Locally Grown, Locally Owned

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2 | Ludington daiLy newS/LoCaLLy gRown | tueSday, auguSt 30, 2011 www.ludingtondailynews.com

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3958 W Chauvez RdLudington, MI 49431

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tueSday, auguSt 30, 2011 | Ludington daiLy newS/LoCaLLy gRown | 3www.ludingtondailynews.com

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Michigan FarmCheese Dairy, Inc.

Specialty Cheese Manufacturer

www.andrulischeese.com

General Manager: Jim Stankowski

ANDRULIS FARMERS CHEESE

What farmerscheese wasmeant to be

4295 Millerton Rd.Fountain, MI

231.462.3301

Toll Free

1.877.6.CHEESE

Plain Farmers Cheese, Garlic & Onion Farmers Cheese,Basic Farmers Cheese, Craway Farmers Cheese,

Dill Farmers Cheese, Chive Farmers Cheese,Smoked Farmers Cheese, No Salt Added Farmers Cheese,

Horseradish Farmers Cheese,Jalapeno Farmers Cheese, and Feta Cheese

707 W. US Hwy. 10, Scottville 757-9130 Open Monday-Saturday

Bringing You The Very Best!

Local ProductsOur Own Fresh Baked Goods

ProduceCheese Products

Shiitake Mushrooms • Milk In Glass BottlesBooks by Local Authors • Maple Syrup

Honey & Jams • Hot Sauces

McDonald’s BakeryIn 1904 John McDonald started the bakery that has been run continuously by the

McDonald family for more than 100 years. Now in the sixth generation, McDonald’s Bakery at the corner of James and Dow-

land streets produces a full line of baked goods, including special-occasion cakes and large-orders for local schools, restaurants and other facilities in the area.

We support local,real and fresh foods produced and enjoyed here in Mason county

BIRCHBARK FARMFarmstead Goat Dairy • April - September Goat Share Season

www.birchbarkfarm.com 231-462-9436 Call Ahead To Tour and Taste!Mason County Michigan – home to the best fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat products – eat local, real and fresh!

Country DairyBy roB alwayDaily News Staff writer

Country Dairy is a well-known product throughout west Michigan. They are best known for their milk and ice cream.

But, to fully appreciate the products, one needs to travel to the Country Dairy store in New Era.

The store sells milk, cheese, dairy prod-

ucts and ice cream — all produced from the farm. It also features farm-raised hor-mone-free beef in the form of frozen ham-burger, roasts, steaks and more.

Farm tours are available as well as a play-ground for children. Tours end with sam-ples of Country Dairy’s premium chocolate milk or “Moochies” cheese curds.

Country Dairy is located just off Oceana Drive at 3476 80th Ave.

Country Dairy is now being operated by its fourth generation.

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By aNDrEw J. CooPErDaily News Staff writer

If there were one word to describe what’s new at Or-chard Market this year, “expansion” comes to mind.

“We’ve really expanded our pie area,” said Bob Malkowski, who owns the business with his wife, Te-resa. “We have blueberry pies, cherry pies, and peach pies, and they’re all made right here. We also carry our own line of fudge. (We have) 15 different types of fudge: raspberry fudge, cherry fudge — all the dif-ferent fruit-flavored fudges — plus your regular kinds.”

“We’ve also expanded our jams and jelly and pick-led items,” he said. “(We have) anything you can think of in relation to jams and jelly.”

The pies are a hot item for Orchard Market this year, with sales quadru-pling. They also sell pies at the Ludington branch. Jams and jellies are also

popular, with sales dou-bling since last year.

The Orchard Market has two locations — a store in Free Soil and a store in Ludington. The Free Soil location has a bakery and restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch. The Free Soil location is at 8418 N. U.S. 31. The Ludington store, which opened in 1986, is located at 212 S. Pere Marquette Highway.

The business was start-ed in 1960 by Ed and Julia Malkowski and is going on its third generation. Ed and Julia began selling fresh fruits and vegetables at the corner of U.S. 31 and Free Soil Road from a small structure. Several addi-tions were made through the years, including the bakery and restaurant in 1978.

Orchard Market starts out the year as a nursery and garden center and then moves into home-grown products as the sea-son progresses. The market grows its own strawberries, cherries, sweet corn, cauli-flower, broccoli, pumpkins,

squash, cabbage, and a number of different types of peaches. Everything else is grown locally.

“(Selling locally grown produce) keeps us employ-ing the same amount of people we’ve employed in the past,” Bob Malkowski said. “Everything done here is better in the county as far as keeping people working and keeping money flow-ing.”

What makes the Orchard Market so popular?

“Our quality,” he said. “Most stuff is picked daily — most items we pick as close to ripe as possible. (It goes) directly from the farm to the consumer and we have a very competitive price.”

Orchard Market is in its 51st year. Some people may wonder what has made it stick around so long when may businesses haven’t.

“Hard work,” Bob Mal-kowski said. “A willing-ness to work with the people and to do the best job we can to make the customer satisfied.”

