2018 Corey Lake Orchards Sunflower Field Experience

I grew up totally understanding the common phrase “stop and smell the roses,” as we have a rose bush on our farm (in the middle of the herb garden) under the archway that is over 100 years old.  It has a fragrance that compares to no other rose I have ever smelled. Growing up on this farm some fifty years ago (not giving away my age!) there were simpler times in my childhood where one would really stop and linger at the rose bush. For those of you who see me at the farm, a customer last week compared me to a gazelle as I never seem to stop moving. I loved the comparison as I think gazelles are quite graceful, so apparently this customer has not seen me tripping over a cornstalk or grapevine!

This is our first year of growing sunflowers and I have to say, it has given me pause. I find myself “stopping to look at the sunflowers” several times a day and appreciating their beauty and grace, and they bring me joy. With this past week’s heat and humidity, they are at their peak and we’d love to share this experience with you. Around 60,000 happy sunflowers await you for viewing, walking through, photographing, and just plain enjoying.

The sunflower field is open daily and will be open every day while the sunflowers are in their prime, which is typically 2 to 3 weeks. Depending on the weather, we hope to have this available through August 18^th. We will be open from 9 until 5 daily. 

We would encourage you to come during the weekdays when we have fewer customers, to have a better experience if you are able. Since they are peaking now, the best viewing time will be in the next 7 to 10 days.

Cost of admission to the sunflower field is:

• $5.00 for anyone 11 years old and up
• $2.00 for accompanied children 10 years or younger
• Please check in at the market for tickets and directions to get into the field

This admission fee for each ticket holder includes:

• The opportunity to cut 1 sunflower per person (cutting tool provided)
• Receive a bag and water to take it home in
• Walk through the meandering path that goes through the field (it is a little less than ¼ of a mile long)
• Educational information posted throughout the farm
• Photo opportunities are available at the field entrance as well as the along the walking pathway
• Picnic tables, hay bales and other areas to sit and relax in
• Parking adjacent to the field
• RTV Rides for people with mobility issues. On weekends we will have one staff member with an RTV at the field for folks who aren’t able to walk through the sunflowers. Depending on how many people need this service there may be a small wait as we try to accommodate and include everybody in the fun.

Additional flowers, when available, can be cut and purchased for $2 each. We also have decorative vases.

We have all of the information and everything you need when you come to the market.

Hard Ciders, Wine and Brandies: We’ve moved Hard Cider Happy Hour, it’s in the onion barn now! This is the building on top of the hill overlooking the playground and herb garden. Come find us 4-6pm Friday, 3-6pm Saturday and sample cider or get a growler filled. If you bring growlers from home and we’ll put our sticker over them, or buy one from us! We have Preach (Pear/Peach), Brunch (Maple/Vanilla), Strawberry, Hopped, Afternoon (Strawberry/Chamomile), Prince Tribute, Sour Cherry/Sage, Standard Dry, Standard Sweet, United Squash Federation, and Standard Semi-Sweet in bottles.

If you’re looking for our cider outside of our farm, you can visit Rooster’s Wing Shack in Three Rivers, The Riviera Theatre in Three Rivers, Dussel’s in Cassopolis, Craft Beer Cellar in Grand Rapids, and as always, The Local in Centreville, Michigan. We also have cider at Hoffman Street Grocery in Three Rivers!

Brandy tasting and tours are this Saturday from 1-3. We also have our full line of Hubbard’s Brandy as well as Double Cherry Wine available behind the shelf at the market.

Fruit offerings:

Blueberries–are still in season. But don’t wait much longer. Picked blueberries available now in pints, quarts, 5 lb boxes and 10 lb boxes.  Our U-Pick blueberries are now done for the year. If you want to pick we recommend you try Brookside Farms, located in Paw Paw. They supply our picked berries and have a delightful farm for you to visit and pick at. 269-657-3500 or check their website: https://brooksidefarmsmi.com

Summer apples: Just starting to come in we have Jersey Macs, which is a good variety for eating or cooking.

Canteloupe and Watermelon are ready, perfect timing for a cool, refreshing food choice in the summer heat.

Peaches are finally coming in. Red Havens will be in for about a week or so and we have them in eating quantities on the market of pecks, 1/2 pecks and quarts. If you are looking for bushels of peaches, please call us and get on our bushel list, and as we have bushels available we will be calling you. We have several varieties coming in after the Red Havens which I really love, so sweet!

