After the cold and cloudy weather last week it is nice to see the greenhouse warm up enough for some of the seeds we planted to germinate. These flats have red and yellow seedless watermelon plants growing in them. Anyone who can tell the varieties apart at this stage of their development gets a free watermelon in August.
This is the time of year that we cut the rest of the cabbage from the field and bring it into the barn to store it for the winter. We are selling forty pound boxes of Napa cabbage for $16 and fifty pound bags of kraut cabbage for $14. Call or text John at (231)730-3833 to order.
Despite the drought earlier this year (and with the help of our under plastic drip irrigation) we had a good crop of our red and yellow sweet onions. To try to sell them all we have lowered the price of onions in the market to $1 per pound and we have lowered the bulk prices to $15 for a half bushel or $25 for a bushel. Call or text (231)730-3833 to order and you can choose red onions, yellow onions, or a mix of the two.
We have big pumpkins, small pumpkins, pie pumpkins, white pumpkins, flat pumpkins, mini pumpkins, corn stalks, straw bales, and more to help you decorate for the fall season. This Saturday is the opening of our pick your own pumpkin patch and also the first day for pumpkin wagon rides to and from the patch.
Our pick your own tomato patch is loaded with tomatoes right now and the picking is very easy. If you still need tomatoes for canning or you just want a good price on tomatoes to eat and share stop out this week. $10 per half bushel and we will provide the basket to pick into.
Our pick your own tomato patch will be open Monday, August 28. The price for pick your own tomatoes is $20 per bushel or $10 per half bushel. You can pick Roma tomatoes for the same price. It is a good idea to bring boxes or baskets to bring your tomatoes home with. We also have tomatoes in half bushels already picked for sale at the market.
We have a new display cooler in the market this year. That is a good thing because we have a variety of fresh lettuce picked every day to display in it. You can choose from red and green leaf lettuce, red and green butter head lettuce, and romaine lettuce. Our new cooler also comes in handy for displaying halves of the new yellow fleshed seedless watermelon that we are growing this year.
Our farm market is now open with sweet corn, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, pickles, zucchini, yellow squash, green and yellow beans, onions, kale, and blueberries. Our cantaloupe and watermelon are not quite ready yet. We are just starting to pick sweet corn and tomatoes. We will have a limited supply of both for this weekend so don't be surprised if we sell out.
We have had to do a lot of irrigating this summer to keep our plants from drying up, but they are growing. We are beginning to pick some yellow summer squash, zucchini, and cucumbers. We will have those for sale by this weekend on a self serve basis. It will be around the first of August before our first sweet corn or tomatoes are ready and there will be another post here when we are getting ready to open our farm market.
Our strawberries are ready to pick. We have some already picked by the garage for $5 per quart and we are also offering pick your own strawberries for $2 per pound. We have a scale to weigh them but if you pick your own please bring your own containers. You-Pick hours are 10AM to 7PM Monday through Saturday. Call (231)730-3833 for more information.
The strawberry plants that we put in last year have lots of blossoms on them and they are starting to get small fruit. Our plan is to offer pick your own and already picked strawberries some time in June. Check back here for updates as we get closer to having ripe strawberries.
Plants for sale - We have garden starter plants ready to go in the ground! $2 for a four pack of vegetable or herb plants. $2 for a ten pack of red or yellow onions. $4 for a salad mix tray. Call or text John at (231)730-3833 if you want us to get your order ready for you. Otherwise stop by and pick your own plants from off of the shelves. Currently we have tomatoes, roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, pickles, cabbage, asparagus, eggplant, cilantro, spinach, cantaloupe, honeydew melons, green beans, yellow beans, pinto beans, sugar snap peas, and more!
We will be selling vegetable and herb plants again this year starting the weekend before Mother's day. Stay tuned for a list of what we will have available.
Watermelons like hot weather and these seedless watermelons are growing fast with greenhouse temperatures near 90 degrees this week.
Expect to see some new types of vegetables in the market this year. We plan to have garlic for sale in the fall and we will be growing more types of lettuces, including red and green leaf lettuce. And by customer request we are going to grow some seedless watermelons that are yellow inside. This package of Tropical Sunshine watermelon seeds should be producing tasty yellow seedless watermelons by August.
We have a good crop of napa cabbage this year. $2.50 per head or $18 for 40 pounds. Our market will be open for at least the rest of this week so stop by for fall vegetables or good deals on fall decorations.