He encourages every-one to come shop at Or-chard Market this year.

“The prices are quite reasonable because of the abundance of the

crop this year,” he said. “Almost everything is a full crop this year.”

By JENNifEr liNN hartlEyDaily News Staff writer

Locally made soaps, lotions and embroi-dered goods are available at Shirt Shack, a business Barb Fisher runs out of her home.

Fisher also travels to vari-

ous arts and crafts shows and farmers markets and has a website, www.shirt-shack49431.com, to sell her goods.

Shirt Shack has been in business more than 15 years, when Barb began the business that embroi-dered shirts and towels. About 13 years ago, she got into the business of

making lotions and soaps.Now she sells embroi-

dered goods, such as spirit wear for schools and shirts for local businesses, as well as soaps, lotions, gift bas-kets and party favors.

She said it started when she and her daughter tried to put together gift baskets to sell the embroidered towels in. After struggling

to find soaps to put in the baskets, they decided to make their own.

Fisher uses as many local ingredients in her products as possible, including hon-ey purchased from a local farmers market, oils for soap and herbs. She grows some of the herbs herself.

Fisher makes her soaps from scratch in a process that takes about six weeks from start to finish.

She uses a cold process and allows the bars of soap to cure for six weeks.

Lye is used in the soaps, but she said if the soap is made properly there’s no lye left in the bar when it’s finished, as it turns to salt.

“They’re not 100 per-cent natural, but it’s about as close as we can get be-cause of the fragrance oils used,” she said.

Fisher said much of the

soap sold in stores is actu-ally detergent that strips skin of natural oils. She said with her soap, users don’t need to use lotion unless they want to, be-cause it doesn’t remove natural oils from the skin.

Soaps for men are also available for purchase. Fisher said men and wom-en need different types of soaps, as do people of dif-ferent ages.

‘Picked as close to ripe as possible’

Soaps, lotions and embroidery

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By JENNifEr liNN hartlEyDaily News Staff writer

The Mitten Bar is bringing the tastes of Michigan to the area.The bar, which has been open for about two months, features beers and wines ex-clusively from Michi-gan.

Megan Payment said she and business partner Brian Josefowicz decided to open The Mitten after trav-eling to several Michigan wineries and breweries.

“Our niche is that not only do we focus on just Michigan beer, wine, and down the road, liquor, as

well as some food, our goal is to continue to offer new products,” Payment said. “Whether it’s differ-ent breweries on tap or in a bottle or it’s our rotating wine list.

“Our biggest goal is try-ing to encourage people to see what else is out there,” Payment said.

She and Josefowicz are also looking forward to the fall and winter. They hope to offer fun program opportunities like a beer school or other events to invite the public to get a better understanding about the types of prod-ucts offered and to meet new people.

Some customers have

been surprised national domestic beers aren’t served at The Mitten.

The business has its own Ludington Avenue en-

trance, but still connects to Sportsman’s Restaurant & Irish Pub, and limited food is available at The Mitten.

The renovated Mitten

Bar side of the building used to house Gordy’s Skate Co., which moved across the street. The Mit-ten has an urban feel,

with exposed brick on the bar-side wall and both high-top tables and cushy leather furniture for loung-ing.

By BriaN mulhEriNDaily News Staff writer

Hamlin Township has been a little more fresh since June. That’s thanks to Hamlin Grocery North, a satellite lo-cal and fresh market to Hamlin Grocery.

Owner Vaughn Flewel-ling said the focus of the market is offering all the best of local, fresh and or-ganic foods as well as a good selection of Michigan wines and craft beers.

Hamlin North will soon have a wine-tasting room

completed. The market features four Michigan wines every Friday through Thursday, offering free tast-ing and a discount on the featured wines. One micro-brew beer is also offered for tasting each week.

Flewelling said almost everyone who tries a wine or beer ends up buying a bottle of wine or a six pack.

“We’re building up our clientele and we hope to offer some private tast-ings,” Flewelling said.

The tourist business has been excellent, Flewelling said.

“People want more

Michigan products and we’re listening to what they’re telling us,” Flewel-ling said.

Flewelling said he and Sheila Genter, who oper-ates Hamlin North, are still getting a feel for local pro-duce but they have a good selection right now.

Among the offerings at Hamlin Grocery North are farm-fresh eggs and, in season, organically grown varieties of lettuce, spin-ach, snow peas, sugar snap peas, shelling peas, green beans, kale, mustard, green onions, radishes, turnips, basil, beets, rhubarb, sum-mer squash, new potatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn, to-matoes, melons and winter squash from Pete Wilson’s “Kid Ranch” in Free Soil.

Ron and Joan Pedersen provide strawberries, cu-cumbers, squash, zucchini,

kale, peaches and toma-toes. Sarah Calhoun offers fresh cucumbers, several varieties of peppers, zuc-chini, squash, beans and snow peas.

