Locally grown 2015

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Locally grown, ownedA special publication of the Ludington Daily News

Cover photo by Steve Begnoche

3958 W Chauvez RdLudington, MI 49431

2 | LUDINGTON DAILY NEWS/LOCALLY GROWN | FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2015

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Freegranolasamples

COUNTRYVIEW BAKERY (231) 425-6791 • (231) 233-6292

4550 W. US Hwy. 10, LudingtonWe’ve moved from South Scottville to the oldFashion Bug building right next to Tractor Supply

Hit theSweet Spot!

NowOpen

Open Monday- Saturday 9-6

HOMEMADE BREADSWhite • Raisin • Whole WheatZucchini • Banana Nut • Onion Cheese & Gluten Free

SPECIAL RECIPE GRANOLACranberry Pecan • Sunny AppleHoney Roasted Peanutbutter Crunch

COOKIESChocolate Chip • Ginger SnapRaisin Oatmeal • Monster CookiesPeanutbutter Oatmeal • Wheat Free

SUGAR FREEBanana Bread & BlueberryStreusel Coffee Cake

• Apple Cinnamon Muffins• Candy Bars• German Apple Cake• Hummingbird Cake• Whoopie Pies• Pumpkin Rolls

PIES:• Cherry • Apple • Coconut • Peach• Blueberry • Pecan • Rhubarb

• Carrot Cake Rolls• Danish Coffee Cakes• Maple Nut Twist Rolls• Granola Bars• Apple Butter• Honey• Jams

www.countryviewbakery.com

CHEESE• Natural Marble• Pepperjack• Mozzarella• Muenster• Provolone and more

MEAT• Turkey• Ham • Smoked• Honey Roast Turkey Breast and more

202 N. Main St., Scottvillewww.millersmarketplace.com 231 .233 . 1584

Farmers MarketSaturday mornings 9-12

New VendorsWelcome

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2015 | LUDINGTON DAILY NEWS/LOCALLY GROWN | 3

McDonald’s Bakery is a family-owned business that has been operating in Ludington for more than 110 years.

The baking tradition has been car-ried on by five generations of family members, said Ella Mae McDonald — part of the fourth generation.

The first generation to run the busi-ness was John McDonald in 1889. Then came Jim McDonald. Next was Mike McDonald, who graduated from Dunwoody Baking School in Minne-sota in 1956. In 1998, Mike Jr. became owner.

The sixth generation is running around now — they’re all 5 years old and younger, Ella Mae said.

McDonald’s Bakery was named the Ludington & Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2014 business of the

year.McDonald’s Bakery caters to the

needs of its customers with a com-plete line of baked goods. Their spe-cialty is their hamburger and hotdog buns, which Ella Mae said are used for all kinds of celebrations.

“It’s a familiar sight to see the Mc-Donald’s van delivering fresh baked goods to restaurants, stores and facili-ties in this area,” she said.

McDonald’s Bakery is friendly, fast and affordable and has plenty of park-ing for their customers’ convenience. McDonald’s Bakery is open six days a week.

“McDonald’s Bakery, where family tradition is baked in all we do. We are celebrating more than 110 years of blessings because of our customers.”

Baking for the area since 1889McDonald’s Bakery

Ella Mae McDonald holds up the original permit for business.

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The Buss Gardens2879 W. Townline Rd.bussgardens.com231-464-5833Lillies, Hostas, Coral Bells, Perennials, Shrubs

Cold Stream Farmswww.coldstreamfarm.netSpecializing in native trees and shrubs for wildlife habitat

Countryview Bakery4550 W. US Hwy. 10Ludington, MI 49431www.countryviewbakery.com231-425-6791Homemade Granola, Breads, Cookies, Pies, and So Much More

Dublin General Store18372 Hoxeyville Rd, Wellston, MI 49689www.dublinstore.com(231) 859-4188Over 50 varieties of Homemade Jerkey, full grocery & hardware store, beer, wine, liquor, full bakery, deli, dairy and frozen.

Grassa’s Farm Market2442 US-10Ludington, MI 49431(231) 843-8020Seasonal Plants, Farm Fresh Produce, Lawn Decor, Mulch, Trees & Shrubs, Deer Feed.

Hamlin Grocery 3611 N. Jebavy Dr, Ludingtonwww.hamlingrocery.com231-843-2058Locally grown produce, full service deli, Hamlin Lake apparel, beer & wine & propane fill station

Indian Summer Co-op3958 W. Chauvez Rd. #1Ludington, MI231-845-6248Applesauce, Apple Juice, Apple Cider, Cherry Juice

The Jam Lady5075 W. Meisenheimer Roadwww.facebook.com/lois.jamlady231-845-990930 flavors of local jams, preserves and butters, bread mix & dip mixes, gift baskets

Lewis Farm Market & Petting Farm4180 West M-20,New Era, MI 49446lewisfarmmarket.com231-861-5730Home grown produce, fruit orchards, market with gifts and goodies, bakery, Petting Zoo and Outdoor Attractions

McDonald’s BakeryCorner of South James & Dowland, Ludington231-843-9495Hamburger & Hotdog Buns, Rolls & Breads, Pastries, Pies & Cookies

