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TV 9&10 News has a great video feature on Leelanau County's various fruit crops where they talk with strawberry farmer Steve Bardenhagen, MSU Hort Station Coordinator Nikki Rothwell and others about the state of the fruit crops.

While farmers (and honeybees) struggled through a cold wet spring, no hard frost was a plus. It sounds like we'll have strawberry shortcake for the 4th and everyone is pulling for the hot temps from recent days to continue!

Photo credit: A Bloomin' Good Time! by Trish P. - K1000 Gal

via Michigan in Pictures...

Cherry Blossoms, photo by leelanau2010.

Every May I'm asked "When will the cherry blossoms be out?"

It's been a slow, cold spring but I'm happy to report that the answer is "Right now!"

Sweet cherry blossoms are out all over and the tart cherry blossoms will be along in a few days. That means this weekend will be the best one for photos.

David took this shot near Northport. Check it out background big, on his map or in his Cherry Blossoms slideshow.

Enjoy more blossoms and more Spring Wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures!

The Leelanau Enterprise reports that a new Processing Renaissance Zone in Grand Traverse County is expected to help many Leelanau growers by expanding what is already one of the world's largest cherry processing facilities:

The owners of one of Leelanau County's largest fruit growing operations - Bob and Don Gregory of Cherry Bay Orchards - are among principal owners of Shoreline Fruit, L.L.C. which operates a processing facility in Grand Traverse County's Acme Township.

Officials of Shoreline Fruit this week announced that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder approved establishment of an Agricultural Processing Renaissance Zone (an APRZ) for the expansion of the facility in Acme. The APRZ designation waives most state and local taxes for up to 15 years for an expanded area of the plant only. The designation is expected to save Shoreline Fruit up to $1.9 million as part of a $7.5 million plan to expand the facility.

"Shoreline has been processing cherries from many more growers than just Cherry Bay Orchards," Don Gregory told the Enterprise this week. "We expect that a very high percentage of cherries that will be processed at the expanded facility will come from throughout northwestern lower Michigan in general and most of them from Leelanau County in particular."

..."We're in the right place in terms of food trends, too, because cherries are considered to be 'locally grown,'" Gregory added. "In the national market, 'locally grown' means anywhere in the U.S., and cherries along with blueberries and grapes seem to be gaining market share in comparison to some of the more exotic fruits grown in other countries."

Read more at the Enterprise and also check out the Shoreline Fruit website.

Photo credit: Cherry Blossoms by leelanau2010 (and yes, we have Cherry Blossoms!)

Cherry blossoms are starting to show around the county and I thought this cool photo from the 50s would help get you in the mood.

You can see more old cherry blossom pics in Don's slideshow and a whole bunch more shots in the Leelanau.com group's cherry blossom slideshow.

Leelanau.com has a ton of articles and photos of cherry blossoms - don't miss this great feature on cherry blossoms by Cherie Spaulding and a bit about the history of cherry blossoms in Leelanau.

February is National Cherry Month and Leelanau County is Cherry Ground Zero! Before we get to this great video of cherry harvesting at Shimeks' Maple Ridge Orchard in Maple City, here are a ton of cherry features on Leelanau.com including:

• Leelanau Cherries are Ready to Pick (includes some great cherry facts & recipes)
• A write-up on the history & present day of the annual National Cherry Festival (July 2-9, 2011)
• An article about the History of Empire (includes a great old fruit stand photo!)
• A lyrical ode to cherry blossoms by Cherie Spaulding
• A little about the history of cherry blossoms in Leelanau County (hint for folks wondering "When will the cherries blossom?": it's usually 10-14 days in early to mid May and we never know when until we're getting close!)
• ...and don't miss the cherry slideshow in the Leelanau.com group on Flickr

Check out all the cherry goodness on Absolute Michigan and click that cherry to the left to Choose Cherries on Facebook!

Via Absolute Michigan...

Taste the Local Difference says that sweet cherries are ready to pick! A great place to pick them up is at any of the Leelanau Farmers Markets or (if you're feeling adventurous) the National Cherry Festival. A few facts about cherries:

• Cherries are an excellent source of Vitamin C and a good source of potassium, magnesium, iron, folate, and fiber.
• Cherries have among the highest levels of antioxidants compared with other fruits.
• The United States produces more than 650 million pounds of tart and sweet cherries. Michigan grows about 75 percent of the U.S. crop of tart cherries, and about 20 percent of the US crop of sweet cherries.
• Some of the sweet cherry varieties grown in Michigan are: Emperor, Napoleon, Francis, and Schmidt.
• Some studies show that eating about 20 cherries a day could reduce inflammatory pain and headache pain.

