Last update: May 13 Sweets are in full blossom and tart cherry trees are beginning to bloom. We should have very good blossom coverage through this weekend - make your reservations now!
Dr. Nikki Rothwell, director of the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station, reports that she's seeing a few sweets now. She that although sweets typically blossom first with tarts coming 3-5 days after, there have been years when they've come at the same time. She noted that cherries are only receptive to be fertilized for a week or so, no matter how long the blossoms are out. Years when we do have an enduring blossom can even be detrimental to fertilization as bees don't like to fly when it's cold.
Keep an eye on at least one tree with the Hort station's Cherry Orchard webcam.
The photo is Leelanau by Jeff Lamb, and you can view it large right here and see more of Jeff's great pics from the Leelanau Peninsula on his photography web site.
For a whole lot more about cherry blossoms, check out Cherry Blossom Time in Michigan on Michigan in Pictures and be sure to think about attending the Leelanau County Cherry Blossom Tour on May 10, 2008!
Dan took this photo of The Bufka Farm last weekend. He has several more photos from around the county and area on Saturday.
Traverse City hosts a Downtown Art Walk tomorrow night (Friday, May 2) from 5-9 PM.
You're invited to enjoy a self guided tour of galleries and exhibits in Downtown Traverse City featuring local art and wine. Visit each participating location, receive a stamp and enter to win a $500 Downtown Shopping Spree. Walking guides will be available at each participating location and the Downtown Office.
Visit the Downtown Traverse City web site for more information!
The Leelanau County Cherry Blossom Tour has been scheduled for Saturday, May 10 from 11 AM - 2 PM. The Tour is sponsored by the Leelanau Conservation District, Leelanau Conservancy and the Leelanau Enterprise, with several other organizations presenting a tour of orchards with a leisurely FREE bus ride for folks of all ages (wheelchair lifts are on every bus as well!).
The event will start and end at the Connie Binsfeld Building in Lake Leelanau and features a free ride on busses provided by the Bay Area Transportation Authority. Tour takers can stay on a bus throughout its journey or get off at preplanned stops and catch the next one! There will also be a free lunch with cherry brats from Pleva’s Market in Cedar and those famous Cherry Republic Boomchunka cookies. Highlighted on the tour will be the views offered from a vantage point at St. Wenceslaus Church and the Gregory family's Cherry Bay Orchard.
Years ago, a Blossom Tour was offered annually by agricultural leaders in Leelanau County at about the same time the "Blessing of the Blossoms" ceremony was celebrated in Grand Traverse County. While the blessing event remains today, the blossom tour has long been discontinued — until this year.
Contact the Leelanau Conservancy at 231 256-9665 for further information or to volunteer and get more information from Cherry Blossom Tour web page from the Leelanau Enterprise.
Photo: Spring Will Come by Andy McFarlane (check out this Cherry Blossom Slideshow too!)
Leelanau's Black Star Farms is enjoying an amazing run of good news.
After being named one of bedandbreakfast.com's Top Ten Eco-Friendly Inns, they were invited to provide a prize for Wheel of Fortune's Green Week. The show will reportedly air tonight (Apr 11) at 7 PM on WPBN TV 7&4, and a contestant did win the prize. More from the Traverse City Business News.
On the heels of that comes news that Wine Enthusiast magazine has selected Black Star Farms, Suttons Bay as one of America's Top 25 tasting rooms in its May issue.
It seems almost an anti-climax to report that this week they added online wine ordering to their web site.
Image courtesy Wheel of Fortune / Sony Pictures.
The Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association's annual Spring Sip & Savor trail event takes place May 3 & 4, 2008 and offers you an opportunity to taste a wine and food pairing selected especially by the each of the LPVA winemakers. The winemakers will be present in the tasting rooms all weekend to talk with you about their wines and to sign the 2008 Leelanau Winemaker poster, featuring a photograph of all 15 winemakers of the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail by noted area photographer and TC Film Festival co-founder John Robert Williams. These posters will be available the Sip & Savor weekend and provided free to everyone who attends!
