Isadore’s latest secret: Vissers’ organic farm

,

By Pat Stinson Sun contributor It’s barely June, and the sweet red pepper plants (“Carmen” variety) carefully tended by Matt and Carissa Visser in their Isadore Farm greenhouse north of Cedar are 18 inches tall, thick with blossoms, and ready for sale to gardeners digging in the fresh, spring earth. While others may plant a […]

Read more
/by

Green thumb at Greystone

,

By Forest Olson Sun contributor For many area businesses, July and August are the year’s busiest months, and the weeks leading up to that period are merely preparation for the coming tourist rush. Not so at Greystone Gardens, located on Manning Road, off M-22 south of Empire. For owners Tom Brodhagen and Kate Presnell, owning […]

Read more
/by

Asparagus Festival draws record turnout

From staff reports The seventh annual Empire Asparagus Festival in mid-May revved up the focus on local food this year, as vendors sold green-stalk-filled goodies under an 8,000-square-foot tent that occupied much of Front St. and made a full-blown asparagus parade impossible. “The parade paid the price of the festival’s success,” said organizer Paul Skinner. […]

Read more
/by

Rifino Valentine’s spirited enterprise goes against grain

,

By F. Josephine Arrowood Sun contributor Micro-distiller Rifino Valentine is going against the grain with his one-batch-at-a-time Valentine Vodka, which he launched in 2009. Searching for a high quality alternative to mass-produced spirits, he envisioned the ideal formula that would let him use local, sustainable resources, control the entire distilling process, and provide discerning drinkers […]

Read more
/by

Taste the Passion of wine, chocolate and art along Michigan’s wine coast

, ,

From staff reports Love is in the air as you celebrate an early Valentine’s Day at the “Taste the Passion” weekend, Feb. 5-7. This special weekend highlights wine, chocolate and art — all precursors to true love! The combination of winter’s beauty in Leelanau County with the special pleasures of life always makes for a […]

Read more
/by

Cedar Sol Hydro Farm satisfies strawberry cravings

,

By Pat Stinson Sun contributor Like their new neighbors at Farm 651, Nichole (Nikki) and Mike McHugh are not farmers, or at least they weren’t three years ago when they began operation of their hydroponic farm on County Road 651 in Cedar. Nikki grew up in Grand Rapids, and Mike hailed from Grosse Pointe. Both […]

Read more
/by

Farm 651: Sowing sustainability in Cedar

,

By Pat Stinson Sun contributor Never underestimate the power of the Internet, the promise of good wine or the beauty of Leelanau County. The first two brought Junie Zou and Jason Roggensee from their home southeast of Phoenix to a Leelanau Peninsula wine trail event last fall. The third compelled them to purchase 80 acres […]

Read more
/by

Sustainable Thanksgiving

, ,

Say “thanks” this turkey day with local foods that honor nearby farmers and the land they tend. By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor I am not politically aligned with my in-laws, with whom I spend Thanksgiving. When we vote, we support different values and visions. But when it comes to food — what we eat, where […]

Read more
/by

To kill a deer

,

By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor It was the second bullet that pierced the deer’s brain. The first one, fired through the barrel of my father’s rifle a couple minutes earlier, only maimed him as the buck bent down to eat a fallen apple in the orchard on my parents’ property — on the opening morning […]

Read more
/by

A memorable meal at North

,

By Norm Wheeler Sun editor You smell the Seafood Stew just inside the door, and the hunger you brought now grips you in earnest. The conversations from the various rooms, the clinking of glasses, the whooshing of waiters in and out of the adjacent kitchen doors, and tonight’s hostess Janice Fink, all welcome you into […]

Read more
/by