Greystone Gardens
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 a greenhouse is a year-round job, and one that peaks in May. “Personal and family life are put on hold from February through the end of May, when we are tied down to our greenhouses,” says Kate.
Contact information:
9875 Manning Road, Empire … (231) 326-5855
Read this excerpt from Forest Olson’s story, “Green thumb at Greystone” which ran in the Glen Arbor Sun in May 2010:
Tom is a third-generation agriculturist who learned the business from his late grandfather Ken Morris, who owned West Winds Orchards and Nursery. “Grandpa got both my uncle and myself into growing plants. We wouldn’t have known what to do without him,” he explains, added that his grandparents had a big influence on his life.
Tom fondly remembers summers during his childhood when he helped his grandparents sell corn at the West Wind farm. He recalls days when “cars were lined up down M-22 waiting for sweet corn, 10 ears to a bag.”
Kate adds that, at the time West Winds was featured in AAA Magazine as having the “best sweet corn”. Tom’s grandmother Lucille Morris also attracted folks to her fruit stand, where she sold jams and cookies. “She made these famous sugar cookies. They were spice-filled molasses cookies that made people drive for miles,” Kate remembers.