Rennhack Orchards of Hart provides the market with fresh black sweet cherries, apricots, peaches

and apples. Couturier Blue-berry Farm offers blue-berries. The Stohr farm in Ludington offers fresh raspberries, blackberries and apples.

Local honey created by Dan and Theresa Rohde is available, as is maple syrup from Bates Farm.

This fall, fresh sweet corn from Many Blessings Farm is expected as well.

Hamlin Grocery North is located just across the parking lot from Hamlin Grocery, located at the corner of Jebavy Drive and Dewey Roads in Hamlin Township.

Exclusively Michigan

‘People want more Michigan products’

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HART — Rennhack Orchards Market in Hart is the retail outlet for the farm of the same name.

“Our quality (is what makes us popular),” said Dave Rennhack, co-own-er with his wife, Joanne. “We really try to focus on freshness. When you grow it yourself, it’s easy to be picky. We try to grow good quality and bring good quality to the market and keep it fresh. Our staff is diligent on watching out on quality.”

Produce sold at the market includes sweet cherries, peaches, nec-tarines, apricots, sweet corn, potatoes, and a variety of apples. When in season, sweet corn is picked fresh daily.

“Sweet corn is our number one draw dur-ing the summer. We pick fresh every day (and have) found some re-ally good varieties,” Dave Rennhack said.

Apples are another specialty at Rennhack Orchards Market. The Rennhacks produce and sell SweeTango apples, a cross between a Zestar and Honeycrisp. The Uni-versity of Minnesota de-veloped the apple and only certain orchards in the right locations are licensed to grow the fruit. Quality standards are met during different steps in the growing and harvesting process.

“We have a really nice apple crop coming. (We’ll be selling) SweeT-ango apples on Labor Day week. All the other apples will be sold after that.”

The SweeTango will be in chain stores, and have been grown at Rennhack for three years.

“Some people think (SweeTango apples) are really sweet, some peo-ple think they’re really tart, but in reality they’re both,” Dave Rennhack said.

“It’s a really flavor-ful apple when you bite into it. It’s sweet and tart, with a hint of a spicy kind of flavor that you can’t quite put your finger on. Every bite is just flavor.”

After SweeTango, they begin selling other vari-eties of apple, followed by peaches in mid-Sep-tember, and then pump-kins and squash. Other fruits include apricots, cherries, nectarines and plums in addition to summer fruits. Almost everything the market sells, the Rennhacks

grow themselves. “That’s a distinguish-

ing feature of our mar-ket,” he said.

Besides locally grown produce, and a variety of jams, preserves, pick-les and sauces are sold that are made specially for the market. Custom-ers can sample different products each day. Also

offered are gift items, cookbooks, Country Dairy milk, cheese and other Michigan-made products.

The market is about one mile east of the Hart exit off U.S. 31. The farm is multi-generational, Joanne said. Dave came from a farm family in southwest Michigan.

Rennhack Orchards Market started out with a very small market in 1984.

“We just put up our new market building in 2006, which has allowed us to expand into a lon-ger season,” Dave said. “We’re open until New Years and we reopen in late May.”


PM Steamers Res-taurant is known for featuring local foods.

“We get a lot of our pro-duce locally, as well as a lot of our fruits and much of our fish,” said General Man-ager Becky Erickson. “We get a lot of our fish from the Great Lakes. We try to get our food from Mason County and the surround-ing areas.”

Locally sourced foods is beneficial, according to Er-

ickson. “It tastes better, it’s better for our health, and it’s better for our local com-munity,” she said. “(It also) helps increase awareness of what’s here and helps in-crease awareness of what’s available. Customers see it on our menu and realize they can buy it locally.”

Currently popular is Chilled Cucumber Soup as well as Rainbow Trout, which Erickson says is a “big seller.” P.M. Steamers gets its trout from Harri-etta Hills Trout Farm in the Manistee National Forest.

Current specials include Fusion Tacos and Seared Ahi Tuna Salad.

“We change our menu seasonally,” she said.

PM Steamers was found-ed in 1989 by three local couples who owned it until 1991, when it was bought by the current owner, Dick Scott. Scott also owns Scot-ty’s Restaurant.

PM Steamers is now in its 22nd year. Erickson knows why customers keep on coming back.

“(It’s) that great combi-nation of the fantastic view,

innovative ever-changing menus, and a staff that’s

been with me for a long, long time and is commit-

ted to great service,” Erick-son said.

‘Our quality makes us popular’

View, menu and great service

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By BriaN mulhEriNDaily News Staff writer

McCormick Saw-mills LLC has been serving Mason and surrounding coun-ties since 1952. The Jerry McCormick family has been running it since 1975.

With 35 employees, the business that buys, cuts and sells hard-wood timber is a pillar of Fountain. The mill is one of the five largest in the state, buying and selling timber from all corners of Michigan — although they put an emphasis on local busi-ness.

“We have the capac-ity to cut as much as anybody in Michigan,” Jerry, the company’s president, said.