Miller’s Marketplace202 N. Main St., Scottvillewww.millersmarketplace.com231-233-1584In Season Fresh Produce, Saturday Morning Farmers Market. Find us on Facebook

Orchard Market212 S. Pere Marquette Hwy., Ludington 231-843-46038400 N. US 31, Freesoil 231-464-5534Farm fresh produce, butter cream fudge, jams & jellies, homemade pies & donuts, seasonal plants

Rennhack Orchards Market3731 W. Polk RoadHart, MI 49420shop.rennhackorchards.com231-873-7523Apples, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, Peaches, Gift Baskets

Sanders Meats237 S. Main, Custer, MIwww.sandersmeats.com231-757-4768Homemade Brats, Sausages, Jerkey, Burgers, Butterball Hams & More

West Shore Market707 W. US-10, Scottville231-757-9130Grocery items • Bulk Items • Cheeses • Fresh Seasonal Fruit & Vegetables • Homemade Bakery Items

Locally growndirectory


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Business continues to be good for Orchard Market thanks to the people who buy the market’s locally grown and produced fruits and vegetables and eat the locally produced fudge, honey, jams and other local products.

The family-owned business began at the intersection of U.S. 31 and Free Soil Road in 1960 and later expand-ed to include another store in the Ludington area on P.M. Highway, which opened in 1986.

The stores’ second-generation owners Bob and Teresa Malkows-ki have been joined in running the business by their son, Kyle Mal-kowski, and son-in-law, Bill Sturgeon, to make Orchard Market a third-generation business.

And that business is bigger than just the stores. It also includes a 300-acre farm where the family grows straw-berries, tart cherries, sweet corn, cauliflow-er, broccoli, pump-kins, squash, cabbage, and many varieties of peaches and apples.

Bob Malkowski said he grows 12 different varieties of peaches.

He also said he’s pre-paring to grow and sell

plums, apricots and nectarines — in a cou-ple years, after the trees mature.

“They’re in the ground now, but it takes a cou-ple years to get prod-uct,” Bob said.

He also said the farm is popular in the early summer with people who like to pick their own strawberries.

The stores also sell fruits and vegetables not grown on the Mal-kowskis’ farm, but which are still provided by other local growers.

The Malkowskis’ goal

is to bring fresh fruits and vegetables from the farm to the consum-er as quickly as possible to maximize freshness and nutrition.

The Free Soil store also has a bakery, deli and fudge shop. Visi-tors may buy fresh baked goods, hot soups, deli sandwich-es, homemade grano-las, flatbreads, pizzas, meats and cheeses.

Bob Malkowski also said the fudge coun-ter includes more than 25 flavors of home-made butter cream

fudge and said bakery items, fudge, meats and cheeses are also sold at the Ludington Orchard Market store.

The farm market also carries locally made honey, maple syrup, jams, jellies, sugar-free preserves, salsas, bar-becue sauces, mus-tards, pickled products, packaged candies, fruit and nut mixes, juices and sauces.

Orchard Market also carries a large selec-tion of bulk spices, which have been popu-lar with customers.

From farm to store since 1960Orchard Market

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BY BRIAN MULHERINDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Indian Summer Coopera-tive is growing again.

Founded by a group of area farmers, the coopera-tive, which creates apple juices and other products for markets all over the world using apples from all over the country, is add-ing a line so that it can cre-ate single-serving cups of applesauce right in its Pere Marquette/Riverton town-ship plant.

A new 40,000-square-foot addition is under construc-tion. It will house the pro-duction line capable of pro-ducing 600 cups a minute. The line will feature robotic packaging and automatic palletizing.

David Hackert said the cups are popular with food services, including the U.S. government, school lunch programs and retail estab-lishments. Thanks to past co-packaging, Indian Sum-mer brand cups are already in demand.

He said modern families want convenience.

“It’s just more convenient to throw some in the fridge and grab one for a snack,” Hackert said.

Hackert said the new line will be dedicated to apple-sauce, but in the future there is room to expand into fruit cups.

“We’ve got it all designed so we can add onto it later,” Hackert said.

The new line is expected to be on line by October, just in time to capture this year’s apple crop.

The first apples of the season generally arrive any day now in Michigan and the crop is expected to be good.

“Locally it’s going to be a good crop, down a little bit from the frost that we had, not a disaster by any means,” Hackert said.

Indian Summer makes products under a variety of labels, but its namesake la-bel is reserved for products made with U.S. apples.

The company has a new applesauce product in 2014 — chunky blueberry apple-sauce. Hackert said the fla-vor makes for seven differ-ent varieties now. He said the blueberries are from Michigan and Georgia.

“So far, everyone really likes it,” Hackert said.

In 2013, the company rolled out some new packag-ing that went over very well with U.S. retailers.

The packaging is a nine-pack of 64-ounce bottles that gets packed on a pal-let and can be displayed in a center aisle or on an end cap.

Indian Summer bottles for a variety of store brands and last year added Aldi stores to the list.

Hackert noted that some varieties of product bottle under store brand names do use foreign concentrate, but nothing with the Indian Summer label gets anything but U.S. apples.

