The cherries get the festival and the fame, and they deserve it. But the people who have been living in northern Michigan long enough to know the calendar know that August belongs to something quieter and just as good. Blueberries. Specifically the plump, cool-climate cultivated blueberries that ripen on farms throughout Leelanau and Benzie counties in the first weeks of August and disappear before you have had nearly enough of them. They do not get a parade. They get people who know, showing up early with buckets.
Why Northern Michigan Blueberries Are Different
Michigan is the second largest blueberry producing state in the country, trailing only Oregon, and the fruit grown in the sandy, acidic soils of the northwestern Lower Peninsula is among the best in the state. The same glacial soils and lake-effect climate that produce exceptional cherries and asparagus create conditions for blueberry cultivation that develop full flavor at a natural pace. The cool nights of July slow the ripening just enough. The warm August days bring the sugars up. The result is a berry with more depth and less dilution than what arrives from warmer climates through most of the year.
The cultivated varieties grown on northern Michigan farms, including Jersey, Bluecrop, and Elliot, are the highbush blueberry that most people know from grocery stores, but the experience of eating them fresh from a farm in Leelanau County or Benzie County is not the experience of eating what arrives in a plastic clamshell from somewhere farther away. The difference is immediacy and the cold, heavy sweetness of a berry that has not traveled far.
Where to Pick and Buy
Several farms in the region offer U-pick blueberry operations during the August season, and the experience of picking your own is one of those late-summer rituals that feels both productive and genuinely pleasurable.
Hy’s Blueberries near Lake Ann in Benzie County is one of the most established and well-regarded U-pick operations in the region, with multiple varieties ripening across the August season. The farm opens daily during peak season and the picking is self-guided through rows of mature highbush plants that make the work easy and the haul substantial.
Tandem Ciders in Suttons Bay uses locally grown blueberries in seasonal cider releases that have developed a following among craft beverage enthusiasts in the region. The Suttons Bay tasting room is worth a visit during blueberry season for the cider alone, and the farm’s relationship with local berry growers represents the kind of agricultural integration that makes this region’s food and beverage scene distinctive.
The Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market in Traverse City carries locally grown blueberries from multiple vendors during the peak August window, alongside blueberry preserves, blueberry vinegar, blueberry baked goods, and the dried blueberry products that extend the season into fall and winter. Wednesday and Saturday mornings are the time to go, arriving early enough to get the best of what has come in that morning.
Farm stands along M-22 and the rural roads of Leelanau and Benzie counties carry U-pick signs and fresh berry sales through August, and stopping at one is the kind of unscheduled encounter that summer in northern Michigan is built for. Look for the hand-lettered signs. They are the reliable indicator.
Two Things to Make
Blueberry Buckle
A buckle is the northern Michigan summer baking project that requires almost no skill and produces something that is considerably better than most things requiring considerably more. It is a single-pan coffee cake with berries folded into the batter and a crumb topping that bakes golden and sweet over the fruit.
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar plus 1/2 cup for topping
• 1/2 cup softened butter plus 1/4 cup cold butter for topping
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup flour and 1 teaspoon cinnamon for the crumb topping
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cream the softened butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light. Beat in the egg and milk. Fold in the flour until just combined. Fold in the blueberries. Pour into a buttered 9-inch square pan. For the topping, work the cold butter into the remaining flour, sugar, and cinnamon with your fingers until crumbly. Scatter over the batter. Bake 45 to 50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is golden. Eat warm with nothing added or with a little cream poured over it.
Blueberry Refrigerator Jam
This is the jam that requires no canning equipment and no pectin and keeps in the refrigerator for three weeks or in the freezer through the winter. It is the right use for the extra pint you picked that you are not going to eat fresh before they turn.
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
Combine everything in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the berries release their juice and the mixture comes to a low boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, stirring more frequently as it thickens, until it reaches a jam consistency. It will thicken further as it cools. Pour into a clean jar and refrigerate. Eat on toast, on yogurt, on vanilla ice cream, or with a spoon directly from the jar when nobody is watching.
Blueberry Season and the Sense of Place
The Foerster Group has helped families, retirees, and investors find their place in northern Michigan, and the people who settle most completely are the ones who learn the agricultural calendar of the region and build their year around it. Asparagus in May. Cherries in July. Blueberries in August. Apples in September. Each arrival marks the season more precisely than any date on a calendar, and knowing to show up with a bucket in the first week of August is the kind of local knowledge that comes with belonging rather than visiting.
When you are ready to belong here, we are here. Start at thefoerstergroup.com.