Many of the McCor-mick’s customers have been with the compa-ny for decades and so have many of the em-ployees.

“Some of our employ-ees — more than half — have been here 20-plus years,” Marcia McCormick, the company’s executive secretary, said.

Marcia said the com-pany’s main selling points are how long it has been in business and how expe-rienced its crews are. The company won’t leave the woods a mess when they come in to selectively cut hardwoods.

Jeremy McCormick, vice president of sales for the company, said the tim-ber purchasers will advise

landowners if the price of a certain kind of wood is rising or falling so they can get a better price for their timber. Jeremy is one of four National Hardwood Lumber Association-certi-fied graders on staff at the company, as is his brother, J.W., the company’s vice president of purchasing.

“Jerry and J.W. buying timber, they get a good rapport with the landown-er,” Marcia said. “It gives the landowner confidence.”

Jerry said the company prides itself on honesty, fairness, good prices and dealing one-on-one with

landowners.When a deal is finally

done for standing timber, it’s a legal contract, so there’s no squabbling over price.

Grading is a skill that takes months of instruc-tion to learn, as just hard maple boards can have 20 different grades.

Different types and grades of wood go to dif-ferent uses. Fine hard-wood can be used in fine furniture while softer maple might go to up-holstered furniture. Mc-Cormick’s sells lumber all over North America and

last year produced about 8 million board feet of lum-ber.

Every part of a tree that is cut is utilized in some way, whether for boards, or the bark for mulch or pieces for home heating. The company sells camp-ground firewood or eight-foot-long pieces for out-door boilers.

McCormick’s has a three circular sawmills and one bandsaw mill that allows better prices to be paid for top-grade timber. Using a band saw allows more boards per tree because it’s thinner, which leads to

better prices for the seller.“Buy local, sell local, free

estimates on your timber,

no commissions charged,” Jerry said.

‘Buy local, sell local, free estimates, no commissions’

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By liSa ENoSDaily News Staff writer

Indian Summer-brand apple juice and apple sauce is pressed, packaged and shipped from Indian Summer Cooperative — 3958 West Chauvez Road in Ludington.

The products, made 100 percent from U.S. apples, are available locally on supermarket shelves and throughout the Midwest.

Some of the products made at the cooperative, which is owned by area fruit growers, are shipped as far away as Puerto Rico and under different private labels, such as for Spartan Stores or Meijer’s store brand, to name two.

A large portion of the fruit used in Indian Sum-mer products is grown in West Michigan. Some-times, when there’s a short crop, such as last year when frost damaged 40 percent of the local crop, apples will be imported from other states like Washington or New York.

“Never from China,” said Cooperative President Roy Hackert, who said he be-lieves Indian Summer is the only major apple juice and sauce maker that doesn’t use apples from China.

“In China they use DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloro-ethane), a pesticide that’s been banned in the U.S. since the ’70s,” he said.

DDT is one of nine per-sistent organic pesticides (POP) banned worldwide in 2001 by the Stockholm Convention. Known to

cause cancer, the POP is still being produced and used in China. It is approved for usage under the conven-tion for prevention of ma-laria only, and was officially banned by the Chinese government for agriculture use in 1983, but sources report that the dangerous chemical is still used on ap-ples and other agriculture products in China.

This is one of the many reasons Hackert, whose Hackert Family Farms owns the most shares in Indian Summer Cooperative, be-lieves the product they produce at Indian Summer is superior to others.

“Our biggest competi-tion is imports from Chi-na,” said Hackert. In China, a farm worker is paid about $2 per day and that means apples can be pro-cessed and sold in the U.S. on the cheap. “Fortunate-ly consumers today are looking more and more into what they’re buying,” he said.

The fruit processing plant was started around 1960 by five farmers, Willy VanNortwick, Elwin Olm-stead, Art Lister Sr., Don Harmon and Roy Hackert. Once known as the Ma-son County Cold Storage, which processed mainly cherries, the business was later sold to Morgan Mc-Cool.

“In 1975 we started with apples when Duffy Mott left Michigan,” Hackert said. The Mott’s apple juice mag-net moved to Connecticut and left behind a facility in Paw Paw from which what is now Indian Summer Co-operative purchased the equipment.

The operation began to develop a few products and bottled them in glass containers. They added a fleet of trucks for ship-ping the products because glass is heavy, and the geo-graphic location, far away from major Michigan free-ways the operation had to become vertically integrat-ed to be competitive.

About 12 years ago they began using plastic bottles which made shipping less costly as the containers are lighter in weight.

“It’s a lot safer, too,” said Hackert who said that broken glass in apple juice containers was “a real wor-ry” in the past.

Indian Summer has also horizontally integrated. Flavored apple sauces and juice blends have become part of the operation’s daily business. The entity also packages food for the USDA’s food program, in-cluding orange juice and they process cherry juice — a product that in other brands is rarely made pri-marily from cherries, he said.

