Rainier cherry is an extremely sweet, flavorful, blush colored cherry grown in Washington State. In Oregon, The Northwest's combination of climate and abundant irrigation waters has also helped make this one of the nation's major fruit-growing regions. The Hood River Valley and the Medford area are two of the nation's top pear-growing regions, and just a few miles east of Hood River, around The Dalles, cherries reign supreme, with the blushing Rainier cherry a regional treat rarely seen outside the Northwest. The Willamette Valley, south of Portland, has become the nation's center for the production of berries, including strawberries, raspberries, and numerous varieties of blackberries. All these fruits show up in the summer months at farm stands, making a drive through the Willamette Valley at that time of year a real treat. Pick-your-own farms are also fairly common throughout the Northwest. So famed are Oregon's fruits that the Harry and David's company ships regional produce all over the country