Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm Eau Claire Michigan


The farm, started by Herb’s parents in the early 1920s, now includes the fourth generation in the family operation. Located about 70 miles East of Chicago, the Teichman’s fruit farm is located in Michigan’s bountiful “fruit belt”. Along the sparkling coast of Lake Michigan, several lakeshore counties spread out like a beautiful tapestry of farmland, orchards, and vineyards.
If not a mid-westerner, you may not know that Southwest Michigan is a horticultural powerhouse. The region is a world leader in non-citrus fruit production and rivals California in providing fresh produce, meats, and wines to the rest of the country. In Berrien County alone, the southwestern-most county in Michigan, seventy percent of the entire country’s crop diversity grows abundantly.

On the day of my visit, the Teichman family was hosting a farm tour and luncheon for the Midwest Food Group. A cadre of chefs and food service folks from upscale Chicago restaurants, country clubs, and medical service facilities were enjoying a beautiful fall day in the country. Several members of the group were there to select their very own rent-a-tree, a service the fruit farm has provided consumers for over thirty years.


The Teichman’s also host the annual Cherry Pit Spitting Contest, the only competition of its kind recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. Began in 1974, the contest created by Herb now draws hundreds of visitors to the orchards to celebrate the Michigan cherry harvest.
“We try to adjust our business every year to meet the needs of our customers and changing times,” he says. Herb’s innovative approaches to educating the public about agriculture won him the Michigan Farm Bureau’s 2008 Agricultural Promoter of the Year Award. Like many in agriculture, Teichman is concerned that those governing our country have lost touch with farmers and are regulating many small farm operations out of business. “If we run out of gas we can walk, but if we run out of food…then what”?

For more info on Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm visit: www.treemendus-fruit.com.
This is part one of a two-part piece on the Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm. Don't miss part two which has some of the Fruit Farms favorite apple recipes.
For more info on South West Michigan visit: https://www.swmichigan.org/
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Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm Apple Recipes

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