Hackert urges custom-ers to read labels and list of ingredients thoroughly on the fruit juice they pur-chase.

“I think the consumer could do better if they bought U.S. food. 100 per-cent juices are always bet-ter,” he said.

Hackert plans to step down as president and do more fishing in Michigan and in Florida, he said.

Chief Operating Office David Hackert is poised to take over soon.

Daryl Peterson remains chairman of the board.

Apples from China? Not at Indian Summer Cooperative

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Shirt Shack603 E. 5th St., Ludington

[email protected]

www.shirtshack49431.com

Specialty Soaps& Skin Care Secrets

Fill your cabinets withpremium handmade,

bath and body products forhealthy, glowing skin

Handmade and Specialty SoapsLotions • Salves & Ointments

Bath & Body Products

Pre-made and made to order giftbaskets containing our products

All productsmade locallyand farmraised inMichigan,USA

Plan on Sanders for your Grilling

and Party Favorites!

It’s worth the drive for Sanders quality and prices

USDA INSPECTED – NO POULTRY FILLERS

Hot Dogs BBQ Hogs Deli MeatsBrats Ribs Steaks Burgers

Jerky & Snack Stix Homemade Sausages

237 S. Main, Custer(3 blocks south of the caution light)

231-757-4768 • 1-800-968-5035

OpenMon.-Sat.8 am-5 pm

Drop in or call ahead and we will have your order ready for you.

Sanders Meats

Christofferson Farms“Tree Ripened Fruit”

Visit our farm for the ultimate orchard experience. We offer a large variety of fruits for sale or u-pick, and would love to show you our orchards.Some of the fruits we offer are:Peaches, Apricots, Apriums, Sweet Cherries (White & Dark), Tart Cherries, Plums, Pears, Apples, Nectarines, Doughnut Peaches, Raspberries, Blackberries.

We have a selection of new andunique fruits such as...PLUOTS, PLUCOTS, APRIUMS and DOUGHNUT PEACHES.and are always looking for new types of fruits and trees to plant and develop!

Please call ahead to check the season and availablility of each fruit, and to inquire about specific varieties of each fruit.

How to find us: From Ludington, head south on Old Pere Marquette Hwy. Turn left on Chauvez Rd. Follow Chauvez east to Morton Rd., and turn right (south). Take Morton Rd. about 1/2 mile - we are the second house on the right side of the road - a big brick house with black shutters. Our street address is: 3441 S. Morton Rd., Ludington

(231) 845-5831 (home) or (231) 233-5281 (mobile)We look forward to seeing you on the farm!

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The Dublin General Store may be a gro-cery and hardware store, but it’s most famous for its jerky.

The store is family-owned and current owner Greg Fischer is the third generation. Fischer’s grandparents, Frank and Rose Fortelka, first opened the Dublin General Store in 1935. During its 76 years of operation, its reputation for home-cured jerky has led to mentions in maga-zines such as Esquire and Muscle and Fitness.

The jerky is made from a variety of meats such as beef, pork, chicken, ostrich, turkey, buf-falo, and elk. There are dozens of flavors, from “hellfire,” “Cajun,” “chili cheese,” and “Superman” to “cherry.”

“We believe in good customer service,” said owner Greg Fischer. “We take care of our custom-ers and our customers take care of us. We try to give them what they want.”

The jerky attracts people from hundreds of miles away and the store takes orders from all over the U.S.

They also sell 18 vari-eties of brats including their new Apple Bacon, 13 varieties of summer sausage, and eight vari-eties of cheese sticks.

Other products in-clude Dublin’s Own Sea-sonings; numerous vari-eties of smoked cheeses including aged cheddar and aged yellow-ched-dar; mugs, souvenirs and more.

“We’re having a very good year and we’ll con-tinue taking care of the customers,” Fischer said.

Renowned for its jerky

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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 107 Years

Serving the Community

Since 1904GRASSAFARMMARKETSelling in-season, local produce for over 30 years!

Plus...• Many Varieties of Flowers• Rustic Lawn Furniture• Locally Made Jams & Honey• Fire Pit Rings• Mock Rocks• Growing Products• And Much, Much More!

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

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

www.dublinstore.com

Homemade Jerky • Fishing & Hunting LicensesTackle & Bait

GROCERY • LOTTERY • LIQUORHARDWARE

DublinGeneralStore

Ludington's Casual Waterfront Dining

Overlook the Marina from our deck while enjoying fresh seasonal specials, local produce & other Michigan made products& wines.

231-843-9555 • 502 W. Loomis, Ludingtonwww.pmsteamers.com


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FOUNTAIN – John and Angie Andru-lis started making cheese in the late 1930s in their home for their own use, go-ing from the kitchen sink to the basement to the garage as they

found they had to make more and more to supply the rela-tives and friends who heard about their cheesemaking.

Their old-world-style cheese became a business in 1940. The factory is still in the same location in Fountain and is still owned by the Andrulis family trust,

although the immediate family no longer works there. General Manager Jim Stankowski, a relative by marriage, has been in the business for more than 30 years.

