Photo courtesy of Door County Fruit Connection
During this unusual summer, one normalcy we can rely on is a bounty of local produce. Wisconsin’s farmers have been blessed with a warmer, drier spring this year, and Susan Barnard of Door County Fruit Connection (5807 Hwy 42, Sturgeon Bay) says their crops look very good and they’ve experienced “textbook pollination weather”— warm, few breezes and not much rain or fog.
Barnard, whose parents, Jim and Crystal Barnard, founded Door County Fruit Connection, expects to open their season at the South Shore Farmers Market, the Brookfield Farmers Market and at their farm stand in Door County with strawberries and sweet and tart cherries. July will also bring raspberries, blackberries, peaches, plums and handmade jam. Currants, apples and pears will be available later in the season.
Jim grew up on his dad’s fruit farm, which was just north of Sturgeon Bay. Although he held other jobs such as selling insurance, he always grew fruit. He eventually bought an orchard of his own, which still has trees he planted back in 1980. “Growing fruit is something he grew up doing, he loves doing and he’s pretty good at it!” Susan enthuses. She officially joined the family business when she was 25. She works as a school librarian during fall and winter.
Cherries and More
Wisconsin’s beloved peninsula is known for its cherries, due to the area’s unique soil composition. Door County Fruit Connection grows three varieties of tart cherries, ideal for baking and cooking. Their dark, sweet cherries are often mistaken for Bing, but Susan is quick to point out they are not Bing cherries. Their two varieties of blush sweet cherries are yellow with a red cheek. Both their dark and yellow cherries have sweet pops of intense flavor that immediately transport you to summer day in Door County.
They grow five colors of currants—red, black, pink, white and champagne. Late summer and autumn bring apples and pears. “We choose to grow a lot of different varieties,” Susan says. Some unusual varieties include the sweet-tart Pristine; the crisp, juicy Zestar, a cultivar developed in Minnesota; and Wisconsin grannies, a tart green apple that’s not quite as tart as a Granny Smith.
They grow two types of Bosc pears, and the Harrow Sweet, a hybrid pear developed in Canada that Susan says has wooed over people who were convinced they didn’t like pears. “They have a lower grit content than most pears, so people who say they don’t like gritty fruit, I say ‘try one of these.’ They’re so sweet and lovely that people come back for more.”
Door County Fruit Connection isn’t certified organic—a process which Susan says is expensive and involves excruciating paperwork, but they use organic practices such as leaf and soil analysis and integrative pest management on their 45-acre farm to keep the trees and bushes healthy.
“My dad discovered back in the 60s that healthy trees needed less fungicide and insecticide, and were less likely to develop problems,” Susan affirms. Jim implemented organic growing methods during the 90s, when more products became available for Wisconsin’s climate wetter, humid climate.
They also have a “bee bank” bee and flower area, and white clover grows between their trees as part of the natural ground cover. Susan believes that growing organically just makes sense for her family and her customers. “I eat more fruit in summer than most people eat in a lifetime. I touch more fruit in a week than most people touch in a year, so if all of that residue (from pesticides) is there, I’m touching it all. Why would I do that?”
Susan enjoys introducing people to fruit they through they didn’t care for and having them learn that they do like it. “I like providing customers with safe, healthy delicious local food that I can tell you where it comes from,” she concludes.
For more information, pickyourowndoorcountycherries.com.
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