By KATHIE HEMPLE
Niles Daily Star

This Sunday marks the annual Celebration of Farm Markets to be held at the century old Middlebrook Farm of Janet and Bob Schuttler, at 6678 Forest Lawn Road in Three Oaks. The event is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is free.

The farm itself is worth the visit. Middlebrook Farm was settled in 1844 by Moses and Mary Chamberlain accompanied by their children Henry and Mary. Later, Henry was active in the development of the railroad and highway systems across the state of Michigan. He also founded the village of Three Oaks in 1867.

Sunday is all about local produce grown without chemicals, pasture fed beef, lamb and pork, and all products that are made locally and a direct result of our rich heritage of farming.

Included will be the following:
Twin Maple Orchards  – Fresh vegetables and fruits
Indian Summer Alpaca Farm – Alpaca yarn
Rybas Beads and Eggs – Farm fresh eggs and handmade jewelry
Hook Pottery & Paper – Handmade pottery and handmade paper
Edge of the Woods Farm – Fresh fruits and vegetables
Blossomland Honey – Soap, candles, honey
Granor Farm – Fresh vegetables
Billy Boy Blueberries – Fresh blueberries
Valley Creek Nursery – Herbs and live plants
David’s Deli – Local cheese, Bit-o-Swiss baked goods, fresh coffee
Black Dog Farm & Gardens – Maple syrup, fresh vegetables
Kaminski Farms – Beef, lamb, pork
Kite’s Kitchen – Jams, chutney, homemade goods
Support Local Agriculture – T-shirts
Genevieve Shuh – Fresh vegetables
Chikaming Open Lands
Artistic Stitchery – “Bitty Baby,” handmade doll clothes
Stover’s – Fresh fruits and jams
Ma’s Organic’s – Fresh vegetables
Fink Family Farm – Fresh vegetables
Mary’s Garden – Fresh vegetables
Tree Line Farms – Fresh flowers and greens
Janice & Leo Jovanovic – Heirloom tomatoes, vegetables, greens & potatoes
LlamaGuchi – Natural fertilizer
Olongardaille Farm – Eggs,
Middlebrook Farm – Grass-fed beef

Relative newcomer to the farm market circuit is Ron Fink of Fink Family Farm in Niles. For Ron, chemical free growing is about more than just good food.

“I feel God laid this on my heart. This feeling that we need to return to a more natural state of husbandry and farming. Being a participant in the feeding of ourselves for the good of not only our bodies but the land.”

Ron, who has been winning the fight for good health after several years of battling cancer, is a walking testimony to what many people have been preaching for years.

As Genevieve Shuh of Buchanan proclaims, “We have to take a serious look at what we put into our bodies.” She was raising organic fruits and vegetables long before it became fashionable to do so.

Visitors to Middlebrook Farm this weekend will get an opportunity to partake of the jams, chutneys and other homemade goods straight from Kite’s Kitchen and the culinary talent of Chef Judy Kite-Gosh, who also runs the Retro Café in New Buffalo.

Those weekend visitors, who are into growing their own produce, will even be able to find a product delicately referred to by promoters of the event as “llama poo.” The natural fertilizer will be available to the delight of Middlebrook Farm’s llama in residence, Obama the Llama.

To get to the popular event this weekend, take Hwy 12 through Galien to Three Oaks. Turn left at the Elm Street stoplight and proceed approximately one and a half miles to Forest Lawn Road. Turn right and Middlebrook Farm is about a quarter mile down the road on the left hand side just before Forest Lawn Cemetery.