“We can feel the pres-sure from the economic picture like any other business, but other than that we’re continuing to manufacture what I be-

lieve is the finest farmers cheese in the country,” Stankowski said.

Many nationwide cus-tomers agree with him – from throughout the East Coast to the Midwest, and the individual orders west of the Mississippi (they are currently look-ing into a distributor that will take Andrulis Cheese to the Western U.S.). In

addition to individual or-ders, the company sells to distributors who stock supermarkets and small specialty stores.

The product line has ex-panded to include many different flavors, such as jalapeno, garlic and on-ion, dill, horseradish, cara-way and chive. Stankows-ki said the original, plain cheese is still the biggest seller, followed by the un-salted plain cheese.

“It’s an ethnic product,”

Stankowski said. “It has so many uses, from hors d’oeuvres to ethnic dish-es like pierogies. Lithu-anian and Polish (cooks) are probably the biggest attractants to the An-druils line of cheese.”

Andrulis cheese is available locally in many markets, including Ful-tons in Fountain, Shop-N-Save and Meijer in Ludington and Orchard Market in Free Soil and Ludington.

Kellie Fox and her husband, Todd, started selling their home-grown pro-duce at their road-side stand near Silver Lake seven years ago. Four years ago, Kellie began making wine from the Fox Farm’s cherries, peaches and apples.

Today she produces 500-600 cases each year.

The farm machinery was moved out of the old barn which was then renovated into a retail shop concen-trating on wine and wine-related gift items.

Fox Barn offers several varieties of wine at their daily tastings and sells wine by the glass or bottle, including their one of a kind asparagus wine. Fruit wines, dry, semi-dry and sweet are the top sellers and Fox plans to introduce her own grape varietals in about two years, when the vines will be producing enough fruit.

‘The finest farmers cheese in the country’

Cherry, peach and apple wine

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Six brown Oberhasli goats live happily at Birchbark Farm, producing milk from April through Octo-ber. The milk goes into the making of yogurt and cheese for the 65 members of the co-op, each of whom purchases a “share” of a goat for the season and then shares in the cheese and yogurt.

Jill and George Budzyn-ski run the farmstead, lo-cated near Round Lake outside of Fountain. They produce several kinds of cheese, including the soft chevre, several kinds of Gouda and raclette, al-though they say yogurt is their most popular prod-uct. In the spring, when there are baby goats, groups may reserve a time to visit the farm by calling (231) 462-9436.

Grassa’s Farm Mar-ket has been in busi-ness for 33 years.

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

“Everybody wants f r e s h - f r o m - t h e - f a r m products,” Al Grassa said.

The business, visaile from a good distance away thanks to a mas-sive deer likeness pro-moting deer feed, is at the northwest corner of U.S. 10 and Stiles Road, 2442 W. U.S. 10.

Grassa’s also offers a selection of landscaping and yard supplies.

Goat milk, cheese and yogurt

Fresh from the farm

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Open 9-6 Mon-Sat Through Dec. 31st

We grow it for you, & do Gift Baskets, too!

YOUR ONE STOP GIFT SHOP

3731 W. Polk Rd. Hart(1 Mile east of US-31 Exit 149)

(231) 873-7523www.rennhackmarket.com

• Do It Yourself: Free Gift Bag OptionGet a FREE gift bag (complete with colorful tissue & bow)

with purchase* of items to fill it! (*$15 minimum purchase)

Complimentary Handmade Gift Tag with any Gift Purchase!

FREE SAMPLES of our own apples in season:Early Sept.: Zestar!, SweeTango® Mid-Sept.: Jonamac, MacIntosh, Gala, Honeycrisp

Oct.: Cortland, Jonagold, Jonathan, Empire, Golden & Red Delicious, Ida Red, Mutsu, Fuji

Your Hometown Source for Apples!

Present this coupon (valid Aug. 31-Sept 30, 2011)

$100 OFF one Half-Peck or larger bag of our SweeTango® Apples

• Personal or Corporate Gift Baskets with Options to ShipWe specialize in local & Michigan made items & gourmet edibles, without the gourmet price!

Our custom gift baskets will make your gift giving easy and appreciated!(Call for details re: shipping or local delivery options)

• Do It Yourself: Baskets, Crinkle FIll, Cello Wrap& Bows available for purchase.

Visit us September 10 at the Apple & BBQ Cook-Off Festival in Silver Lake!

Visit us September 17 at theNew Era Street Festival!

16


16

CUSTER — Sanders Meats has been in business since 1925.

Derek Sanders, a fourth generation own-er, said everything about the business is local.

The company was founded by Joseph Sanders in 1925, in the same spot Sanders is now.

The second genera-tion Sanders is Carolton Sanders. Dale and David

Sanders are third gen-eration, and Derek, Alec and Corey Sanders are the fourth generation in the business.

The company does all of its meat processing right in the building.

“We make everything fresh each week,” said Derek Sanders.

