How to pick sweet cherries

What to look for

1. 1

   Pick by the stem, not the fruit. A cherry pulled off its stem tears the skin and starts spoiling within hours

2. 2

   Take the stem off the spur carefully, using a thumbnail if it resists. Stripping the spur removes the wood that would have fruited next year

3. 3

   Deep and even colour with a taut skin. Dark red for most sweet varieties, amber blushed with red for Rainier

4. 4

   Cherries do not sweeten after picking, so taste one from each tree before you commit to filling a bucket under it

5. 5

   Split skins mean rain landed on ripe fruit. Those are still fine to eat today but will not keep, so eat them in the car