Grower finds way to speed up cherry growthby bill o'brienbobrien@record-eagle.com
(Photo: These special white plastic tunnels cover an acre of dwarf sweet cherry trees at the Dennis Hoxsie's cherry farm and farm market along M-72 in Williamsburg. Douglas Tesner / Record-Eagle)
WILLIAMSBURG -- Something's missing at Dennis Hoxsie's family farm market along M-72.
Oh, there are plenty of Michigan-made foods, snacks, ice cream and other products that draw thousands of visitors and locals over the summer season. But the shelves, at least for another week or so, will remain void of plump, popular sweet cherries from his nearby orchards that customers snap up as soon as they're picked.
Chilly springs such as the '09 season slow the harvest and undercut sales and profits.
So Hoxsie found a way to tweak Mother Nature's confines. He installed a set of three 600-foot
So Hoxsie found a way to tweak Mother Nature's confines. He installed a set of three 600-foot
long tunnels at his farm that cover an acre of 500-plus dwarf sweet cherry trees imported from the West Coast.
Because the tunnels create a greenhouse effect that can speed up a crop's development, Hoxsie said heading into National Cherry Festival week without fresh local sweets soon will be a thing of the past.
"What we were looking at is getting cherries ripe earlier in the year, and two, growing a higher quality cherry," Hoxsie said. "We need ripe cherries the first week in July. For me, this is the way to do that."
Because the tunnels create a greenhouse effect that can speed up a crop's development, Hoxsie said heading into National Cherry Festival week without fresh local sweets soon will be a thing of the past.
"What we were looking at is getting cherries ripe earlier in the year, and two, growing a higher quality cherry," Hoxsie said. "We need ripe cherries the first week in July. For me, this is the way to do that."
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