It?s another sign of the times when the weekend fruit picker population has doubled by people hard hit by the economy,?looking to save money on food costs.

After driving through miles of undulating brown hills studded with oak trees, passing mile upon mile of horse ranches, rusted out cars, and abandoned mobile homes, you come to Brentwood, the fruit capital of Northern California.

There, thousands of families, half from Asia, harvesting ripe Bing cherries and peaches at the wholesale price of $1 a pound, fruit that normally costs $6 a pound at the supermarket.

It all is a great opportunity to teach young kids the value of hard work, and where their food comes from. Anything you eat in the orchard is free, an old California tradition. No doubt none of these people are counted in the government?s employment statistics. It?s all a sign of the snowballing ?local? food movement, where California has been a leader.

It is all a great deal if you don?t mind having purple fingertips at the end of the day. Just watch out for the cars pulled over on the side of the road on the way home, their occupants puking out all their excess cherries.

In a nod to the 21st century, growers in this Grapes of Wrath industry compile lists of email addresses, and notify their itinerant fruit pickers which crops are ready for harvest via the internet. Also on the calendar this season are grapes, apples, apricots, plums, loquats, nectarines, mandarin oranges, and wheel chair accessible walnuts (?).

At the end of each harvest, professional crews sweep through and pick up what?s left, if the prices will bear it. If you wonder why we put up with the earthquakes, high taxes, gridlocked politics, and a non-functioning state government, this is the reason.

By the way, does anyone know what to do with 50 pounds of cherries? Send me your recipes.