History of Cherry Basket Farm

As written by the Omena Historical Society

February is National Cherry Month, and the cherry industry has long been a part of Omena history. One interesting story is about two women from Grand Rapids who purchased Cherry Basket Orchards, just north of Omena, in 1926. Miss Enid M. Bailey was a nurse and superintendent of the Convalescent Home opened by Mary Free Bed. Miss Louise R. Taylor owned the Taylor Typewriter Company. While they were successful women in their own fields, neither knew anything about cherry farming.

It was the early, golden days of cherries, and a quote from a July 18, 1930, article in the Grand Rapids Herald, bears testimony to how things have changed – both for cherries and for women.

The Herald reported, "It is a thrilling story, the most astounding one they tell you up in that region of fairy tales of success where fortunes are made in cherries so often that you are surprised when you hear someone has failed."

Nevertheless, the article goes on to observe that, "That two women should make a success of raising cherries at all is phenomenal; but that two women who knew absolutely nothing about country life, to say nothing of fruit culture, two women who had spent all their lives in cities…should do what dyed-in-the-wool dirt farmers have a hard work doing, was not to be expected."

They purchased the property in the spring of 1926. The women did not buy it on contract, as was the practice in those days. Instead, they paid $2,000 down and agreed to pay an additional $23,500 over the next two years. That financing was another reason no one expected them to succeed.

Being successful businesswomen in Grand Rapids, they assumed that they would be able to get financing for the purchase. They quickly found out that the "rosy dreams of two women weren't regarded as collateral at banks." No one would loan them a cent.

CHERRY BASKET ORCHARDS, as shown just outside of Omena, was once owned by two women whose innovation led to a successful cherry growing operation. At the time they purchased the 86-acre farm, 55 acres were planted in cherries, and a half-mile of waterfront along the bay was included in the parcel. The women planned to plat and sell the beachfront when the time was right. There were about 5,000 trees in the 55 acres. They were mostly sweet cherries, although there was one orchard of Montmorency tart cherries.

The barns and packing houses were in good shape, but the house had not been as well maintained. However, it was growing cherries that concerned them that first year. The place was called Cherry Basket orchards because, from the road, a person looks down into a hollow of trees, something like a huge basket.

For months, they studied government bulletins, state college literature, and books on cherry farming. The Graham Experimental Station was also a valuable resource which they consulted frequently. Local resident, Robert Barth, was their foreman. Barth lived in the house across M-22 from the Omena Presbyterian Church, and was the brother of Ernest Barth, who owned Barth's Cash Store, now the Omena Bay Country Store.
Enid Bailey reported that she did everything there was to do on a farm.

"I ran a tractor, pumped the sprayer, picked cherries, packed them, inspected the work of other packers, supervised loading of trucks, and hunted for cutworms, aphids, black and leaf spot." Louise Taylor was not able to be there all of the time, because she was often called back to Grand Rapids by the typewriter shop and the Home Utilities Company, but she came up on weekends and during the busy season of picking and packing.

From that first year, they established their practice of inspecting every box that left their orchard, and promoted that fact. Only the largest and best cherries were packed. The smaller ones or ones with a blemish were sold locally as seconds. Their diligence was rewarded by the market, and, in 1929, they received the highest price in the Chicago market of $5.25 for a 15-pound crate.

The crates of cherries would go by truck to Traverse City each night and from there by train to Chicago.

Much to everyone's amazement, perhaps even their own, they paid off the entire $23,500 from the profits of those first two years. Their ingenuity, along with advice from the Graham Experimental Station, and possibly some luck, made the venture a success.

The women ascribed much of their success to the helpfulness of the Graham station. The Graham Experimental Station was located in Grand Rapids and was part of the Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science (now Michigan State University). The Experimental Stations were the forerunners of the MSU Extension horticultural research stations around the state that are still so important to farmers today. Of course, one is now located in Bingham Township.

One of the early examples of their ingenuity came in the spring of 1927 when a hard frost hit the region. Miss Bailey made smudge pots out of the baled straw in the barn and kept it from bursting into flames by throwing damp rye on it. It wasn't luck, but her instincts, that gave her the backbone to sit up all night nursing the cherry trees. She reflected on that night, "The smoke settled over the orchard and the crop was saved, and as a result we got the top notch prices for that season's crop. It helped make the 1927 payment."

The two women also installed electric lights and gas plants (also referred to as burning bush). Using electricity to run the sprayer, they found that their electric bill for a month was less than the cost of a day's labor to pump the sprayer.

They were one of the first farms in the area to use bees to improve pollination during blossom time. By 1930, they were successful enough to buy a new tractor, a modern sprayer, fertilizer, and were able to start remodeling the house, including adding a bathroom.

The Cherry Basket Farm has changed hands several times over the ensuing 80 years. The property was owned for a number of years by Bob and Jane Weaver's Sunshine Fruit Farms, and they grew apples and cherries. In 2003, about 40 acres were purchased by a group of neighboring property owners who formed the Cherry Basket Neighbors. The orchards are still planted in cherries and are managed by the Gregory family's Cherry Bay Orchards. The Gregory's took out the apples and replanted with Montmorency (tart) cherries.

The Cherry Basket house and adjoining acreage were purchased by Tom and Marsha Buehler. All of the buildings were remodeled and a commercial kitchen installed in the old pickers quarters. The site is now home to Epicure Catering and Cherry Basket Farms, and is available for event rentals.

Editor's Note: The following story was provided by the Omena Historical Society.

See Original Article Here.