You can get lots more cherry goodness from Taste the Local Difference's cherry articles and also at absolutemichigan.com/Cherries! Speaking of cherry goodness and in keeping with the no-fuss style of cooking that summertime requires, here's a couple of easy cherry recipes that we like:

Cherries with Ricotta and Toasted Almonds
3/4 cup fresh or frozen pitted cherries
2 Tbsp. part-skim ricotta
1 Tbsp. toasted slivered almonds

If frozen, heat cherries in the microwave briefly to soften. Otherwise, top the cherries with ricotta and almonds. (Food Network)

Cherry Kabobs

Partially freeze 2 cups of sweet cherries, then thread them on skewers, alternating with 2 cups fresh pineapple chunks. Combine: 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 2 Tbsp. olive oil, 1 Tbsp. honey, and1/2 tsp. curry powder in a small bowl; mix well.

Place kabobs on grill over medium coals. Brush with mixture. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, turning and basting with sauce after each turn. (Taste the Local Difference's own Janice Benson)

Photo Credits: Untitled by jenny murray, Teeny, tiny bowl of sweet cherries to eat. by Trish P and KAScott_20090805_1866_stkb by Ken Scott

Still hungry? How about more cherry articles from Leelanau.com and the Cherries slideshow from the Leelanau (dot com) group on Flickr??!!

via Absolute Michigan... 2011 update coming this summer!!

Remember the sights, sounds, and smells of a summer celebration in your hometown when you were a kid? Well, happy days return to Traverse City's beautiful Lake Michigan shores July 2-9, 2011 during the National Cherry Festival featuring over 150 events including free air shows over the Bay, colorful parades & marching bands, music shows, sporting events, rides & carnival games on the midway, pie-eating contests, clean blue skies, warm sunshine, crowds of smiling faces, and loads of luscious cherries (2010 will have local cherries!) prepared every way you can imagine!

A Short History of The National Cherry Festival

The Cherry Festival began in 1926 as the Blessing of the Blossoms Festivals in the spring. In 1933 it was renamed the National Cherry Festival and moved to mid to late July in order to coincide with the cherry harvest. It was then later moved again to early July in order to simultaneously occur with the Fourth of July weekend. The festivals annual attendance is now over 500,000 over the course of eight days. The National Cherry Festival has played host to many special guests and dignitaries, including President Gerald R. Ford, Former Astronaut James Lovell, PGA Touring Professional Dan Pohl, Jerry Mathers, and an assortment of Michigan governors. (check out the Pleva's float too!)

Global Wine Pavilion

The National Cherry Festival will once again offer wine lovers of all levels an unsurpassed wine experience at the Global Wine Pavillion on the beautiful, tree-studded former Clinch Park Zoo property in downtown Traverse City. The three night event, Thursday-Saturday, July 8-10 from 5-10 PM will feature a superb collection of over 90 wines & almost 40 different grape varieties selected by Master Sommelier Ron Edwards. A $10 entry fee buys you an Andrea Robinson designed wine glass – The One – and your first glass of wine. The One is thought by many experts to be the world’s perfect wine glass, so every wine you taste in the Pavilion and at home will be perfectly presented.

Parades, Music, Fireworks & More!

In addition to two parades and the crowning of the 2010 National Cherry Queen, Cherry Festival boasts an air show featuring the Blue Angels, beach volleyball tournament, Old Mission Peninsula bike tour, bed race, car show, live music, carnival midway and classic events like the cherry pit spitting contest.

More National Cherry Festival Links

• National Cherry Festival web site
• Area lodging, dining & more at Absolute Michigan keyword "Traverse City"
• Food Network: Top 5 Video featuring the National Cherry Festival
• Traverse City Record Eagle: National Cherry Festival Guide
• 1354 Cherry Related Recipes from FoodTV.com
• National Cherry Festival from Wikipedia
• The Unofficial National Cherry Homepage
• Michigan Cherries
• Absolute Michigan keyword Cherry

Photo Credits: Cherry Festival Fireworks by K H M, Traverse MI Cherry Queens Parade Float 1964 Cherry Festival by UpNorth Memories and National Cherry Festival Junior Royale Parade by farlane

The Leelanau Enterprise reports that harvest of early sweet cherry varieties could begin as soon as July 1, based on samples taken at the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station. That means the usually poorly timed National Cherry Festival (July 3-10, 2010) will be giving people a taste of the fruit of the National Cherry Capital!