Indian Summer has the highest international food safety rating possible — Safe Quality Foods (SQF) level 3. It’s similar to the ISO processes other businesses go through, but it’s geared toward the food industry.

Hackert said if the rain comes when it’s supposed to where it’s supposed to, it should be business as usual.

“We’re planning on having a good year this year,” Hack-ert said. “We’re planning on putting apples through the plant.”

And those apples should go through a little quicker this year.

The plant has a new ro-tary filter that extracts juice from pulp left after press-ing. Hackert said the system

is faster and should help a point that used to be a bot-tleneck in the production process.

HISTORYThe fruit processing plant

was started around 1960 by five farmers — Willy Van-Nortwick, Elwin Olmstead, Art Lister Sr., Don Harmon and Roy Hackert. Once known as Mason County Cold Storage, which pro-cessed mainly cherries, the business was later sold to Morgan McCool.

“In 1975, we started with apples when Duffy Mott left Michigan,” President Roy Hackert told the Daily News in 2011. The Mott’s apple juice magnate moved to Connecticut and left behind a facility in Paw Paw. The business that is now Indian Summer Cooperative pur-chased the equipment.

The operation began to develop a few products and bottled them in glass con-tainers. The co-op added a fleet of trucks for shipping the products because glass is heavy, and the geograph-ic location, a distance from major Michigan freeways, the operation had to be-come vertically integrated to be competitive.

About 14 years ago, the cooperative began using plastic bottles, which made shipping less costly as the containers are lighter in weight.

Expanding local operations, product line Indian Summer Cooperative

BY ANDREW J. COOPERDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

HART — Since 1984, Dave and Joann Rennhack have operat-ed Rennhack Orchards Market and the farm of the same name, grow-ing produce such as fresh-picked sweetcorn — “the best sweetcorn,” as their customers of-ten say.

The market special-izes in produce and locally made prod-ucts, selling sweet and tart cherries, apricots, plums, peaches, nectar-ines, tomatoes, cucum-bers, peppers, melons, pumpkins, squash and 26 varieties of apple. Customers can sample produce when they en-ter the market.

The market offers several new exciting programs this year, Joann Rennhack said and one — Double Up Food Bucks — has her especially excited.

“It’s an amazing pro-gram that actually has been funded through the Fair Food Network, which is a nationwide nonprofit based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They really want people who have limited income to be able to eat better and eat fresh produce,” Rennhack said. “If they have a Michigan bridge card, they just need to

bring it to our market and we can get them signed up electronically on our app.”

People with bridge cards, formerly known as food stamps, can

earn matching funds, up to $20 a day, through Double Up Food Bucks. The funds can then be spent at Rennhack Orchard Market, which Joann

noted is the only place in Mason and Oceana counties participating.

“It’s super exciting,” Rennhack said.

People without bridge cards will also

find something new at Rennhack Orchards Market. A new dis-play freezer offers 11 flavors of locally-pro-duced Country Dairy ice cream.

“They’re of course our local dairy in Oceana,” said Rennhack. “Kind of connected to that, some folks in Whitehall are making gourmet little ice cream bars so we have (those)... We really try to look for lo-cal products.”

Also new, the mar-ket sells Uncle Gene’s Pretzels, which start-ed at the Incubator Kitchen in Hart and are now carried in Cracker

Barrel, as well as the Incubator Kitchen’s brand of jams. Several new varieties of cher-ry are available and soon, customers will be able to taste evercrisp apples, considered a cousin of honeycrisp.

Most of what the market sells is fresh and grown at the farm, however. “Our tagline is ‘We grow it for you,’” Rennhack said. “We ac-tually grow almost all we sell on our very own farm so people can get much fresher produce and of course Dave re-ally has a stake in keep-ing that quality high be-cause he wants to keep customers happy.”

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Offering new programs for customersRennhack Orchards Market

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Cold Stream Farm~ Specializing in Native Trees and Shrubs

for wildlife habitat ~visit www.coldstreamfarm.net

Plan on Sanders for yourSummertime Favorites.

Open Mon.-Sat.8 AM-5 PM

237 S. Main, Custer, MI 231-757-4768

www.sandersmeats.com

From Our Family Smokehouse Since 1925HOMEMADE

BRATS • HOT DOGS • SAUSAGE • SNACK STICKSJERKY • STEAKS • BURGERS • RIBS • BBQ HOGS

AND MOREUSDA Inspected - No Poultry Fillers


Preparing for a busy fall seasonLewis Farm Market

BY ANDREW COOPERDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

NEW ERA — Lewis Farm Market has a full roster of events this fall, with both old favorites and new attractions.

One new attraction, accord-ing to owner Scott Lewis, is an aviary open every day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring 400 budgie parakeets

“They’re a real big hit,” Lew-is said. “It’s a nice feature.

Lewis Farm Market, located on M-20 just east of U.S. 31 in New Era, features home-grown produce, fruit or-

chards, U-pick apples, U-pick pumpkins and a variety of outdoor attractions. Wheth-er you are there for the day or a couple of hours, activi-ties at Lewis Farm Market will keep you and your family entertained. There are wagon rides, jumping pillows, pedal carts, birthday parties, school tours, gem mining, a pump-kin cannon and more.