Here’s what else is on the market now:

Due to the summer heat and drought, some summer vegetables will be ending earlier than normal. Cucumbers, green beans, summer squash are going to be around maybe another week.   We are currently out of our own corn and getting if from a local farm as our succession plantings didn’t work out like we had planned due to weather. We still have a lot of our own corn coming in during the month of August, so if you are looking for bushels, get on our list and we will call you.

So on the market right now, we’ve got: fresh sweet corn, green beans, broccoli, eggplant, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, cucumbers, yellow summer squash, fresh dug onions, shallots, new potatoes, field peppers. We are now harvesting tomatoes from the field. We also have green tomatoes as well as yellow, cherry and grape tomatoes, and roma paste tomatoes. Field tomatoes are coming on very slow this year….patience please, we will be selling them by the bushel eventually.

U-pick herbs: Find bags, scissors for cutting around the neck of the bird overlooking the herb garden. Almost everything is available right now except cilantro.

Organics! Lettuce, bell peppers, hot peppers, basil, lots of cucumbers, kale, cabbage, swiss chard, and lots of tomatoes including heirlooms, slicers, and cherry tomatoes from the certified organic hoophouse. We’ve started putting out cured garlic which will be good to use fresh or to store for the upcoming months. Becca made a stamp for the bags so that they won’t be a mystery in your pantry.

We mark organic things with green, which means organic tomato pints have green x’s on them, cukes and other things are in green container, or for basil and kale and lettuce we make green signs. So you’ll find these around the market, or just ask a clerk. We’ve got a lot of organic produce!

Bakery: Be sure to come see us in the bakery! If there is a favorite pie, please feel free to call and have us save it back for you! 269-244-5690.

Bakery offerings for the weekend will be:

• Cookies: Cut Out Sugar, M&M “Monster” Cookies, Ginger Molasses, S’mores, Cherry White Chocolate  Chip, Coconut Pecan, Zucchini Chocolate Chip, and Lemon
• Pies: Blueberry, Cherry, Peach, Strawberry Rhubarb, and Blueberry Glaze (available Fri, Sat, Sun)
• Breads: Vegetable, Blueberry-Zucchini, Whole Wheat, Whole Grain, Cinnamon, Vegetable, LaBrea Breads, Focaccia, Hamburger and Hotdog Buns and Sunflower Seed Bread!
• Cinnamon Rolls, Sticky Buns, Yeast Donuts
• Assorted Muffins and Blueberry Coffee Cake
• Cake Donuts: Buttermilk, Blueberry, and Cherry (made on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)
• Gluten Free Sensations items in bakery freezer including pies, cookies, brownies, and cinnamon rolls!!
• Slushies (now in 2 sizes based on customer’s requests for larger size!)
• In the bakery freezer, Plainwell Vanilla Ice Cream, for pie a la mode! 

Everyone at the farm hopes to see you soon!

We hope you will be able to join us this Sunday for our 2nd annual All Things Local Festival: “Downtown to Down Home” from 11 to 3. We will be hosting it again at our farm with our sponsor, River Country Tourism. It is a celebration featuring local food, drink, art, music, fitness, door prizes and more where you can learn more about the amazing organizations, businesses, and attractions in our community. Information flyers are available now at our market and you can also find it as an event on our Facebook page. We also have the highlights at the bottom of this update for you.**

Here are some pictures of some of the large art pieces created by the Artist’s Guild….find them by our parking lot and entrance.  We thank them for creating these!

2018 Corey Lake Orchards Sunflower Field Experience–Are you ready?

We are opening our 3-acre field of sunflowers to create a unique and memorable experience for you.  Around 60,000 happy sunflowers await you for viewing, walking through, photographing, and just plain enjoying.

The sunflower field will open on Saturday August 4^th and be open every day while the sunflowers are in their prime, which is typically 2 to 3 weeks.    Depending on the weather, we hope to have this available through August 18^th.  We will be open from 9 until 5 daily. 

We would encourage you to come during the weekdays when we have fewer customers, to have a better experience if you are able.