This Saturday is the last day to get a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch, but we will have plenty of pumpkins to choose from when you get there. We also have mini pumpkins, gourds, corn stalks, white pumpkins, and straw bales to complete your fall decorations. See you on the pumpkin wagon!
It is squash season and we have lots of acorn squash, butternut, buttercup, carnival (the yellow, white and green one shaped like acorn), delicata, and even blue hubbard. Squash is 80 cents per pound in the market, $16 for a half bushel, or $30 for a bushel of whatever type you want or any mix of types.
Our pick your own pumpkin patch is opening this weekend! We have thousands of pumpkins to choose from and we give wagon rides to the patch on Saturdays. Pumpkins from the patch are $7 for large pumpkins, $5 for medium, and $3 for small.
Fall weather is here and we have been putting out some fall decorations. We have pumpkins on the yard for sale, corn stalks, and a variety of small pumpkins and gourds. And this will be the last weekend for sweet corn, so stop out and enjoy another taste of summer!
We have lots of fresh cabbage in the market now. Small heads are $2 each and big heads like the one that A.J. is holding here are $3.50 each. We also have 50 pound bags of cabbage available for $15.
We had a good crop of red and yellow sweet onions this year and we have them available now in bushel quantities. The price is $36 for a bushel, $19 for a half bushel, or $12 for a peck. You can choose all yellow onions, all red, or a mixture of the two.
You pick tomatoes will be open next Monday, August 29. The cost is $18 per bushel. Roma tomatoes are also available. We can provide half bushel baskets to pick into but it is a good idea to bring your own baskets or boxes to take the tomatoes home in. See you in the tomato field!
Not only does Wesley help to pick watermelons here at the Mellema Farm, but he is also our best watermelon customer. Be like Wesley and eat lots of Mellema Farm watermelon for good health. We have seeded and seedless watermelons priced as low as $1.50 for a personal size that you can take home on your bike.
Our sweet corn is ready, our signs are out, and the market is open for business! We are starting to get a few tomatoes but they have been slow to ripen this year due to a lack of warm nights. We have lots of pickles, cucumbers, green beans, zucchini, and lettuce. We even have some early cabbage. Stop by from 10AM to 7PM Monday through Saturday for farm fresh vegetables.
We are picking more vegetables every day this time of the year but we won't have sweet corn or slicing tomatoes until next week. We do have cherry tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, pickles, zucchini, summer squash, okra, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, kale, and butterhead lettuce for sale if you want some fresh vegetables this weekend.
We have cucumbers, pickles, zucchini, and summer squash for sale now on a self serve basis. Sweet corn and tomatoes should be ready around the first of August and we will have the market open then with other fruits and vegetables also.
This spring we planted 1000 strawberry plants and 100 raspberry plants. They are growing well and we hope to offer both already picked and pick your own strawberries and raspberries starting in 2023.
Our pick your own tomatoes will all be on plastic mulch this year to keep the tomatoes from getting bad spots on them and to make picking faster for everyone. Pick your own tomatoes usually opens in late August.
It is not too late to get plants for your garden. We still have most of the varieties left that we had in May and we now have broccoli, parsley, and romaine lettuce. We also have these $5 trays that are packed with different types of lettuce that you can cut off for a salad, plant in your garden, or do some of both!
In addition to the vegetable plants that we had for sale last week we now have roma tomatoes, sweet Hungarian peppers, pickling cucumbers, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, butterhead lettuce, red cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, sage, cilantro, and basil. Stop out and get some plants for your garden or planter boxes today!
Vegetable Plants For Sale - The cold spring weather got the greenhouse off to a slow start this year, but the hot weather that we have had recently has helped to catch things up. We now have the following vegetable plants for sale at 75 cents each or 4 for $2.50: Tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, Brandywine heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, eggplant, zucchini, yellow summer squash, cucumbers, cantaloupe, Danish Ballhead cabbage, green beans, yellow beans, long pole beans, great northern beans, dark red kidney beans, sugar snap peas, butternut squash, buttercup squash, dill, asparagus, catnip, and spinach. We also have red and yellow onions 10 for $2 and we have trays of salad blend lettuce or mesclun mix for $5 each. If you know what you want you can call or text John at (231)730-3833 to order ahead and we will set it out for you. If you don't know what you want you can stop by and we will help you find what you need.
The colder than normal weather this April has slowed down the growth in our greenhouse but we will be selling vegetable and herb plants again this spring, hopefully by the second week of May. Stay tuned for a list of what kinds of plants we will have available and when.
