About 7 years ago my husband, Luigi, hung a tree swing for me in a cherry tree – right at the edge of our uliveto (olive grove). I love that swing! It’s one of my favorite spots – like a little retreat – where I can swing and swing and swing, and meditate on the green forests and open pastures that share the valley below our house in Umbria.

This year my beloved cherry tree – and 2 others – are spilling over with (you guessed it) cherries! So we’ve started to harvest.

One of the trees is a wild cherry – at least that’s what our friends and neighbors have told us. The cherries are smaller, yellowish pink when ripe, and oh-so-delicious. But we don’t even try to preserve them. They’re very delicate (and nearby impossible to pit) so we’ve found it’s best to just eat them fresh –…