Cost of admission to the sunflower field is:

• $5.00 for anyone 11 years old and up
• $2.00 for accompanied children 10 years or younger
• Please check in at the market for tickets and directions to get into the field

This admission fee for each ticket holder includes:

• The opportunity to cut 1 sunflower per person (cutting tool provided)
• Receive a bag and water to take it home in
• Walk through the meandering path that goes through the field (it is a little less than ¼ of a mile long)
• Educational information posted throughout the farm
• Photo opportunities are available at the field entrance as well as the along the walking pathway
• Picnic tables, hay bales and other areas to sit and relax in
• Parking adjacent to the field
• RTV Rides for people with mobility issues. On weekends we will have one staff member with an RTV at the field for folks who aren’t able to walk through the sunflowers. Depending on how many people need this service there may be a small wait as we try to accommodate and include everybody in the fun.

Additional flowers, when available, can be cut and purchased for $2 each.  We also have decorative vases which can be purchased.

We’ll have much more information and everything you need when you come to the market.

Hard Ciders, Wine and Brandies:
Preach is back! And because we need to free up some kegs, we’ll have cider sales this weekend! Come to Happy Hour (4-6pm Friday, 3-6pm Saturday) and enjoy 32 oz. growler fills for $6.50 and 64 oz. growler fills for $12. Bring your own clean growlers from home and we’ll put our sticker over them, or buy one from us! We have Brunch (Maple/Vanilla), Strawberry, Hopped, Afternoon (Strawberry/Chamomile), Prince Tribute, Sour Cherry/Sage, Standard Dry, Standard Sweet, and Standard Semi-Sweet in bottles.

We also have our full line of Hubbard’s Brandy as well as Double Cherry Wine. If you’re looking for our cider outside of our farm, you can visit Rooster’s Wing Shack in Three Rivers, The Riviera Theatre in Three Rivers, Dussel’s in Cassopolis, Craft Beer Cellar in Grand Rapids, and as always, The Local in Centreville, Michigan.

Brandy tasting and tours are this Saturday from 1-3. Hard cider tastings are moving to the “onion barn” and will be on  4-6 on Fridays and 3-6 on Saturdays. Come sit and enjoy this newly updated space  with a drink and pleasant conversation, and a view of the lake and our gardens. We look forward to seeing you rain or shine!

Fruit offerings:

Blueberries–are still in season. But don’t wait much longer.
Picked blueberries available now in pints, quarts, 5 lb boxes and 10 lb boxes
U-Pick blueberries: We are on our last variety of blueberries which are Jersey. These are a small, but very sweet berry. There are some available to pick if you just want to have the experience of picking a few, but If you are looking to pick a lot of blueberries, we recommend you try Brookside Farms, located in Paw Paw. They supply our picked berries and have a delightful farm for you to visit and pick at. 269-657-3500 or check their website: https://brooksidefarmsmi.com

Summer apples: Just starting to come in, we have some green (very sour) Lodi in – great for sauce and pie – and some Jersey Macs

Peaches: The most frequently asked question is when will we have peaches. The answer? Really soon, we will be picking some of the early ones over the next week, available for sale by the quart until more are ready.

Here’s what else is on the market now:

Fresh sweet corn, green beans, broccoli, eggplant, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, cucumbers, yellow summer squash, fresh dug onions, new potatoes, field peppers. We harvested our shallots this week, which you will find hanging in the market and in baskets. These are amazing to cook with as they are from the onion family, are very mild, with a hint of garlic. Plus they keep so well! I still have some from 2 years ago. While we still have greenhouse tomatoes coming in, we are now harvesting them from the field. We also have green tomatoes as well as yellow, cherry and grape tomatoes, and roma paste tomatoes.

U-pick herbs: Find bags, scissors for cutting around the neck of the bird overlooking the herb garden. If you haven’t tried using freshly picked herbs you will be amazed at how they punctuate your food. So bring your recipes and pick away. Feel free to pick of a leaf and smell them while you are here, especially the chocolate mint, located by the driveway in a metal container. An amazing smell.

Organics! Lettuce, garlic scapes, basil, lots of cucumbers, kale, cabbage, swiss chard, and some tomatoes including cherry tomatoes from the certified organic plot. We’ve also begun pulling some garlic bulbs for you. These are to use fresh! We will have cured garlic for winter storage later on in the year, and will also give you recipes for pickling (which is Becca’s preferred way to store garlic for use year round). Also, find large and small bags of basil picked on the weekends and a great recipe to make an easy vinaigrette that can be used in many ways. Eggplants and peppers are slowly making their way in as well.