Attendees will also have a chance to enter to win a dinner for 2 with the winemaker of their choice at Samuel's Restaurant in Suttons Bay. Check the link above for tickets and more information about this event.
Photo: Willow Vineyard by Andy McFarlane
Fishtown is a historic 100 year old fishing village located in Leland. In the 1930s fishing reached its peak and quickly declined due to overfishing. Although Fishtown may not still be home to as large a fishing community as previously, it is home to many charter fishermen, Carlson's fishery, the only ferries to the Manitou Islands and a wide variety of shops.
Cool things to do: take a ferry to the Manitou Islands with Manitou Island Transit, shop in the old fish shanties, buy fish from the 5 generation old Carlson family fishery, look for fish in the Carp River, and eat a sandwich from The Village Cheese Shanty.
Read about Leland at Leelanau.com's Leelanau on Location.
Located in the heart of the Leelanau Peninsula, Lake Leelanau is a pristine lake running through almost the entire county. Lake Leelanau appears to be two lakes, and is even referred to as North Lake Leelanau and South Lake Leelanau, but the two lakes are connected by what is known as "The Narrows," a narrowing of the lake that looks like a river. The village of Lake Leelanau is located at the narrows. South Lake Leelanau is the shallower and warmer lake of the two, but both are breathtakingly beautiful and from top to bottom the North and South Lake total about 22 miles in length.
Lake Leelanau's water levels rose 12 feet when a dam was built on the Carp River (which connects Lake Leelanau to Lake Michigan) in 1854.
Cool things to do: boat around the lake (rent one from Stander Marine in Leland), swim (public access spots: Nedow's Bay, East Leland Park (on 641 at the northern end of North Lake Leelanau), Fisher "Fudgie" Beach (just south of Leland on M-22) Schneider's Beach (at the end of Popp Road (off M-204) 1.5 miles west of the village of Lake Leelanau), fish, or just hang out.
Head into Lake Leelanau for some fantastic vegetarian food and great antique shopping, Cedar for the best processed meat in the area and some great local ice cream inventions, or Leland for great shopping, delicious food, and much more.
The Leelanau MSU Extension will host an organic vegetable farming and gardening event on Friday, April 18 at the NW Michigan Horticultural Research Station.
This session will be of use to organic producers, backyard vegetable growers, those considering organic certification, and anyone else interested in growing vegetables. The program will cover soil management, how organic soils work, cover crops for vegetable production, composting, organic pest management, emerging crops for organic production, the pros and cons of organic certification, the use of hoophouses for season extension. There will also be an experienced farmer panel representing four farms across Michigan to explain their operations and answer first-hand any questions participants may have. A catered lunch will be provided. The cost to attend is $25 per person.
If you're interested, you meed to RSVP to the Leelanau MSU Extension office by Monday, April 10th! Call 231-256-9888.
Photo: Eggplant by Andy McFarlane
Sap Buckets, photo by Jim Sorbie
News from the Week
The week's news featured a rare upcoming appearance by landscape artist Russel Chatham at the Dennos (Apr 4), a clip from Song of Lakes new Live at Interlochen DVD, a cool ice boating video, news that the courthouse redevelopment in Leland will receive brownfield aid and - for all you seasonally disaffected folks who aren't headed somewhere warm - a neat photo of an iris from a warmer spring!
The Week's Weather
The week's weather featured a lot of sun but not a lot of heat. Jim said that there was maple sap in those buckets - a sure sign of spring!
March 20, 2008: Flurries & 20s (30/25)
March 21, 2008: Sunny & 20s (32/18)
March 22, 2008: Sunny & upper 20s (32/18)
March 23, 2008: Light snow and low 30s (33/19)
March 24, 2008: Mostly sunny & 30 (34/7)
March 25, 2008: Cloudy, light snow, rain, and in between & 40s (45/30)
March 26, 2008: Mostly sunny & 40 (43/26)
Click for the Leelanau news archive from March 2007 and our March 2008 page.