The weather is warming up and our first tomato plants are up in the greenhouse. This year all of our tomatoes are going to be planted on plastic mulch to keep the fruit from making contact with the soil. We hope that this will mean less tomatoes with bad spots on them and easier picking for both us and our pick your own tomato customers.
Things slow down on the farm this time of year but there is always something to fix. Our trusty Honda Recon four wheeler needed a new tire.
Mellema Farm pie pumpkins make the best pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving or any time. We still have lots of them for only $1 each.
Thank you to all of our customers who made this another successful season at the Mellema Farm Market. We are scaling the market back to a self serve setup for when we are not around but we still have lots of sweet peppers, hot peppers, squash, cabbage, kale, broccoli, beets, carrots, and brussel sprouts. We are also selling any pumpkins still in the patch for $15 per pickup truck load.
It is not too late to get your first pumpkin for the year or your 50th. We still have thousands of pumpkins in the patch and we will be giving wagon rides to the pumpkin patch again this Saturday starting at 10am.
Now is the time to stock up on your winter supply of honey. We sell raw local honey in 12 ounce plastic bears for $6, pints for $10, and quarts for $18.
If you need carrots for your vegetable soup then stop by our market. Hand dug carrots are only $2 per quart box (and we will clean the dirt off them for you).
Lucy may not be driving the tractor tomorrow, but we will be giving lots of rides to and from the pumpkin patch. Join us for fall family fun events on Saturday courtesy of Michigan Mortgage in the morning and Klingel Homes Real Estate later in the afternoon. Hope to see you there!
It is broccoli season and we have plenty of it. $2 per head in the market or we also sell half bushels of broccoli for $12 or full bushels for $20.
We have a lot of nice green and red bell peppers in the market. 50 cents each or buy a half bushel for $8 or a whole bushel for $15.
Our pick your own pumpkin patch is now open and we have a great crop of pumpkins to choose from. Large pumpkins are $8, medium are $5, and small pumpkins are $2. We will be giving wagon rides to the pumpkin patch starting this Saturday at 10am and every Saturday in October.
We have some BIG jalapeno peppers in the field this year that would be great for stuffing. The price is five for $1 in the market or we sell a peck for $12 or a half bushel for $20.
Why not enjoy some summer flavor while the warm weather lasts? All of our watermelons are now only $1.00! We have some large seeded watermelons and lots of personal sized seedless watermelons.
Our pick your own pumpkin patch will be open beginning Friday, October 1. Until then we have a selection of different pumpkin sizes and colors on the yard by the market along with gourds, mini pumpkins, and corn stalks - and we have some even larger pumpkins not in this picture.
The market is filling up with more of our fall crops including squash, gourds, cabbage, and cauliflower. We also have pumpkins along with corn stalks and other fall decorations. But it is not too late to get sweet corn for eating or freezing. We are still picking sweet corn every day and we will have it for the rest of this week.
Pepper found a watermelon that is just her size and you can too! We have watermelons anywhere from a one serving personal size to something big enough to feed the whole family. Pepper chose a seedless watermelon but we also grow seeded watermelons and they are both sweet.
Our market has been supplied with beautiful sunflowers this year courtesy of our neighbors, the Constantines. We have the traditional yellow sunflowers, a darker purple and brown variety, and a fuzzy variety. All are three for one dollar and you can mix and match to make your own bouquet.
This is a picture of our you pick tomato patch from today. Currently there are not many red, ripe, ready to can tomatoes in the patch but tomatoes can be found if you are willing to pick orange tomatoes and set them out to ripen. We will be open on Labor Day and we hope that the tomatoes will be more ripe next week.
This is a good week to try a sweet, home grown watermelon or two from our farm. We have both seeded and seedless watermelons in a variety of sizes to choose from. And unlike the grocery store we guarantee that our watermelons will be sweet or your money back.
Lucy's favorite sweet corn is back! Our fourth patch of sweet corn is ready now and we have our own sweet corn picked and in the market again. Thank you for your patience.
Our cucumber and pickle plants are producing like crazy in this hot weather. We have both the smaller pickles and the larger slicing cucumbers available by the peck or half bushel. Pickles are $13 for a peck or $25 for a half bushel. Cucumbers are $6 for a peck or $10 for a half bushel. Stop by or call (231)730-3833 to order ahead.
Get your baskets ready! Our pick your own tomato patch will be open next Monday, August 30. The price for pick your own tomatoes is $16 per bushel ($8 per half bushel with a half bushel minimum). We also have already picked tomatoes for $16 per half bushel.