The Traverse City Record-Eagle agrees:

Historical temperature data from the National Weather Service office in Gaylord showed Traverse City's average daily temperature of 42.7 from January through May was more than 5 degrees warmer than long-term normal temperatures.

That's the warmest such period since 1896 and helped push the region's cherry crop development almost two weeks ahead of schedule.

National Cherry Festival Executive Director Tim Hinkley said board members in the cherry industry recently told officials to expect locally grown cherries in time for this year's 84th annual event, scheduled for July 3-10.

photo: Ready for Harvest by danemolly

The Women’s Resource Center (WRC) is proud to announce its biggest fundraiser of the year; Taste of Grand Traverse! Taste of Grand Traverse is a food and beverage tasting event, much like Taste of Chicago or Taste of Cincinnati, only on a much smaller scale. Approximately 19 restaurants and 5 beverage companies will be offering small samples or “tastes” of their finest food and drink. The Taste of Grand Traverse will be held Sunday, April 18th 2010 at the Great Wolf Lodge. There will be two tasting sessions to choose from, 500 admissions per session: 11 am -1:00 pm or 2pm - 4:00 pm. Adult admission is $15 at the door donation to the WRC. Admission includes 3 food tickets. Additional tickets are available for $1. Samples will be between 1 and 3 tickets and adult admission fee includes 3 free sampling tickets) Children 5 - 12 are just $1 and children under 5 are admitted free.

Photo: Truffles (from Grocer's Daughter) by farlane

Food and Beverage Participants include:
Betsie Bay Inn
Cook’s House
Corky’s
Epicure Catering
The Fusion
Fustini’s
Great Wolf Lodge
Great Northern Roasting Company
Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate
House of Doggs - TC’s place for Coneys!
Lil Bo Pub & Grille
Lulu’s Bistro
Morsels - Bite-sized bakery and gourmet coffee.
Munson Medical Center / Sodexo Foods
Northwoods Soda
TC Red’s BBQ
Siren Hall
Sparky’s Diner
Turtle Creek
Zakey Middle Eastern Cuisine

From: Alan Campbell, on behalf of the Leelanau Conservancy, Leelanau Conservation District and the Leelanau Enterprise.

We are forced to cancel the 2010 Cherry Blossoms tour. The reason is that Cherry Blossoms will arrive in Leelanau County much sooner than anyone could have realistically planned for. We have very few options excluding trying to move the tour to Saturday, May 1. But we ran into too many logistical problems with moving the event ahead two weeks. We had originally set the tour for Saturday, May 15 — smack dab in the middle of cherry blossom season, at least by historical terms.

But the spring of 2010 has been one for the record books. Right now at the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station, cherry bud development is about three weeks ahead of schedule, with mild temperatures predicted for the rest of the week. We could move the tour ahead one week and still completely miss the blossom season.
We have always said that the tour is all about cherry blossoms. Without them, we cannot have a tour. We have thoroughly enjoyed sharing the beauty of the area with others, and introducing many to their first cherry farms in full bloom. Orchardists, too, have extended their hands, explaining their trade and offering first-hand accounts of the business of cherry growing.

Thanks go out to those who have worked with us by helping to promote and plan for the 2010 tour, including the staff of the hort station, Suttons Bay Public Schools for reserving buses, and the Grand Traverse Band for graciously offering use of the Eagles Ridge Conference Center for the May 8 date. We looked at moving the tour ahead one week and north in search of blossoms, but were still left with the probability that we would miss them.
We are already looking ahead to the 2011 tour, and plan to learn from this experience. We expect to set two or possibly three dates for the tour next year, and wait until closer to bloom before making a final determination. And we need to find a way, possibly through a separate website, to publicize the progress of cherry buds toward blooms as the date approaches.

We remain convinced that the cherry blossom season is the one jewel of Leelanau County and northwest Michigan that is underutilized and under publicized. This area should be crawling with Blossom Peepers. There is no prettier place in the world than the back roads of Leelanau County at full cherry bloom.

We need to tell people about it. Please forward us your suggestions.
For 2010, however, our emphasis has changed to damage control. Please help us inform as many people as possible that the blossom tour has been cancelled due to the expected historical early bloom. The last thing we want to do is leave people unhappy about beautiful cherry blossoms.

Also help us inform bloom lovers that they'll need to set their calendars ahead two weeks or so to view Leelanau's beautiful blooms. For many of us, it's the greatest show on earth. Although we won't be there to guide them, we encourage participation in any form.

Photo credit: The road less traveled by PrincessDoodleBeans Boutique