SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN— On the corner of Warren Road and M-51 North, a farm stand sits with banners advertising fresh farm produce, berries and now, the addition of sweet corn. The man standing behind the table of produce, Randy Simmons, has been selling produce for his daughter, Jessica Owsiany, and her husband Gared for the past two months.

Although Simmons only sells the produce, he has noticed a change in the produce available throughout the season, due to Michigan’s unpredictable weather conditions. One Michigan grown product that he hopes is here to stay is the sweet corn, he said. Yesterday, he sold out of all of his corn before packing up for the day at 6 p.m.

“We are getting some of our [produce] from up in Keeler, Mattawan and Paw Paw,” Simmons said. “When we first started, there was only a few things we could get.”

As produce started to ripen in mid-July, Simmons said the stand started selling cherries and blueberries. He pointed to a basket of strawberries and blueberries, and commented on their appearance.

“The blueberries and strawberries have just been beautiful,” he said.

One fruit sold by the stand, but definitely not grown in Michigan, was the peaches.

“Michigan peaches were ruined this year because of the weather,” Simmons said.

Another item local shoppers could have a hard time finding this season is anything from the grain growers, Simmons said.

“Corn, soybeans and stuff like that, we put in late because of the weather,” he said. “Everything is going to come in late here,” he said.

To combat the lack of certain produce items, Simmons said the stand purchases items from down south, to sell with some of the fresh Michigan fruit and vegetables.

In Dowagiac, Bill Sprague, owner of Sprague’s Family Fun Farm, 33120 Middle Crossing Road, was happy the sweet corn finally came in, he said.

“Really the only thing in the area would be tomatoes and sweet corn coming in,” he said.

“Probably for fruit we will have to wait until the apples come in,” he said.

August production was wiped out for Sprague Farms after apricots, peaches, nectarines and plums — all of which are stone fruits, froze, Sprague said.

“It was a bit of a hit,” he said. “We are having to sell some Georgia peaches, instead of Michigan, which we don’t like to do. You either do that or have nothing on the table to sell.” Sprague said community support of the farm has still been constant this year. Giving good produce at a fair price can do that, Sprague said, but the weather can also have an impact, as Sprague’s is located in the Sister Lakes region.

“[Business] ebbs and flows with the weather because this is a lake country with a lot of lakes,” Sprague said.

People from Diamond Lake, St. Joe, Benton Harbor, South Bend and Dowagiac all visit the market, Sprague said, because of its central location. Although, once school starts up again in mid-August trends can change, he said.

“We need to have Illinois and Indiana change their law like Michigan’s got and to not start school until after Labor Day,” Sprague said. “Then all the families take off. [Instead of] buying six dozen of something, grandma and grandpa buy maybe half a dozen, because there are no kids around.”

Another farm celebrating the harvesting of sweet corn is Dussel’s Farm Market and Greenhouse, 21765 M-60, Cassopolis. This Saturday, the market will host its Beat the Heat Saturday Event from 1 to 3 p.m.

“We try to do an event every other weekend to try to pull people in,” said Kristy Dussel.

At the event, there will be a book signing, wine tasting and live music. Samples of products and produce that Dussel’s carries will also be offered in the store, including sweet corn and blueberries.

“Our sweet corn is actually late,” Dussel said. “We are about two weeks behind when we should be having [it]. All of this Michigan produce is anywhere from about a week to two weeks late.”

Despite late produce, the farm will be reminding visitors that Michigan produce is becoming available.

“It’s going to start picking up,” Dussel said. “We are getting in gear and things are starting to roll with the Michigan produce.”