We are sorry to report that we are temporarily out of our delicious sweet corn. The third patch of sweet corn is picked clean and the fourth patch is not quite ready yet. It will be ready by Wednesday or Thursday. Lucy is as upset as the rest of us because this means that she doesn't get her daily ear of corn in the morning.
We are harvesting enough tomatoes now to take orders for canning tomatoes by the bushel. One bushel already picked and brushed costs $36 ($18 for a half bushel). Pick your own tomatoes is a week to ten days away still but we will keep you posted.
We are picking a lot of green and yellow beans these days and we have enough to sell in larger quantities. $13 for a peck or $25 for a half bushel. Please order ahead by calling (231)730-3833.
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Be sure to notice our new sign in the front yard the next time that you come to the market. We like the way that it turned out.
It may be rusty and dirty, but we miss our old Dodge farm truck when it is out of commission like it was last week. Now that the broken ignition lock cylinder has been replaced the Dodge starts again and it is ready to bring loads of fresh produce up to the market.
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The Mellema Farm has a new addition. If you stop out to get some delicious sweet corn and fresh tomatoes you just might get to meet Pepper, an adventurous nine week old beagle puppy.
We are still setting some things up in the market but the first sweet corn of the year is now for sale. Picked fresh this morning!
The tomatoes are turning red but still need a few more days. Our sweet corn also needs a few more days to mature. Both should be ready sometime in the middle of next week. Until then we still have zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, pickles, and we are starting to pick green beans.
Most of our crops are on schedule or ahead of schedule this year. They still have some growing to do but the market should be open by the end of this month. Looking forward to seeing you then!
The first of our zucchini and yellow summer squash has been picked. We do multiple plantings of both so that we will have a steady supply until the fall.
We have been waiting for the fields to dry up since the five inches of rain that we got last week. We pumped about 2000 gallons of water out of the wet spot in this before/after picture to speed up the process.
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This will be our last week for vegetable plant sales so stop out to get a good deal on the plants that we have left. We still have asparagus, cherry tomatoes, three different varieties of heirloom tomatoes (Brandywine, Mr. Stripey, and Cherokee Purple), tomatillos, eggplant, Hungarian peppers, habanero peppers, cayenne peppers, pole beans, dark red kidney beans, pinto beans, great northern beans, cucumbers, acorn squash, butternut squash, buttercup squash, spaghetti squash, delicata squash, cabbage, red cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussel sprouts, cilantro, sage, dill, peppermint, catnip, rosemary, butterhead lettuce, sweet corn, and spinach.We also have red or yellow onion plants 10 for $2.50. 5 inch by 10 inch trays of salad mix or mesclun mix are $2.50. All of the other plants in the list are 50 cents each or four for $1.50 while supplies last.You can ahead by calling or texting John at (231)730-3833 if you want to have your plants set aside to be picked up later. Thank you.
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All of our vegetable and herb plants are now 50 cents each or four for $1.50.
Some of our varieties are selling out but we have at least some of asparagus, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, roma tomatoes, eggplant, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, Hungarian peppers, habanero peppers, green beans, yellow beans, pole beans, dark red kidney beans, pinto beans, great northern beans, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, pickles, acorn squash, butternut squash, buttercup squash, spaghetti squash, cabbage, red cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussel sprouts, summer squash, zucchini, cilantro, basil, sage, dill, peppermint, catnip, rosemary, butterhead lettuce, romaine lettuce, sweet corn, and spinach.
We also have red or yellow onion plants 10 for $2.50. 5 inch by 10 inch trays of salad mix or mesclun mix like the one in the picture are now $2.50
Please order plants by calling or texting John at (231)730-3833. Tell us what you need and when you want to pick it up and we will have it ready when you get here. Thank you.
Some of us (not Bandit) have been hard at work planting this week. We still have many kinds of vegetable plants for your garden and we now have cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, and brussel sprout plants.Here is this week's list:$1 each or 4 for $3: Asparagus, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, roma tomatoes, eggplant, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, Hungarian peppers, habanero peppers, green beans, yellow beans, pole beans, dark red kidney beans, pinto beans, great northern beans, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, pickles, cantaloupe, acorn squash, butternut squash, buttercup squash, spaghetti squash, cabbage, red cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussel sprouts, summer squash, and zucchini4 for $2: cilantro, basil, sage, dill, peppermint, catnip, rosemary, butterhead lettuce, romaine lettuce, and spinach.We also have red or yellow onion plants 10 for $2.50. We have 5 inch by 10 inch trays of salad mix or mesclun mix for $5. And we have sweet corn plants 4 for $1.50.Please order plants by calling or texting John at (231)730-3833. Tell us what you need and when you want to pick it up and we will have it ready when you get here. Thank you.