Bakery: Be sure to come see us in the bakery! If there is a favorite pie or something you want for the holiday, please feel free to call and have us save it back for you! 269-244-5690.

Bakery offerings for the weekend will be:

• Cookies: Cut Out Sugar, M&M “Monster” Cookies, Ginger Molasses, S’mores, Cherry White Chocolate  Chip, Coconut Pecan, Zucchini Chocolate Chip, and Lemon
• Pies: Blueberry, Cherry, Peach, Strawberry Rhubarb, and Blueberry Glaze (available Fri, Sat, Sun)
• Breads: Vegetable, Blueberry-Zucchini, Whole Wheat, Whole Grain, Cinnamon, Vegetable, LaBrea Breads, Focaccia, Hamburger and Hotdog Buns
• Cinnamon Rolls, Sticky Buns, Yeast Donuts
• Mini cupcakes, Assorted muffins and Blueberry coffee cake
• Cake Donuts: Buttermilk, Blueberry, and Cherry (made on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)
• Gluten Free Sensations items in bakery freezer including pies, cookies, brownies, and cinnamon rolls!!
• Slushies (now in 2 sizes based on customer’s requests for larger size!)
• In the bakery freezer, Plainwell Vanilla Ice Cream, for pie a la mode! 

Are you looking for larger quantities to can, pickle or freeze? Just call or stop in the market to get on the lists we keep for bushels of pickling cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn and other produce. Many of our staff members can, freeze and pickle produce, so seek them out with your questions.

Everyone at the farm hopes to see you soon–especially for our festival

**Celebrate All Things Local hosted by Corey Lake Orchards and sponsored by the River Country Tourism Council. Tickle your taste buds with food and drink to sample and purchase. Enjoy a feast for the eyes as shared by the Three Rivers Artists Guild. Learn about the joys of local life from our speakers and exhibitors. Let the “Pipers 4” serenade you as you sample the offerings from downtown Three Rivers and River Country with its many restaurants, parks, organizations, retailers, historical sites, and spiritual centers.11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with activities throughout the event

Displays representing • River Country Tourism Council of Greater St. Joseph County • Three Rivers Downtown Development Authority • Three Rivers Public Library • Three Rivers Artists Guild • St. Joseph County Parks • St. Joseph County Historical Society of Michigan • Local spiritual centers • Lowry’s Books and More (featuring books by local authors) • So Flexy Yoga • Peaceful Rivers (massage) • Faith in Flora

Food for purchase and samplings • Corey Lake Orchard products, market, playground, bakery (available 8 am to 6 pm) •

Gluten Free Sensations (baked goods) • Hope Foundation Fire Truck (kettle corn) • Maple Row Sugarhouse (food truck— brats and maple products) • Nature’s Edibles from Ginger Hills Farms (dried fruits and vegetables) • Ruth’s Sweet Treats (pecan and cashew brittle)

• 12:00, 1:00, 2:00 PM Highlights on local authors by Tom Lowry, bookstore owner
• 12:00, 1:00, 2:00 PM Demos by So Flexy Yoga
• 12:00 to 3:00 PM Brandy House Tastings by distiller, Bruce Ruesink
• 12:00 to 3:00 PM Hard Cider Tastings by hard cider maker, Becca Sonday
• 12:30 to 1:15 PM Presentation on buying and preserving locally-grown foods by Deborah Haak, Three Rivers Public Library
• 1:30 to 3:00 PM Musical Serenade by local ensemble, the “Pipers 4” 3:00 PM

Mark your calendars for our 2nd annual All Things Local Festival: “Downtown to Down Home.” It is Sunday August 5th from 11 to 3. We will be hosting it again at our farm with our sponsor, River Country Tourism. It is a celebration featuring local food, drink, art, music, fitness, door prizes and more where you can learn more about the amazing organizations, businesses, and attractions in our community. Information flyers are available now at our market and you can also find it as an event on our Facebook page. We also have the highlights at the bottom of this update for you.**

We are in full preparation mode for this, so excuse the dust flying and construction sounds as we clean, move, repair and get ready! Here’s some new additions for 2018:

• Ruth will be coming out of retirement and bringing her famous pecan and cashew brittle that so many of you are missing this year. If you would like to order in advance and stock up, please call the market or email us and we’ll give orders to her.
• Gluten Free Sensations will be here with gluten-free samples and information about their bakery
• So Flexi Yoga Studio will be holding yoga demonstrations in our grape vineyard by the parking lot–feel free to join in
• Peaceful River Massage will be giving free chair massages 
• Lowry’s Books & More will be selling local authors’ books and owner Tom Lowry will speak about local authors
• Deborah Haak, from the Three Rivers Library, will be speaking about buying local and food preservation
• Nature’s Edibles will be bringing dried fruit and vegetables — many are done from our produce!
• The Maple Row Sugar House will have their food truck with their amazing maple products, including brats!
• Faith in Flora will be bringing flower arrangements and very interesting plants
• St. Joseph County Parks will be presenting information on the numerous area parks
•  St. Joseph County Historical Society of Michigan will be talking about the historical sites we have in our area
• Plus, all of the artists, musicians and others that were here last year!

…and if the weather cooperates and our sunflowers bloom in time, we will have a walking and driving tour set up where you can meander along a path cut through 3 acres of sunflowers. There will be photo opportunities, a chance to pick your own sunflowers to take home, educational highlights and more. It’s your chance to be-dazzled by hundreds of happy-faced flowers!  

If the sunflowers are not ready the first weekend in August, they will be coming soon thereafter. We originally thought we would have a sunflower festival on an August weekend, but have now decided that when they are in prime bloom time, we will have it open every day so more can enjoy it. They should last several weeks once we open this. More to come–stay tuned.

Hard Ciders, Wine and Brandies: 

Preach is back! And because we need to free up some kegs, we’ll have cider sales this weekend! Come to Happy Hour (4-6pm Friday, 3-6pm Saturday) and enjoy 32 oz. growler fills for $5 and 64 oz. growler fills for $10. Bring your own clean growlers from home and we’ll put our sticker over them, or buy one from us!   We have Brunch (Maple/Vanilla), Strawberry, Hopped, Afternoon (Strawberry/Chamomile), Prince Tribute, Sour Cherry/Sage, Standard Dry, Standard Sweet, and Standard Semi-Sweet in bottles.

We also have our full line of Hubbard’s Brandy, Double Cherry Wine, and Kaiser Cyser. If you’re looking for our cider outside of our farm, you can visit Rooster’s Wing Shack in Three Rivers, The Riviera Theatre in Three Rivers, Dussel’s in Cassopolis, Craft Beer Cellar in Grand Rapids, and as always, The Local in Centreville, Michigan.

Brandy tasting and tours are this Saturday from 1-3. Hard cider tastings are at the market 4-6 on Fridays and 3-6 on Saturdays. Come sit and enjoy the space at the side of the market with a drink and pleasant conversation, and a view of the lake and our gardens. We look forward to seeing you rain or shine!

Fruit offerings:

• Blueberries–are ready!
  • Picked blueberries available now in pints, quarts, 5 lb boxes and 10 lb boxes
  • U-Pick Blueberries: We have a relatively small field compared to most major blueberry growers (only three acres), so our u-pick blueberries are for folks who just want to come over to pick a few pounds (limit of 10 pounds per group) for the experience. We are open now for U-Pick.  We will be open daily until they are all picked.   We have an early and late variety, so expect them to go a few more weeks.  Feel free to call ahead to make sure there is picking going on the day you are trying to come.  269-244-5690.   If you are looking to pick a lot of blueberries, we recommend you try Brookside Farms, located in Paw Paw. They supply our picked berries and have a delightful farm for you to visit and pick at.  269-657-3500 or check their website:  https://brooksidefarmsmi.com

Here’s what else is on the market now:

Bakery offerings for the weekend will be:

• Cookies: Cut Out Sugar, M&M “Monster” Cookies, Ginger Molasses, S’mores, Cherry White Chocolate Chip, Coconut Pecan, Zucchini Chocolate Chip, and Lemon
• Pies:  Blueberry, Blueberry-rhubarb, Cherry, Peach,  Strawberry Rhubarb, and Blueberry Glaze (available Fri, Sat, Sun)
• Breads: Vegetable, Blueberry-zucchini, Whole Wheat, Whole Grain, Cinnamon, Vegetable, LaBrea Breads, Focaccia, Hamburger and Hotdog Buns
• Cinnamon Rolls, Sticky Buns, Yeast Donuts
• Blueberry coffee cake
• Assorted muffins
• Cake Donuts: Buttermilk, Blueberry, and Cherry (made on Friday, Saturday,  and Sunday)
• Gluten free sensations items in bakery freezer including pies, cookies, brownies, and cinnamon rolls!!
• Slushies (now in 2 sizes based on customer’s requests for larger size!)
• In the bakery freezer, Plainwell Vanilla Ice Cream, for pie a la mode! Pair with a cherry and blueberry pie and you’ve got your red, white and blue!