On Sept. 6, the eight-acre corn maze opens, and fall ac-tivities will be in full swing by Sept. 13. The Apple Express will be ready to take guests

on a special fall tour where they may encounter witch-es, clowns and other forest friends. The market hosts an event called pumpkin de-struction Nov. 1, the same day it closes for the season.

Lewis Farm Market is locat-ed on M-20 just east of U.S. 31 in New Era, Exit 140.

Many different animals are in the petting farm, including goats, donkeys, ducks, chick-ens, rabbits, peacocks, wal-labies, llamas, mini horses, Jeffrey the camel, fallow deer and prairie dogs.

Make Every Meal Countwith low prices on your family’s favorite foods!

Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 AM-6 PM; Sat. 9 AM-5 PM • 707 W. US 10, SCOTTVILLE MI • 757-9130

DISCOUNT FOODSMARKET

WESTSHORE

BULK

FROZEN

GROCERY

COOLER

CHEESE

All Purpose Gluten Free Flour ......... $2.89 Lb.

Pumpkin Seeds Roasted & Salted .. $6.09 Lb.

Tart Cherries .................................... $2.19 Lb.

Garlic Bread ...........................$2.19 16 Oz./Each

Coconut Oil ...................................... $2.99 Lb.

Mrs. Wages Pickle Mixes .....$2.99 5-6 Oz./Each

Roll Butter .............................. $7.89 2 Lbs./Each

Lebanon Bologna (Reg. or Sweet) ........$5.89 Lb.

Provolone ......................$3.09 Lb.

Chipotle Pepper ............$2.99 Lb.

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VISIT OUR WEB SITE www.orchardmarket.us • OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

Hardy MUMSFor Fall Planting

Homegrown

APPLES

• JAMS • JELLIES • SUGAR FREE PRESERVES• SALSAS • BBQ SAUCES • MUSTARDS

GRASSAFARMMARKETSelling in-season, local produce for over 30 years!

Open Daily 8:30-7 • Corner of US-10 & Stiles Rd. • 843-8020

Homegrown Extra Sweet

SWEETCORN

Homegrown

SQUASH & CABBAGE

ATTENTION HUNTERS:• CARROTS • SHELLED CORN

• EAR CORN • SUGAR BEETS • APPLESFlavored Salt Blocks

Wild Game Jerky

APPLE TREES!

FOOD PLOT SEED:

Rye, Rape, Turnips, Etc

Trophy Rock,

Hunting Blinds,

Feeders24" - 72"

FIRE PIT FIREWOODBundle

Box or Rick

LARGEQUANTITIESSEASONED

RINGS & COVERS

Beautiful selection of Shade & Ornamental Trees

Swings,Picnic Tables,

Benches

AMISH BAKED GOODS


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BY MELISSA KEEFERDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

SCOTTVILLE — Af-ter her first season in business, Jennifer Miller, owner of Miller’s Marketplace, said she has learned a lot more about growing produce and running a business.

She had thought of and planned for this venture for years, and it finally came into frui-tion this summer.

“I grew up in Vic-tory (Township), and while we didn’t live on a farm, I had them all around me. I al-ways loved to garden and help my grandpa garden. He taught me a lot,” Miller said this spring as she was just opening her store.

As a supporter of Scottville and someone who wants to see Scott-ville flourish, Miller said she wanted to fill one of the open spaces avail-able downtown and the location at 202 N. Main St. caught her eye.

Miller’s Market-place offers vegeta-bles grown right on the property in raised beds, locally made products from others such as baked goods and handcrafted items,

and she has brought back Scottville’s Satur-day morning farmers market.

She said since Scot-tville no longer had a farmers market on Sat-urday mornings, she really hopes it becomes a destination for peo-ple to buy their fresh fruits and vegetables.

“I am still hoping for more vendors to sign up,” Miller said.

As the seasons change, so do the products available and Miller is hoping that before she closes down in the fall, she will be able to find a farmer with pumpkins and other fruits and vegetables she isn’t growing.

Miller has been sell-ing the harvested veg-etables she has grown during the farmers

market and throughout the week as it’s ready. Because Miller only has a small space for grow-ing, the quantity is lim-ited and produce can sell out quickly.

“The customer base is definitely here,” Mill-er said. “People come to the market to buy what’s fresh for the day and that’s just how some people eat.”

Growing in the city

has provided some challenges — but she is especially grateful that people have not disturbed the plants she has worked hard to grow.

“I have learned a lot about what will and will not grow here,” Miller said, noting the raised beds are in the parking lot of her store and some plants just don’t thrive there.

“I knew it would be different from home,” she said.

For the ones that do, she has gotten creative, creating a makeshift trellis out of wire fenc-ing and old grape vines to keep the plants standing tall.

Miller kept to the ba-sics, offering a variety of tomatoes, peppers, yellow squash, cucum-bers, lettuces, green beans and peas.

She said one of the things she has been doing throughout the spring and summer is educating people about the growing seasons and what is available.

