Some of my favorite summer foods from Michigan

I picked up a pound of Michigan Sweet Cherries today and it got me thinking about all of the yummy fruits and veggies that are grown here in Michigan.

We had a good three week season for our strawberry patch this year and no sooner did the strawberry crop wind down when the red raspberries started ripening. I am still working on expanding our meager raspberry patch, but those juicy red berries are worth it. I picked a handful or so a day this week and hoarded them in the fridge.

Last night I cooked up a batch of tapioca pudding and we had it with red raspberries on top. Oh man, that was good.

Michigan blueberries will be coming on in full force in the next week or two. A couple of small local patches are already producing tasty berries. I have made a note to call our favorite blueberry patch and see how the berries are coming along.

My potatoes are doing great in their containers. I'm eagerly anticipating a wonderful crop of Red Garland taters.

We've got tomatoes galore coming on as well. Sweet 100s, Big Boy, and other plants all have green tomatoes on the vine. In another week or so I'll be harvesting my first crop of cucumbers for this season and brewing up a batch of wonderful homemade pickles.

Yes, life is good (and tasty) here in Michigan. By the way, those cherries were delicious. I almost ate the whole pound of them on my own, but managed to practice some restraint ;).

Good news - Michigan's tart cherry crop isn't as damaged as first thought

We deal with a lot of Michigan companies to get our great offering of gourmet cherry products and I am extremely pleased to read in the Traverse City Record Eagle that the tart cherry crop appears to not be as damaged by the harsh April weather as was first thought. The sweet cherry crop appears to be about 90 percent damaged in southeastern Michigan according to MSU fruit experts. Tart cherries are the type that are in the majority of the products which we carry. In 2002 (the last time the tart cherry crop received major damage) our suppliers had to drastically increase the prices for all cherry products.

Why did prices skyrocket? Only 15 million pounds of cherries were harvested that year compared to a great year like last year (2006) when 190 million pounds of cherries were harvested. Simply a matter of supply and demand.