Are you looking for larger quantities to can, pickle or freeze?  Just call or stop in the market to get on the lists we keep for bushels of pickling cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn and other produce.  We recommend that you wait to get sweet corn for some of our later varieties (August).  While we think the corn is good right now, it will only get better with the later-day varieties.  Many of our staff members can, freeze and pickle produce, so seek them out with your questions.

Monarch butterfly update:  If you have visited the Market lately, you may have noticed we have Monarch caterpillars and chrysalis on display.  We wanted you to enjoy watching the cycle as they transform themselves from hungry caterpillars to beautiful butterflies.  The caterpillars were found on milkweed from the market area, old schoolhouse, and hoop house, and are feeding on milkweed leaves. The first two are now in the chrysalis stage and we expect them to emerge in 7 to 10 days as butterflies.

Everyone at the farm hopes to see you soon–especially for our festival

• **Celebrate All Things Local hosted by Corey Lake Orchards and sponsored by the River Country Tourism Council.  Tickle your taste buds with food and drink to sample and purchase.  Enjoy a feast for the eyes as shared by the Three Rivers Artists Guild.  Learn about the joys of local life from our speakers and exhibitors.  Let the “Pipers 4” serenade you as you sample the offerings from downtown Three Rivers and River Country with its many restaurants, parks, organizations, retailers, historical sites, and spiritual centers.11 a.m. to 3 p.m.   Activities Throughout the EventDisplays representing • River Country Tourism Council of Greater St. Joseph County • Three Rivers Downtown Development Authority • Three Rivers Public Library • Three Rivers Artists Guild • St. Joseph County Parks • St. Joseph County Historical Society of Michigan • Local spiritual centers • Lowry’s Books and More (featuring books by local authors) • So Flexy Yoga  • Peaceful Rivers (massage) • Faith in FloraFood for purchase and samplings • Corey Lake Orchard products, market, playground, bakery (available 8 am to 6 pm) • Gluten Free Sensations (baked goods) • Hope Foundation Fire Truck (kettle corn) • Maple Row Sugarhouse (food truck— brats and maple products) • Nature’s Edibles from Ginger Hills Farms (dried fruits and vegetables) • Ruth’s Sweet Treats (pecan and cashew brittle)12:00, 1:00, 2:00 PM Highlights on local authors by Tom Lowry, bookstore owner
• 12:00, 1:00, 2:00 PM Demos by So Flexy Yoga
• 12:00 to 3:00 PM Brandy House Tastings by distiller, Bruce Ruesink
• 12:00 to 3:00 PM Hard Cider Tastings by hard cider maker, Becca Sonday
• 12:30 to 1:15 PM Presentation on buying and preserving locally-grown foods by Deborah Haak, Three Rivers Public Library
• 1:30 to 3:00 PM Musical Serenade by local ensemble, the “Pipers 4” 3:00 PM

Festivals are in full swing this summer, so find one that interests you!  One of our local favorites is the Huss Future Festival now in its 9th year. Find our produce there, donuts and even some things we are recycling in their rummage sale! It is this Saturday from 9 until 4, find out more information here:  https://www.facebook.com/events/413293669142563/

And mark your calendars for our 2nd annual All Things Local Festival:  “Downtown to Down home.”  It is Sunday August 5th from 11 to 3.   We will be hosting it again at our farm with our sponsor, River Country Tourism.  It is a celebration featuring food, drink, art, music, fitness, door prizes and many displays where you can learn more about the amazing organizations, businesses, and attractions in our community.   Information flyers will be available next week at our market, online, and in numerous other local places where you can find out more information.