“You could have asparagus fresh this time of year (end of July), but you’d have to grow it in Peru,” Miller said. “Asparagus just doesn’t grow here at that time.”

Its season is roughly Mother’s Day to Fa-ther’s Day.

She said the focus in opening Miller’s Mar-ketplace was to pro-vide a local outlet for people to start.

“There are so many people that are talent-ed,” Miller said. “I like to encourage people to show off their stuff.”

Growing produce on site

Jennifer Miller works in her raised-bed garden at Miller’s Marketplace in downtown Scottville.

Miller’s Marketplace

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Friendly staff ready to assist you with all your favorite fruits, vegetables

and ice cream.Make sure to take some homemade

fudge and fresh-baked goods home. Browse our gifts, pantry and

children’s corner.

Petting farm. Wagon rides, corn maze, birthday parties, jumping pillows, pedal carts, school tours, bus tours, animated chicken show, duck races, gem mining and more. Visit our website at lewisfarmmarket.com for a printable list of our schedule of events-every weekend has something new.

Growing Fruit, Fun & Memories! Visit us on Facebook.

Lewis Farm Market & Petting FarmFamily-owned, specializing in home-grown produce on 700 acres.

Open May thru November 1. Something for everyone!

Fall Fun:U pick apples & Apple Express (weekends) • U pick pumpkins

• Barrel Train • Pumpkin Moon Walk • Jumping Pillows• Pedal Carts • Bunker Hill Apple Cannons • Fall Produce

Take US31 to Exit 140, go east ¼ mile on the left. Lewis Farm Market & Petting Farm 4180 W M20 New Era MI 49446 (231)861-5730

6 AcreCorn Maze!

New for 2015 Bird Aviary

2879 W. Townline Rd., 8 Miles N. on Stiles Road, Turn left - 1/3 mile on dirt road

231-464-5833 www.BussGardens.com

SPECIALIZING IN ORIENTAL, ORIENPET, TRUMPET ANDTIGER LILLIES -DAYLILLIES, HOSTAS - PEONIES - PERENNIALS

THE BUSS GARDENS

FALL HOURS: Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10:00 AM-5:00 PM

All the flowers pictured are from my gardens


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Open 9-6 Mon-Sat June-Oct. 31 • Open 9-5 Fri & Sat only Nov.1-21Open 9-5 Mon-Sat Nov. 23-Dec. 23

3731 W. Polk Rd., Hart, One mile east of US-31 Exit 149 (Hart) (231)873-7523O • www.rennhackmarket.com

Our own fresh produce, & unique gift baskets that show you care, featuring local & Michigan-made products! Corporate gift baskets, too!

We Grow 26 Varietiesof Apples for you...

Stop in for a FREE Sample!

Your hometown source for & Honeycrisp apples!

Out-Of-Town Family, Friends or Employees?SHIPPING AVAILABLE

for our Apples in Season& our Gift Baskets!

Project Fresh, Senior Market Fresh, Credit Cards & EBT Bridge Cards Welcome! EBT Double Up Food Bucks June 1-October 31!

Rennhack Orchards Market in Hart is the only participating location for Double Up Food Bucks in Oceana County


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McDonald’sBakery

McDonald’s...Where FamilyTradition Is Baked In All We Do

Hamburger & Hot Dog BunsSandwich Rolls • Rolls & Breads

Pastries, Pies & CookiesDecorated Cakes

Corner of South James & Dowland, Ludington 843-9495

Celebrating 111 Years

Serving the Community

Since 1904


BY KEVIN BRACISZESKI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Painting the building new colors and adding a sign out front have helped the owners of West Shore Market at-tract customers to the store, which is a short drive west of Scottville.

The owners, Ivan and Rachel Hershberger, bought the business nearly two years ago and Manager Rebecca Hershberger said the paint job and sign have attracted customers.

“It used to be a blue and white building so we painted it and it looks a little different,” Rebecca said. “People talk about it. It’s one of the things they notice.”

The store carries locally produced maple syrup from the Kasza Sugar Bush in the Shelby area and local honey from Ed Malkowski of Scottville.

West Shore Market stocks many items of bulk food and has 50 different kinds of cheese as well as carrying meat and frozen products.

Fresh produce, bulk goods offeredWest Shore Market

CUSTER — Sanders Meats has been known for its fresh local meat since it was founded in 1925 by Joseph Sanders. Known for their hams, Sanders’ hams were well-received and quickly gained in popularity and in-creased distribution.

With the increase in de-mand for the old-fashioned hams came the need for more processing area, and many expansion programs throughout the years, with modern equipment and re-newed enthusiasm for more products.

“We carry on this tradition today, with a growing cus-tomer base that comes back for Butterball ham, beef jerky, our Snack Stix and more,” said fourth genera-tion owner Derek Sanders.

Everything about the busi-ness is still local, includ-ing the family, he said. The second generation Sanders is Carlton Sanders. David Sanders is third generation, and Derek, Alec and Corey Sanders are the fourth gen-eration in the business.

The business sells its fa-mous Butterball hams, burg-

ers, brats, jerky, hot dogs, sandwich meat, sausages and more, offering products from its retail store, 237 S. Main St., in Custer or by or-

dering online at www.sand-ersmeats.com.

