BERRIEN SPRINGS — The air is crisp and the apples are crispier. Leaves are beginning to change colors as another season falls upon Michigan.
Autumn is here and for many area residents and visitors Apple Festival weekend meant a trip to Villwock’s Farm Market. With its many varieties of locally grown fruits and vegetables, the market has been a fixture in Berrien County since its inception 60 years ago.
Albert and Dorothy Villwock first started selling their produce at a roadside table in 1951. In its heyday, the Villwock farm consisted of 200 to 250 acres of both fruit and vegetable crops.
“Al was known by many as the ‘Corn King,’” says his widow. “He farmed here for almost 50 years.”
Albert attended Oak Grove School then left school to work on the farm. Dorothy celebrated her 65th high school reunion in September with her remaining classmates from Berrien Springs High School.
In the last couple of years, son Don and his wife, Marian, have been working with Dorothy to complete some renovations and updates to the market. When Dorothy suffered a stroke in September, she was away from the market for only a couple of days.
“So many friends stopped by worried about me and saying I was in their prayers. Over 60 years you make a good many friends in a business like this,” Dorothy said.
Now is a great time of year to visit the market. Twenty varieties of apples grace the indoor tables with even more half-bushel baskets on shelves out the side door. In addition there are squash, potatoes, green beans, the last of the tomatoes and peppers for canning and there are even some peaches left.
“This past weekend a woman visiting the Apple Festival activities in Niles stopped in for a couple of bushels of apples,” said Dorothy. “She said her friend was a bit surprised that there she was in the middle of the Apple Festival saying she had to stop here on the way home. She assured her she wouldn’t buy her apples anywhere else, that she had been coming here for years.”
Pots of spectacularly colored mums line the drive of market ready to brighten customers’ homes as days shorten.
The market is open May through October and depending on the weather perhaps even into early November. All the produce sold at the market is grown locally.
Getting ready to light up the woodstove or fireplace to take the chill off cooler nights and mornings? No problem. Villwock’s has firewood ready for pickup or delivery.
Villwock’s Farm Market is located at 3441 Old U.S. 31 at the corner of Fairland Road, halfway between Niles and Berrien Springs.
To order firewood or reserve produce to get the canning done for the long cold winter ahead, call Dorothy at (269) 362-1932 or Don at (269) 362-0253.