He has grown the Montmorency tart cherry since about 1983. His orchard hasn’t had a really good crop of tart cherries since 2012, and since then, there’s been less water. Payson Fruit Growers is made up of 12 tart cherry family farms mostly within 10-15 miles of their processing plant in Payson. In addition to juicing and drying, tart cherries are good for baking, canning, freezing and making jams and preserves. But that might not land with consumers, because the European tart cherry looks and tastes different.