Sanders also offers whole-sale service, delivering prod-ucts to other meat markets,

stores, and restuarants.The store is open 8 a.m. to

5 p.m. Monday through Sat-urday. After Christmas, Sat-urdays hours are reduced and the retail store closes at noon. In March, hours are back to 8-5 Monday-Satur-day.

The company does its meat processing right in the building and all of the smoked products are done in the family smokehouse.

Sanders offers custom processing of beef and pork and, during the hunting sea-son, venison as well.

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Sharing a passion for gardeningGRANT TWP. — Vio-

let Buss has a passion for gardening and she gladly shows it to people who visit her expansive gardens on West Townline Road in Grant Township.

Buss provides visitors with free tours of her gardens and she also offers a wide assortment of plants for sale at Buss Gardens.

“Gardening is a work in progress,” Violet said. “There is always something new and I’m always learning something new.”

She’s lived on the property since 1972 and has gar-dened there since 1979.

Buss specializes in lilies — oriental, tiger, day lilies and

tree lilies, to name a few — but her expertise extends far beyond that, including nine water gardens and a butterfly garden.

New this year are two hos-ta gardens.

“I have a lot of varieties to offer,” she said. “I have be-

tween 250 and 300 varieties of hosta.”

Buss has also created gar-den rooms, which she calls vignettes.

“It’s like walking into a house,” she said. “You can begin your tour by visiting the garden rooms.”

She also plants red, trum-pet-shaped lilies to attract hummingbirds.

“Hummingbirds love red,” Buss said.

Two of her water gardens are above ground and bub-blers and pumps keep the water from freezing and al-low the fish inside to sur-vive the winter.

“The raised water gardens are really nice if you have an area you can’t get anything grown in,” she said.

Visitors to Buss Gardens will also see an artificial dog and small statues of cranes and herons. They’re there to keep other animals away.

“When a wild animal sees another animal, even a

fake, they’ll think it’s (the statue’s) territory so they’ll leave it alone,” Buss ex-plained. “Animals are ter-ritorial.”

Violet said all the plants she sells will grow locally. They include a wide assort-ment of day lilies — “every color you can think of from white to purple, pinks and peach,” she said.

She also sells double ori-entals, tree lilies, shrubs and a variety of perennials she knows will grow in the local area.

Free tours are offered at Buss Gardens from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays, Satur-days and Sundays in August and September.

Buss Gardens

Sanders Meats

Known for fresh local meat

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Selling in-season produce, plants and more

Celebrating 80 years in businessDUBLIN — Frank and

Rose Fortelka launched the Dublin General Store 80 years ago and it’s continuing to sell jerky and other prod-ucts to customers across the country and even around the world.

“We’re celebrating our 80th anniversary this year and it’s been a family-owned store the whole time,” said cur-rent owner Greg Fisch-er, who represents the third generation of the family.

The store’s clientele has evolved since 1935 and this year Fisch-

er said, “we’re doing an awful lot of online sales.”

He said the store has sold its products on-line for many years but said the number of on-line orders “just con-tinues to grow. People are changing a lot of their shopping and a lot are shopping from home online.”

Dublin General Store is well known for its jerky, which is made from a wide variety of meats.

“We have a lot of orig-inal flavors and game varieties,” Fischer said.

Those varieties in-clude not only beef and turkey, but also meat from deer, elk, kanga-roo, alligator, pheas-ant, rabbit and wild boar.

There are also many flavors including hell-fire, Cajun, chili cheese and cherry.

Fischer said Dublin General Store products have been shipped all over America through the years and many were sent in recent years to members of the military as they serve either in this country or overseas.

Many people who have ordered jerky or other products or re-ceived Dublin General Store products across the country or over-seas have also come to visit the store, which is

located at 18372 Hox-eyville Road, south of Wellston and about a mile north of the coun-ty line between Manist-ee and Lake counties.

Among those visi-tors have been mem-

bers of Manistee’s B Troop unit of the Army National Guard, who received packages of Dublin General Store jerky while being de-ployed in Iraq and Af-ghanistan.

Grassa’s Farm Market has now been in business for 37 years.

Owned by Al Grassa, it specializes in selling in-season produce. It also sells trees, shrubs, wooden lawn ornaments and plants of all kinds.

Grassa’s also sells Amish baked goods, fire rings, fire wood and hunting blinds.

“Everybody wants fresh-from-the-farm products,” Al Grassa said about his cus-tomers.

The business is visible from a good distance away thanks to a massive deer likeness promoting deer feed. It is lo-cated at the northwest corner of U.S. 10 and Stiles Road at 2442 W. U.S. 10.

Dublin General Store

Grassa’s Farm Market

16


BRIAN MULHERINDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Hamlin Grocery North is in its fifth sea-son of operation and continues to provide many local and visit-ing customers with delicious locally grown organic and farm fresh fruits and vegetables.

Hamlin North’s or-ganic produce is grown by Pete Wilson and his family. The store also offers organic prod-ucts from Esch and Food for Thought as well as gluten-free organics from Brown-wood Farms.

