A good crop: Northwest cherry harvest starts to roll with some favorable warm weather

The French family expects a crowd for cherries this warm week.

Richland’s Ray French Orchard has been a you-pick since 1988. They market sweet cherries, ‘cots, peaches and apples. But this week – it’s the start of cherries.

Family members hustle around fruit boxes, placing them just so. They’ll be used as tables for the scales and register under a tent. Another grown son works to line out the parking lot in the field with posts.