Hard Ciders, Wine and Brandies: 

Preach is back! Starting Friday (July 20th)you can purchase our ever popular pear/peach hard cider in bottles.  But we can’t keg it up for the tasting area just yet, because we need to free up some kegs first.  That’s why this Friday and Saturday afternoon we’re doing 32 oz. growler fills for $5 and 64 oz. growler fills for $10. Bring your own clean growlers from home and we’ll put our sticker over them, or buy one from us!  We fill growlers during happy hour (Friday: 4-6pm, Saturday: 3-6pm).  We also have Brunch (Maple/Vanilla), Strawberry, Hopped, Afternoon (Strawberry/Chamomile), Prince Tribute, Rhubarb, Sour Cherry/Sage, Standard Dry, Standard Sweet, and Standard Semi-Sweet in bottles.

We also have our full line of Hubbard’s Brandy, Double Cherry Wine, and Kaiser Cyser. If you’re looking for our cider outside of our farm, you can visit Rooster’s Wing Shack in Three Rivers, The Riviera Theatre in Three Rivers, Dussel’s in Cassopolis, Craft Beer Cellar in Grand Rapids, and as always, The Local in Centreville, Michigan.

Brandy tasting and tours are this Saturday with Bruce from 1 – 3 in the brandy room.  Hard cider tastings are at the market 4-6 on Fridays and 3-6 on Saturdays.   Come sit and enjoy the space at the side of the market with a drink and pleasant conversation, and a view of the lake and our gardens.  We look forward to seeing you rain or shine!

Fruit offerings:

• Blueberries–are ready!
  • Picked blueberries available now in pints, quarts, 5 lb boxes and 10 lb boxes
  • U-Pick Blueberries: We have a relatively small field compared to most major blueberry growers (only three acres), so our u-pick blueberries are for folks who just want to come over to pick a few pounds (limit of 10 pounds per group) for the experience. We are open now for U-Pick.  We will be open daily until they are all picked.   We have an early and late variety, so expect them to go a few more weeks.  Feel free to call ahead to make sure there is picking going on the day you are trying to come.  269-244-5690.   If you are looking to pick a lot of blueberries, we recommend you try Brookside Farms, located in Paw Paw. They supply our picked berries and have a delightful farm for you to visit and pick at.  269-657-3500 or check their website:  https://brooksidefarmsmi.com

Here’s what else is on the market now:

Bakery offerings for the weekend will be:

• Cookies: Cut Out Sugar, M&M “Monster” Cookies, Ginger Molasses, S’mores, Cherry White Chocolate Chip, Coconut Pecan, Zucchini Chocolate Chip, and Lemon
• Pies:  Blueberry, Cherry, Peach,  Strawberry Rhubarb, and Blueberry Glaze (available Fri, Sat, Sun)
• Breads: Vegetable, Blueberry-zucchini, Whole Wheat, Whole Grain, Cinnamon, Vegetable, LaBrea Breads, Focaccia, Hamburger and Hotdog Buns
• Cinnamon Rolls, Sticky Buns, Yeast Donuts
• Blueberry coffee cake
• Assorted muffins
• Cake Donuts: Buttermilk, Blueberry, and Cherry (made on Friday, Saturday,  and Sunday)
• Gluten free sensations items in bakery freezer including pies, cookies, brownies, and cinnamon rolls!!
• Slushies (now in 2 sizes based on customer’s requests for larger size!)
• In the bakery freezer, Plainwell Vanilla Ice Cream, for pie a la mode! Pair with a cherry and blueberry pie and you’ve got your red, white and blue!

Are you looking for larger quantities to can, pickle or freeze?  Just call or stop in the market to get on the lists we keep for bushels of pickling cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn and other produce.  We recommend that you wait to get sweet corn for some of our later varieties (August).  While we think the corn is good right now, it will only get better with the later-day varieties.  Many of our staff members can, freeze and pickle produce, so seek them out with your questions.

Happenings on the farm this week:

To be honest, we have spent a good share of the week worrying about the lack of rain.   The anxiety grew as our traveling irrigation system broke down mid week and we are still waiting for parts.   These are the days when we question

why we do something for a living where the largest factor for success is out of our control!  But then we all take a deep breath, put our heads together, and figure out what we can do, and move forward.  With pipes, sprinklers and driplines, we strategically chose what we could water, and then took great pride in watching how those crops responded!  The long string of sunny days really brought on the greenhouse and hoophouse cucumbers!  It is so fun to watch these vines go across the rafters and up our string supports. Please help us by taking some of these home!