Homemade pies and jams by Wheeler Farms are also popular at the store.

A number of gourmet and specialty items were added to Ham-lin North’s inventory. Michigan items include

infused flavored olive oils, many flavors of all-natural gluten- and fat-free salsa, garlic dill and hot pickles, Safie’s famous dill pickle beans, asparagus, beets, old-fashioned bread/butter pickles, sweet and hot bread/butter pickles, hot/zesty pickles, Friga-

no’s spaghetti sauce, Traverse Bay apple and raspberry BBQ sauce, and Traverse Bay all natural flavored salsa. Locally made items include home-made jams, toppings, honey, maple syrup, made-to-order home-made fruit pies, and the well-known Andru-

lus Farmers Cheeses. Other specialty items include Virgil’s all-nat-ural gluten-free crème soda, Reed’s all-natural gluten-free ginger non-alcohol beer, organic tricolor pasta, a variety of Bechtle egg pasta, Bruschetta toasts, olive bruschetta spread, and a variety of gourmet

cheese spreads. Hamlin North offers

two flavors of soft-serve yogurt to choose from. Three sizes of sundaes and delicious fruit smoothies made with fresh local berries are available. Several toppings are available to add to your yogurt selection, such as fresh berries, peaches, home-made syrups, as well as M&M’s, Oreo cook-ies and chocolate chips for those with a sweet tooth.

A designated wine sampling area is a popular stop. The des-ignated area allows customers ages 21 and older to sample up to three 2-ounce servings of wine and/or a Michi-gan micro-brew from among the featured se-lections chosen for the week. Tasters are able to enjoy their sample

in the designated area while non-tasting cus-tomers can complete their shopping with a speedy checkout.

Hamlin Grocery North is located just across the parking lot from Hamlin Grocery, located at the corner of Jebavy Drive and Dewey roads in Ham-lin Township. Hamlin Grocery North is open seven days a week from 6 a.m.-10 p.m.. Wine sampling hours are from 1 to 5 p.m. daily. All servers are TIPS-certified.

Vaughn Flewelling, owner of both Ham-lin Grocery and Ham-lin North, said Hamlin North Manager Sheila Genter takes great pride in selecting only the finest local- and Michigan-made prod-ucts and the best qual-ity local produce.

Offering local produce, gourmet productsHamlin Grocery

Cold Stream Farm

FREE SOIL — Cold Stream Farm has offered wholesale shrubs and bare root trees to customers throughout the Midwest for more than 30 years.

The business specializ-es in trees and shrubs for wildlife habitat, offering discounts for large orders but with no minimum order required. On offer are cedar

trees, bald cypresses, firs, larch trees, pine trees, red-wood trees, sequoias and spruces in addition to many shrubs, vines, grasses, ferns and seeds. Cold Stream

Farm also sells fertilizer tab-lets, planting bars, root gel, and tree protection.

Mail order forms and ac-count set-up is available at www.coldstreamfarm.net.

Cold Stream Farms is lo-cated at 8585 N. Stephens Road, Free Soil.

Call (231) 464-5809 or email [email protected].

Wholesale shrubs, trees available

17


BY DIANE NEMITZDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Just a short way down Meisenheimer Road west of P.M. Highway (Old U.S. 31) is a barn and working farm. The barn is part of the barn quilt trail and has a large quilt square titled “Michi-gan Beauty” on the side. But that’s not the main reason to visit Lois Gieleghem’s farm. Parked behind the barn is a converted house trailer where Lois cooks up jar after jar of homemade jam.

The “Jam Lady” is hard at work all sum-mer canning small batches of jam using fruit from her garden and extensive orchards of cherries, apples, peaches and pears. If she and her husband, Jim, don’t grow it themselves, they buy locally.

“I believe in giving back to the commu-nity,” she said. “I even buy my canning jars from Briggs instead of big chain stores.”

The Jam Farm start-ed 16 years ago and is a licensed commercial kitchen. Lois said her operation is so small she found it easy to

follow the health de-partment rules. She prepares about 24 jars of jam at a time, enough to fill a large canning kettle, simil-

lar to one home can-ners might use. By doing small batches, she maintains quality control.

“I only use fruit,

Michigan-made sugar and organic pectin,” she said. There are no preservatives, high fructose corn syrup or additives.

As of the first of Au-gust, she was starting to cook up 800 pounds of blueberries from Couturier Blueberry Farm in Ludington.

Then she’ll follow up with peach, apple, pear and apricot, and hopes her grapevines yield enough this year for grape jelly.

She said she’d canned about 3,800 jars by the end of July and added that it was a very good year for fruit.

Some of the jams and jellies include low-sugar caramel apple and sugar-free vari-eties. Other jams are strawberry margarita, rhubarb, sweet cherry, blackberry, raspberry and hot pepper jam.

They sell for $5.50 for a half pint jar, and the used jars can be returned for a 25 cent credit on a future purchase. Those who buy six jars get a free bread mix. The Jam Farm is open every day from May to December from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

As for that barn quilt, Lois explained that the quilt pattern dates from the Civil War, about the same time the family-owned farm was begun. The Gieleghems chose to have it painted red, white and blue to honor their military service. Jim was in the Marines and Lois in

Producing jams from locally grown fruit

Lois Gieleghem is the Jam Lady, shown above working to produce local jams.

