U-Pick Berries and Red Currants at Lehman’s in Michigan

August 8, 2023

We have had a bit of rain here which has limited our options for outdoor activities.

It stopped raining on Sunday (July 30th), so we rode the motorcycle to Lehman’s Orchard. Google maps sent us all over the place, but finally sent us to the right place. Lehman’s Orchard does have the point of interest road signs on US 12. Bruce, following Google Maps’ instructions, zoomed right passed the turn even as I tried to point out the sign.

Bruce pulled over at a light and was checking directions. Google Maps had us make a very long block to get back to US 12. We were in the middle farm country with fields of corn, soybeans, vineyards, and watermelon. Near the fences, I would see 10 to 20 bee hives.

Once back on US 12, we made the correct turn to get to Lehman’s Orchard. Google Maps said it was on the left side of the road, but guess what, they were wrong! Lehman’s Orchard might be on both sides of the road, but the starting point is on the right side of the road. We road past Lehman’s and had to get turned around.

They did not have a big sign at the entrance to the orchard, but they did have a big sign on the side of a farm building.

We got parked, removed our gear, and went to check in.

Check-in involves going inside to the farm market and handing them your driver’s license. They hand you a guest check slip with your name written on it (think waitstaff diner notepads). You then go outside to the weigh station and hand the guest slip to the weigh station attendant. She then asks what you are interested in picking. They had blueberries, raspberries, red currants, pie cherries, and peaches.

We were there to pick blueberries, raspberries, and red currants.

They gave us two buckets lined with plastic bags, one for blueberries and one for the red currants. They gave us two paper boxes for the raspberries.

We started by picking blueberries, then moved on the red currants. We picked the raspberries from the canes growing in between grapevines. The raspberries canes were thornless. This made me very happy as I was curious how thornless raspberries tasted and grew.

After picking everything we wanted, we headed back to the weigh station. Our fruit was weighed and she wrote down on our ticket fruit and the weight.

• Raspberries 2.4 lbs
• Blueberries 4.5 lbs
• Red currants 1.6 lbs

While we were heading into the market to pay, in another building, we could see the cherry pitter running. Some people had picked cherries and were having them pitted. The orchard doesn’t charge for pitting cherries.

We picked up some hard honeycrisp apple cider and black currant wine while we waited in line. We also picked up a gallon of fresh apple cider.

After paying for everything, we headed home.

Once we brought everything in, Bruce opened the fresh apple cider. We both had a glass; it was delicious. We went through that gallon of juice so fast during the week.

I washed the raspberries, part of one box was put into two bowls. I poured cream over them and sprinkled a little sugar top. This is Bruce’s favorite way to eat raspberries. He was so pleased with the raspberries. I put the rest of that box into the fridge for later use.

I took one of my sheet pans and lay a piece of parchment paper on it. I spread out the second box of raspberries on the parchment paper and put the sheet pan with the raspberries into the freezer.

After the raspberries were frozen, I put them into a quart freezer bag.

I washed the blueberries put them into quart freezer bags. I put one bag in the fridge and the rest into the freezer. I made blueberry muffins the next morning.

The currants, I washed and picked out any steams. I turned them into a sauce that went well with the lamb chops we had for supper.