The crew moved quickly last night to try to harvest every onion that was ready, before the rains that were supposed to come.   The first ones harvested were the candy onions which are large-yellow-sweet onions that are just beautiful this year.  We have had onion problems the past several years, so this year we had our onion sets planted by seed in a local greenhouse.   This has made a huge difference in onion quality so we hope you enjoy our spectacular onions.  We will be tying them today so that they can cure, in order for them to keep well.  You will see and smell them as you enter the market!

Many of you are experiencing “critter” issues in your gardens and asking us what to do.  We are as well and have no good answers, except we plant extra.  Birds, racoons and deer are doing everything they can to get water with this drought, so they are eating plants, trees, sweet corn, tomatoes and whatever else might satisfy their thirst.   Right now we are losing 25% of our sweet corn to them. 🙁

Our efforts to increase the monarch butterfly population are working!  We are finding eggs and caterpillars on the milkweed leaves.  We have several on the green market table for you to get a closer look.

Everyone at the farm hopes to see you soon. Thanks as always for buying local.

The heat of the past few weeks was information enough to know that summer was here. But for many, summer really isn’t official until there are fresh green beans and just picked sweet corn. We started picking green beans on Monday, and we will pick our first sweet corn (bi-color) of the year on Friday! We checked it early this morning and sampled it right off the stalk, so sweet! Give us a little time to get it picked before you come over to get it Friday morning, please!

Since we are on the subject of heat, please do a rain dance for us…we are irrigating around the clock, but much of what we grow cannot be irrigated. Sometimes when I am out in the orchards or vineyards, I swear I hear the trees and vines sighing, as they try to get through another day without a drink.

Fruit offerings:

• Sweet Cherries are hopefully going to return this weekend, thanks to the bumper crop in Traverse City and our desire to help out fellow farmers who have too many. So check back with us, but if all goes well, we hope to have their beautiful cherries here on the market on Saturday.
• Tart/Sour Cherries: These are coming to an end….come in the next few days if you want to try to get a few, they are now in the tops of the trees and you will need a ladder to reach them. We are no longer picking any for the market. You must bring your own ladder!
• Lots of cherry activity this week, as we processed them into cherry brandy (thanks Bruce) and hard cider (thanks Becca).
• Blueberries–are ready!
  • Picked blueberries available now in pints, quarts, 5 lb boxes and 10 lb boxes
  • U-Pick Blueberries: We have a relatively small field compared to most major blueberry growers (only three acres), so our u-pick blueberries are for folks who just want to come over to pick a few pounds (limit of 10 pounds per group) for the experience. We are open now for U-Pick.  We will be open daily until they are all picked.   We have an early and late variety, so expect them to go a few more weeks.  Feel free to call ahead to make sure there is picking going on the day you are trying to come.  269-244-5690.   If you are looking to pick a lot of blueberries, we recommend you try Brookside Farms, located in Paw Paw. They supply our picked berries and have a delightful farm for you to visit and pick at.  269-657-3500 or check their website:  https://brooksidefarmsmi.com

Bakery offerings for the weekend will be:

• Cookies: Cut Out Sugar, M&M “Monster” Cookies, Ginger Molasses, S’mores, Cherry White Chocolate Chip, Coconut Pecan, Zucchini Chocolate Chip, and Lemon
• Pies:  Blueberry, Cherry, Peach,  Strawberry Rhubarb, and Blueberry Glaze (available Fri, Sat, Sun)
• Breads: Whole Wheat, Whole Grain, Cinnamon, Vegetable, LaBrea Breads, Focaccia, Hamburger and Hotdog Buns
• Cinnamon Rolls, Sticky Buns, Yeast Donuts
• Assorted muffins
• Cake Donuts: Buttermilk, Blueberry, and Cherry (made on Friday, Saturday,  and Sunday)
• Gluten free sensations items in bakery freezer including pies, cookies, brownies, and cinnamon rolls!!
• Slushies (now in 2 sizes based on customer’s requests for larger size!)
• In the bakery freezer, Plainwell Vanilla Ice Cream, for pie a la mode! Pair with a cherry and blueberry pie and you’ve got your red, white and blue!

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  We have lots of fruit and vegetable puzzles/games for kids to enjoy outside the bakery door.

Everyone at the farm hopes to see you soon. Thanks as always for buying local.