The Jam Farm

18


Country View Bakery

Country View Bak-ery, 4550 W. U.S. 10 near Tractor Supply, offers a wide range of fresh-baked goods from breads and cook-ies to cinnamon rolls, Danish coffee cakes, muffins, jams and noodles. Country View Bakery has been in Kathryn Lambright’s family since 1986, when it was known as Miller’s Bakery, but they moved to a new location in November 2012.

“We wanted just more exposure to people in town,” Lam-bright said. “We were out of town quite a ways, wanted to go where there was more traffic. We weren’t open in the wintertime out there.”

New to the store is a line of gluten-free breads, as well as meats, cheeses, and sandwiches, along with organic drink products from Coca-Cola.

Daniel, Kathryn’s husband, said the gluten-free bread was added because of the number of people ask-ing for the variety.

“My wife can’t eat gluten either,” Daniel said.

He said this sum-mer has been the best

since the move. “We have been

swamped since the end of June,” Daniel said.

For those with a sweet tooth, Coun-try View offers deli-cious treats such as hummingbird cake, buttermilk brownies, peanut butter fudge brownies, German apple cake, zucchi-ni bread and banana bread. Bread comes in many varieties such as white, whole wheat, onion cheese, jalap-eno cheese, raisin cin-namon, honey oat-

meal, and Swedish rye. Country View Bakery makes pies in a wide variety of flavors, too, from cherry, blueberry, apple and raspberry to pecan and French co-conut, as well as other seasonal varieties such as peach and rhubarb.

Also offered are sug-ar-free blueberry streu-sel coffee cake, frozen pizza to go, and free coffee samples.

“People like what we make,” Kathryn said. “There’s something for everyone.”

COUNTRY VIEW Bakery is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday through Saturday.

More room, exposure for expanding business

‘People like what we make.’

Kathryn Lambright

231-859-412118372 Hoxeyville Rd., Wellston, MI 49689

www.dublinstore.com

Homemade Jerky • Fishing & Hunting LicensesTackle & Bait

GROCERY • LOTTERY • LIQUORHARDWARE

DublinGeneralStore

19

HAMLIN GROCERY3611 N. Jebavy, Ludington 843-2058 www.hamlingrocery.com

OpEN dAILY 6 AM tO 10 pM

3611 N. Jebavy, Ludington

(231) 425-4140www.hamlingrocery.com

OpEN dAILY 10 AM-6 pM

HAMLINNORtHNow Open!!

Stop In & Cool Off WithA Soft-Serve Frozen Yogurt!

OUR continuing goal is to provide our customers with the most delicious locally

grown organic & farm fresh produce, homemade jams, fruit toppings,maple syrup, honey, and more!!Free wine tasting 1-5 pm daily.

Must be 21.Picture ID required. TIPS Certified.

Your Favorite Corner StoreWe’ve got the corner on...Summertime Outing Supplies

JustArrived!All New

Hamlin LakeApparel

• Beer • Wine • Liquor• Ice • Snacks • ATM• Full Service Deli• Fresh Salad Made Daily• Party Platters• Special Orders Welcome

RV pROpANE FILL StAtIONFilling daily 10 AM-6 pM

RV, 20# to 100# tanksCall Vaughn for RV or 100# Tank Fills

BOOK YOURpARtY!

Vaughn & Sheila, Wine Consultants and tasting party Coordinators.

Call Vaughn or Sheila today to book your private wine tasting party! TIPS Certified.

Hosting an in-home Wine Tasting Party is an ideal way to spice up an afternoon or evening with your family, friends or colleagues. Experience a variety of wines, a tasting lesson, complete with tasting notes and food pairing suggestions, just like world-famous wineries and vineyards. It’s easy, fun and informative!


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Homemade GRANOLAS

Including Seasonal Flavors

212 S. Pere Marquette Hwy., Ludington (231) 843-4603Mon.-Sat. 8 AM-7 PM; Sun. 9 AM-5 PM

8400 N. US 31, Free Soil (231) 464-5534Everyday 8 AM-7 PM

Visit Our web site www.orchardmarket.us • OPeN 7 DAYs A weeK

Farm Fresh Produce Since 1960Homegrown Extra Sweet

SWEET CORN

Extra Large Selection:• JAMS • JELLIES• SUGARFREEPRESERVES• SALSAS • MUSTARDS• DRESSINGS • PICKLES• BBQSAUCESBULKSPICES,CANDIES,

FRUIT&NUTMIXES

Homemade BUTTERCREAM

FUDGE** More Than 25 Flavors **

Homegrown

PEACHES

ACCEPTING PROJECT FRESH PRODUCE COUPOONS

Buy2-1/2Lb.BoxesGet1-1/2Lb.Box

Free!

HomemadeBAKERY

FEATURING• FreshlyBaked Fruit Pies• Breads,Rolls SpecialtyBreads•MadeFreshDaily Donuts&Pastries• Cookies


Locally grown 2015

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