Products offered by Sanders include burgers, brats, jerky, hot dogs, sausages and more.

All of the smoked

products are done in the family smokehouse.

Local restaurants and other businesses up to 100 miles away use and sell Sanders’ meats.

A retail store in the front of the business is one way to purchase the product, and the compa-ny ships meats via FedEx across the U.S.

Derek said Butterball Hams are something Sanders has become fa-mous for.

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

“We try and do what makes our customers happy and keep them coming back,” Derek said.

The store is open Mon-day through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The company’s website is www.sandersmeats.com.


SCOTTVILLE — One of many draws of The Mercantile in Scottville is the busi-ness’ locally pro-duced foods.

Owner Jeff Brovont said locally grown sweet corn is currently a customer fa-vorite. “People try it other places, but they always come back here,” he said.

Brovont owns the store with his wife, Renetta. The Mercantile offers lo-cal foods, bulk foods and spices, discount pack-aged food, handbags, and a bookstore. The books have a “Christian slant,” and include several local authors.

The store has local dairy products, locally made granola, eggs, chicken, honey, and local jams. The Mercantile bakes its

own breads, sweet goods, and offers special cakes for weddings, birthdays, and other occasions. The store boasts 30 varieties of cheese and has a spe-cial every month.

Jeff Brovont said the reason why the store sells fresh, local produce is “because it benefits the community all the way around. You have a local producer and you have a local consumer.”

Popular this year is Ren-etta Brovont’s cake deco-ration. Also, the store has a new source for its shii-take mushrooms — one in Walkerville and one in Kaleva.

Bulk foods can be pur-chased in many different sizes, to accommodate how much someone might need. Packaging is clear plastic contain-ers or small, clear plas-tic bags in a variety of

sizes. There are 5, 10 and 20-pound boxes and “very good prices” are of-

fered due to the simplic-ity of the packaging.

The Brovonts are al-

ways adding to their bulk food section.

“Wherever there’s a

demand, we try to sup-ply that,” Jeff Brovont said.

Quality meat products for four generations

‘Locally grown benefits the community all the way around’


By roB alwayDaily News Staff writer

Lewis Farm Market is more than just a store, it’s a destina-tion. Located on M-20 just east of U.S. 31, the store has grown from a pro-duce stand to a full-fledged market and family fun center.

“We provide family fun entertainment,” said man-ager Char Current. “But, we always go back to our roots, which is being a pro-duce market first.”

At Lewis Farm Market, families can take a break from shopping and go into the petting zoo and fun park. The zoo offers a vari-ety of animals to see, some exotic to Michigan.

The zoo features sheep, goats, donkeys, turkeys, ducks, chickens, rabbits, a zebra, alpacas, peacocks, wallaby and the most fa-mous attraction, Jeffrey the camel.

Current said most of the animals stay right on the farm throughout the year, including Jeffrey. “You have to remember the desert gets very cold at

night. He makes it through the winters here just fine.”

Visitors get to feed the animals and pet them as well. The zoo also offers jumping pillows (which are a cross between tram-polines and bounce hous-es), a pedal go-cart track and a chicken song and dance show – which you’ll have to see to really appre-ciate.

While summer provides a steady stream of visi-tors, the market’s busiest season is fall, with a corn maze and pumpkin patch.

“We are creating family memories,” Current said.

‘We are creating family memories’

RIVERTON TWP. — Carol Christofferson has worked in the orchards of Maple Hill Farms her whole life.

As a child she lived on a neighboring dairy farm owned by her parents, Carl and Bess Peterson, and like most children of farmers, she helped neighboring farmers bring in the crops at harvest time. About 40 years ago she and her husband, Red — whom she met while attending Michigan State University — purchased the Morton Road fruit farm nestled in the rolling hills of River-ton Township, a 40-acre parcel (minus a small portion at the corner of Kinney Road on which

St. Paul United Methodist Church sits).

Through the years the farm has become known as Christofferson Farms.

“We go by both names because people know us by both Maple Hill and Christofferson farms,” said Carol.

The farm boasts a wide variety of fruit. Cherries, peaches, apricots, plums, pluots, nectarines, apples and berries are among them, but they’re known mainly for peaches — several varieties, includ-ing “donut” peaches, so rare in this neck of the woods, Red and Carol believe they’re the only ones in Mason County who grow them.

Red and Carol cater to customers who wish to purchase tree-ripened

fruit. Some prefer to pick the fruit themselves and others prefer to have it picked and sorted for them.

To help with that pro-cess, they employ the Lopez family — Clarita, Angel, Rudy and Anthony — who have been with them for 14 years.

The fruit is distributed in one of two ways. Either it is sold to customers in the market building be-hind the Christoffersons’ Morton Road home, or at one of two farmers markets. Their daughter, Colleen Unsal, works the booth at the farmers mar-ket at James Street Plaza in Ludington each Friday throughout the summer, and Red and Carol head to another on the other side of the state to the

Midland farmers market on Wednesdays.

