mission to Asia. They are certainly getting around.”
Kreutzer’s latest venture is no less intriguing. He is now looking at producing organic cherry juice.
“This is a little tricky, because you have to sacrifice a lot of cherries to produce juice. One must also dilute it a little, as natural juice is way too strong for consumers to drink straight—so to speak. We also have to work out the packaging, which is no small feat.”
Over the Hill Orchards has plans also for cherry tarts, ice cream topping and a pre-cooked five-fruit crumble. Much of the research and development work required is accomplished through trial and error, with different recipes, and also by tapping into the experience of fruit people.
“But I must admit that, of all these production aspects, I personally derive the most joy out of breeding the fruit itself,” says Kreutzer. “I am following the trail broken by 70 years of research at the University of Saskatchewan. I am playing with late blooming apricots, seeking hybrids that will best withstand the hardships our climate imposes on our fruits. Incidentally, our cherry trees won’t end up being giants on the Plains. They will be eight feet tall, more like a saskatoon bush, but they will still yield 20 to 30 pounds of cherries per tree.
“There are advantages to that: you don’t need ladders to harvest them, and you don’t have to pay the correspondingly high insurance premiums. That’s a bonus.”
For more information, contact:
Dean Kreutzer
Over the Hill Orchards
(306) 530-9133
www.overthehillorchards.ca
Up until a few years ago, Dean and Sylvia Kreutzer were city dwellers who longed for life in the country. Dean, a computer programmer, had always been an “extreme” fruit lover. He and Sylvia had checked out orchards from the Okanagan Valley to Fresno, California.
“We found this 25 acre parcel of cropland close to the Deer Valley lot development, just northeast of Regina. We loved the view. We did a lot of research, and we figured the place would be suitable for agritourism.”
This is their fifth year of operation, and so far, they have planted eight acres into fruit—over 3,000 trees in all.
“Looking at our climate here and the amount of land we had to work with, we made some choices. We knew we wouldn’t be able to grow peaches successfully, and we knew we were after a higher value crop than grains. I took horticulture classes at the University of Saskatchewan and started to network with growers within the fruit industry.
“Eventually, we set our sights on producing chocolate covered cherries. We had seen dried cherries covered in chocolate before and fresh cherries dipped in chocolate, fully knowing that fresh cherries are very seasonal—we opted to crank out all year round cherries that are frozen, then dipped into chocolate. As you can imagine, this is a very labour intensive and time consuming process.”
Over the Hill Orchards has been selling these delectable cherries successfully since last December. Their cherries can now be found in three stores in Saskatoon, at six locations in Regina, in Moose Jaw, and soon in Yorkton.
“When Her Majesty the Queen came to Saskatchewan this summer, one of our cherries found its way on her plate, and the plates of 670 other guests. When Premier Calvert looked for a Valentine’s Day present for his wife Betty, our cherries proved to be the perfect gift. Our chocolate covered cherries are part of the latest Saskatchewan mission to Asia. They are certainly getting around.”
Kreutzer’s latest venture is no less intriguing. He is now looking at producing organic cherry juice.
“This is a little tricky, because you have to sacrifice a lot of cherries to produce juice. One must also dilute it a little, as natural juice is way too strong for consumers to drink straight—so to speak. We also have to work out the packaging, which is no small feat.”
Over the Hill Orchards has plans also for cherry tarts, ice cream topping and a pre-cooked five-fruit crumble. Much of the research and development work required is accomplished through trial and error, with different recipes, and also by tapping into the experience of fruit people.
“But I must admit that, of all these production aspects, I personally derive the most joy out of breeding the fruit itself,” says Kreutzer. “I am following the trail broken by 70 years of research at the University of Saskatchewan. I am playing with late blooming apricots, seeking hybrids that will best withstand the hardships our climate imposes on our fruits. Incidentally, our cherry trees won’t end up being giants on the Plains. They will be eight feet tall, more like a saskatoon bush, but they will still yield 20 to 30 pounds of cherries per tree.
“There are advantages to that: you don’t need ladders to harvest them, and you don’t have to pay the correspondingly high insurance premiums. That’s a bonus.”
For more information, contact:
Dean Kreutzer
Over the Hill Orchards
(306) 530-9133
www.overthehillorchards.ca
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