Within an hour of any community in Michigan you'll discover farms and, if you're lucky, wineries tucked into rolling hills and along backroads. This weekend, I took a wrong turn on my way to Berry Hill, a raspberry farm in Dexter (near Ann Arbor). And while I eventually returned to Berry Hill for loads of plump, juicy raspberries the next day, I enjoyed visits at a handful of other destinations.
My first wrong turn took me to Ruhlig Market, a wholesale distributor of Michigan fruits and vegetables. The market, run by the same family since 1968, also features its own sweet corn, squash and cabbage, the later of which is also sold at Eastern Market in Detroit. Family members were kind enough to give me directions back to the raspberry farm. While chatting and paying for peaches and watermelon, though, I ran into new friends who directed me to Lesser Farms down the road. There, I picked up honey, hand-made soap and snapped photos of their super lush orchard full of apples, peaches and plums ready for picking. I need to return for their delicious cider soon.
After Lesser Farms, I stopped at nearby Spring Valley Trout Farm, where for $4 a person you can fish for trout that have been raised in the farm's natural spring water. (Baby trout arrive from northern Michigan and are grown in the spring water.) Catch some fish and they'll fillet the fish for you to take home for dinner. A trout farm in Dexter! Who knew?
Afterward, I made a quick stop at Jenny's Market for photographs. You can get Guernsey's hand-dipped icecream, home-made pies and canned beets, as well as a slew of fresh produce here. After a quick lunch in Dexter, I visited Dexter Cider Mill, the oldest, continually-run cider mill in Michigan. Owner Richard was chopping up apples for cider and happily obliged me for photographs. Inside, I sampled two dry whites from Sandhill Crane Vineyards. (The winery has a seasonal tasting room inside the mill.)
Finally, I drove my way to Berry Hill and found it closed. Bummer! I returned on Sunday and was delighted to stroll through a pathway of yellow and orange sunflowers to a huge berry patch full of different varieties like Heritage, Carolyn and Dinkum to name a few. My last farm stop for the weekend was Back Forty Acres, a 5th-generation farm that specializes in pasture-raised poultry and grass-fed livestock. The chickens on the farm I lived on for six years never had it so good. Back Forty's animals look incredibly healthy in their open-air environments. A dozen blue eggs made it home with me, freshly plucked from the hen house. ~ Sharon
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