The farm is located at

3441 S. Morton Road — a Ludington address. Peo-ple who wish to pick fruit

are urged to call ahead, (231) 845-5831 or (231) 233-5281.

‘People know us by both Maple Hill and Christofferson Farms’

BUYER & SELLER OF HARDWOOD TIMBER,LOGS AND LUMBER

SawmillsMcCormick

L L C

4431 E. Fountain Rd., Fountain, MI 49410 ❚ 231-462-3917 ❚ Email: [email protected] ❚ www.mccormicksawmills.com

Open Mon.-Thurs. 6:30 am-4:00 pmClosed on Friday

• Landscapingbark–usesawmillbarktomaketrailsinthewoods andbeautifyyouryards• Woodchips–beautifularoundplants inyourgarden• Campfirewoodbundles• Firewoodavailablebythecord• Splitboilerwoodavailable bytherick

JERRYMCCORMICK,PRESIDENT

J.W.MCCORMICK,V.P.PURCHASING

JEREMYMCCORMICK,V.P.SALES

LANDFORSALE(AllOverMichigan)

AERTS FARMRalph & Paula Aerts

979 W. Monroe Rd., Hart, MI 49420Office: 231.873.2949Cell: 231.742.0356

Specializing in Honeycrisp Apples


Welcome to Todd Greiner FarmsGrowers, Packers & Shippers ofFruits, Vegetables & Evergreens

231-873-28282542 N. 128th Ave., Hart Michigan

Sweet Corn • Sweet Cherries • Tart Cherries • PeachesZucchini • Pumpkins • Squash • Asparagus

Christmas Wreaths & Garland

Greiner Farms

HART – Todd Greiner Farms in Hart sells fruits and vegetables to chain stores, food service ship-pers, and wholesale

distributors in season. During the holidays the farm also sells evergreen wreaths and garlands.

Todd Greiner grew up on the family farm in Weare Township and always wanted to make farming his career. He graduated from Michigan State University in 1994

with a degree in agribusi-ness and then purchased a farm in Elbridge Town-ship.

He and his wife, Sarah, farm about 850 acres and grow asparagus, sweet cherries, tart cherries, zuc-chini, cling peaches, corn, hard squash and Hallow-een pumpkins.

Aerts Farm

Louis Aerts actu-ally bought the farm in 1910, but it wasn’t of-ficially registered until 1912, so the 100-year mark will be celebrated

next year.The business has

the three generations: Louis; Frank; and final-ly, Ralph and his wife Paula.

“We’re old-fashioned, traditional farmers,” Ralph said.

“My grandfather spe-cialized in potatoes, my father specialized

in dairy and beef, and then I started working with trees and grain and really enjoyed it.

Each family member achieved success in what they’ve done, and now I have.”

The farm also sells apples in four variet-ies: Honeycrisp, Zestar, Gala, and Jonagold.

19

500 S 18th Ave/B-15 • 231-861-8050 • South of Silver Lake Sand Dunes

OPENMonday thru Saturday

10am-6pmSunday, 12pm-6pm

FOX BARN OHJ ad.indd 1 6/8/10 2:51:43 PM

Seasonal Produce ~ Fox Barn Harvest WinesLocal Jams, Honey & Syrup ~ Specialty Goods & Gifts

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 gift, 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 October 31. Something for everyone!

Fall Fun:U pick pumpkins • 8-Acre Corn Maze • Apple Express• Barrel Train • Pumpkin Moon Walk • Jumping Pillows

• Pedal Carts • Fruit Flinger and more.Take US31 to Exit 140, go east ¼ mile on left. Lewis Farm Market & Petting Farm

4180 W M20 New Era MI 49446 (231)861-5730

Distinctive

GiftBaskets

3611 N. Jebavy, Ludington

843-2058 Open Daily 6 AM-10 PM

HAMLIN GROCERY & DELI

Baskets Available:• Wine• Meat & Cheese• Movie Night• Bridal • Birthday• Gourmet• Holiday • Picnic

Whatever the occasionSuzanne will createthe perfect basket.

Your FavoriteCorner Store

We have the corner on your one of a kind specialty basket needs.

Stop in & taste ourfeatured specials...

TIPS Certified.

We also offerwine tasting parties

at your home.

Wine & BeerTasting

FreshProduce

Featuring the freshest inLocally Grown Organic & Farm Fresh Produce.


20

212 S. Pere Marquette Hwy., Ludington(231) 843-4603

Mon.-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

Hardy

MUMSFor FallPlanting

Homegrown Early

APPLESFor Eatingor Cooking

PEARSHomegrown

PEACHESFREE SOIL FAMILY

RESTAURANTAND BAKERY

HomemadeButter Cream

FUDGEOpen for

Breakfast& Lunch

Daily

Farm Fresh Produce

Honey Rock

MELONS

HomegrownExtra Sweet

SWEETCORN


Documents

Locally Grown, Locally Owned