Hallstedt Homestead shares Leelanau County farm life, land, access and joy

By Sandra Serra Bradshaw

Sun contributor

The Hallstedt Homestead is nestled near the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, at the southern edge of Northport. Back in 2006, Phil and Sarah Hallstedt bought 53 acres of property on Matheson Road, some 400 miles away from their home in Indianapolis.

The Hallstedts searched dozens of properties, but nothing felt quite right. “Then,” explained owner Sarah Hallstedt, “Phil climbed a snowy hill one cold February to see the rolling hills, woods and privacy of the place in the property we now call home.”

Most of the land consisted of very old, scrappy, barely-producing cherry trees. But with a lot of hard work and grit they are making a hard-earned life today and selling the fruits of their labor. They started the new orchard in 2010 and today includes eight varieties of eat-off-the-tree sweet cherries, Mount Morency tarts, thornless raspberries, and enchantingly beautiful fresh flower bouquets. With Lake Michigan buffering the temperature swings, it provides the perfect micro-environment to grow cherries, grapes and apples in abundance.

“A lot of work had to be done before the property would produce anything more than burnt s’mores,” said Sarah. Along with her husband Phil, and their children, Erika, Becca and Nick, the family worked hard to make it the captivating farm it is today. “We were also assisted by many of our local famers and neighbors, and we can never thank them enough,” she emphasized.

Their vision has been being refined since their beginning with neither one of them ever running an orchard before. Sarah did have a home garden back in Indiana, but a far cry from what they today manage.

From the beginning, and every year since, the Hallstedts invite friends and family up from their hometown in Indiana for weekends and vacations. This is to both assist the family in building the farm up and, at the same time, for them to enjoy the wonderful location.

“We believe we are simply stewards of the land,” said Sarah. Over the years they began expanding the circle of visitors to the public. “The land is at the core of the farm. But respecting the farm goes beyond sustainability and achieving a harvest.”

The Hallstedt Homestead now offers u-pick operations and holds other events which fit with the bucolic character of their homestead and active farming operation. “We love sharing the land so that each person feels valued and safe and be able to relax and enjoy their time here,” she emphasized.

“Phil has a degree in chemistry, and has graduate degrees from the University of Michigan, and Indiana University’s School of Business,” said Sarah, explaining their pre-farm life back in Indiana. “He worked at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. And I am a recovering CPA,” she added with a distinct laugh.

“Now we have become first generation farmers who are passionate about having the best u-pick experience for our customers. We will provide everything our pickers need – buckets, instructions, and our friendly ‘pit crew.’ They will show you where and how to pick the fruits. We want our visitors to enjoy their time on the Leelanau Peninsula and hope they come back every summer.”

In addition to the fruit operation, Sarah holds sourdough bread-baking workshops, which have been well received with the wide-spread renewed interest in sourdough bread across the country. Though making sourdough bread has become a popular “newer” activity, sourdough bread has been around for thousands of years. It is the oldest type of leavened bread, and it’s enjoyed in many cultures around the world.

The sourdough starter is a probiotic powerhouse containing up to one-hundred species of lactic acid bacteria and as many as twenty species of yeasts, most of these coming from either the flour or from the environment. According to some studies, sourdough bread acts as a prebiotic. The fiber in the bread helps feed the “good” bacteria in our intestines, so important for maintaining a stable, healthy digestive system. This type of bread is also lower in gluten than other forms of bread.

The workshop is held in Sarah’s spacious homey kitchen on a large wooden island built by Phil. It is filled on top with all the necessary bread making tools.

“The first thing that we teach is how to make and feed the starter that goes in each loaf,” Sarah explained. “You will have enough for a loaf, and some left over when you return home. You should feed your starter once a week.”

Each participant in the workshop goes home with a starter mix, loaf of bread ready to bake (within 6-24 hours), robust starter in a jar (it only needs to be fed once a week,) the recipe and instructions, and the experience and knowledge of the pitfalls to avoid.

Then, after the instructional part of the workshop, Sarah invites her guests to a delicious tasting at the end of the session at her spacious dining table. She offers cherry wine, four flavors of sourdough bread, bottled water, homemade HH Cherries jam and her incredibly creamy pesto. It is an experience participants will not soon forget about with all the accompanying fun and camaraderie!

And the flowers? “What started as our daughter’s “Wedding Flower Garden” in 2017 is now an opportunity for people to come experience the amazing variety of an ever-changing array of flowers,” Sarah noted. “We doubled our flower selection area in 2021, shortly after we took out several rows of trees to “right-size” the U-pick cherry area.”

The family transitioned 100% from wholesale to U-pick cherries in 2019. They provide the snippers, a packet of flower food, and instructions as needed (including approximate size of bouquet).

“If you would’ve asked me, before we moved here, if I would be ready to go through life’s highs and lows that we have visited, and the circumstances around them, I would have laughed!” Sarah stated. “Often, we are joking that we don’t need to go to the local casino, we gamble every day here at home as farmers. Between the two of us but didn’t know anything about growing a cherry tree! Turning our acreage into a beautiful u-pick cherry, raspberry and flower farm…. what a ride! Let’s keep pedaling! Oh, and that cherry vinegar…”

Yes, their unique cherry vinegar is available for purchase online, at the farm, and at the various farmers markets they attend.

Em Korte, with her degree in Outdoor Recreation & Sustainability, is the Homesteads’ “right hand gal. “Phil offered me a part-time job bottling the vinegar,” Em explained with a smile. I guess they wanted to keep me around. He offered me a job as Orchard Manager and I gladly accepted. I love living and working here.”

With approximately 6,300 cherry trees, they are continuing to develop their Leelanau homestead with great pride and determination. “We want to continue to build our home and develop effective infrastructure for our pre-harvest, harvest, and post-harvest,” said Sarah. We are always open to new ideas and solutions to making our farm more welcoming and offering opportunistic employment to fit your needs while creating a comfortable space for folks to work and gather. Join the team.”

They are offering three intern positions this summer. No prior experience needed; they will teach in assisting the agriculture operations at the site. Tasks include but are not limited to mowing, picking, processing, assisting with distribution partners, weeding, pruning, farmer’s market, u-pick operations, etc.

“Joy to us is as much a reminder to ourselves as well as recognition of sharing the fruits of our labors with others. Farming is difficult and an emotional experience of successes and failures, and Joy reminds us that we chose this lifestyle, and that Joy can be a fleeting experience for so many,” said Sarah. “We make it a point to be joyful and share joy with all that visit and experience the orchard and flower farm with us.”

Fruit and flower picking begins in May–September. The flowers bloom beginning in May, cherries ripen in July and stay up until mid-August.

For further information, call or text Sarah at 317-440-9273. The farm can be visited in-person at 8227 N. Matheson Rd, Northport, MI 49670.

Find Hallstedt Homestead online at https://hhcherries.net. Sarah can be reached via email at sarah@hhcherries.net.