John had lots of help watering the greenhouse plants on Memorial Day. Thanks to Andrew your garden starter plants will not be thirsty.
We are growing some new herbs this year. We now have peppermint and catnip and we will have some lavender later on. Can you guess which of the new herbs is Bandit's favorite?
We still have many other plants for sale as well.
$1 each or 4 for $3: Asparagus, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, roma tomatoes, eggplant, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, Hungarian peppers, habanero peppers, green beans, yellow beans, pole beans, dark red kidney beans, pinto beans, great northern beans, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, pickles, cantaloupe, butternut squash, buttercup squash, spaghetti squash, summer squash, and zucchini
4 for $2: cilantro, basil, sage, dill, peppermint, catnip, rosemary, butterhead lettuce, romaine lettuce, and spinach.
We also have red or yellow onion plants 10 for $2.50. We have 5 inch by 10 inch trays of salad mix or mesclun mix for $5. And we have sweet corn plants 4 for $1.50.
Please order plants by calling or texting John at (231)730-3833. Tell us what you need and when you want to pick it up and we will have it ready when you get here. Thank you.
We have new drip tape irrigation that goes under our crops in plastic this year. This allows us to put water and fertilizer directly to the roots of the plants without losing it to evaporation. The idea is that this will give us bigger onions, melons, and watermelons to sell later this year. (Don't look at the second row in that picture. It was supposed to be straighter than that.)
We now have larger potted tomato plants in a number of different varieties. We have a purple heirloom variety, a reddish pink heirloom, a yellow heirloom, roma, and regular slicing tomatoes. $2.50 per pot. We have also lowered the price on our lettuces and herbs. This week's price list:
$1 each or 4 for $3: Asparagus, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, roma tomatoes, eggplant, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, Hungarian peppers, habanero peppers, green beans, yellow beans, pole beans, dark red kidney beans, pinto beans, great northern beans, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, pickles, cantaloupe, butternut squash, buttercup squash, spaghetti squash, summer squash, and zucchini4 for $2: cilantro, basil, sage, dill, butterhead lettuce, romaine lettuce, and spinach.We also have red or yellow onion plants 10 for $2.50. We have 5 inch by 10 inch trays of salad mix or mesclun mix for $5. And we have sweet corn plants 4 for $1.50.Please order plants by calling or texting John at (231)730-3833. Tell us what you need and when you want to pick it up and we will have it ready when you get here. Thank you.
According to the weather forecast our days and nights will warm up after the middle of this week. That means it is time to think about getting plants for the garden!We have many different vegetable and herb plants available now with others to follow in the coming weeks. The following vegetable plants are $1 each or 4 for $3: Asparagus, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, roma tomatoes, eggplant, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, Hungarian peppers, habanero peppers, green beans, yellow beans, pole beans, dark red kidney beans, pinto beans, great northern beans, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, pickles, cantaloupe, acorn squash, butternut squash, buttercup squash, spaghetti squash, carnival squash, summer squash, zucchini, cilantro, basil, sage, dill, butterhead lettuce, romaine lettuce, and spinach.
We also have red or yellow onion plants 10 for $3. We have 5 inch by 10 inch trays of salad mix or mesclun mix for $5. And we have sweet corn plants 4 for $1.50.
Please order plants by calling or texting John at (231)730-3833 or email john@mellemafarmmarket.com. Tell us what you need and when you want to pick it up and we will have it ready when you get here. You can pay with cash, check, or card. Thank you.
Asparagus plants for sale! Mary Washington variety. These plants were started from seed last summer and now they are ready to be planted. $8 for 10 plants. We have about 130 plants available. Call or text John at (231)730-3833 if you are interested.
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We will be selling garden starter plants, herbs, and lettuces again this year. They have been started in our greenhouse and they will be ready for sale in early May. Check back here for updates on what becomes ready as we get closer to the warm weather.
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The Mellema Farm Market facebook page is unavailable. The message from facebook is "Account Temporarily Unavailable. Your account is currently unavailable due to a site issue." We were having problems with the facebook account last year also. We will post all of the farm news to this page, so check back here to see what is growing and what is for sale!
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We grow our own vegetable plants from seed. Onions are the first thing that we seed in the greenhouse each year around the middle of March. By now the plants are around three inches tall.
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