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Fresh from Crisp Country Acres: A Holland, Michigan Farm JournalEnjoy fall at the farm!
We are thinking all things fall at the farm! A few things I want to make sure to highlight:
- Corn Maze & Scavenger Hunt — $4/person. Get lost, find your way, have fun doing it.
- Strawtastic Showdown — FREE! Come vote for your favorite hay bale design and support your neighbors’ creativity.
- Animal Barn & Playground — FREE! Say hi to the animals, let the kids run wild.
- U-Pick Veggies — $1/lb. Fill a basket, fill your fridge. **U-Pick Tomatoes are ready!
- U-Pick Flowers — $10/jar (we’ve got the jar covered, just bring yourself). Build your own fall bouquet.
- Fall decor is here and ready to take home!
- Crisp Farm Store — stocked with seasonal produce, meats, baked goods, dairy, and so much more.
- Join us for FALL FEST this Saturday, 10am – 2pm. Free wagon rides, family friendly games & more!
We would LOVE to have you out to the farm this fall!
The road is open!
120th & Port Sheldon is now open and you can use the roundabout to get to the farm.
You stuck with us through the bumps (literally). So, we’re celebrating you with an 8-day thank-you, August 21 – August 29:
- Daily raffles — stop by and enter, every single day
- Free flower from the U-pick field with any purchase
- Free popsicles for everyone — because summer + no more orange cones is reason enough
Come and see us at the Crisp Farm Store:
5888 120th Ave, Holland, MI 49424
Mon–Fri 8am–6pm | Sat 8am–5pm
It’s canning season!
Right now, my counter has jars lined up — some just out of the canner, still warm, some waiting to be filled. This time of year, the canner doesn’t get put away. It just lives there.
After everything we’ve seen with recalls lately, preserving our own food feels more important than ever. Knowing exactly what’s in the jar — and where it came from — isn’t a small thing anymore.
That’s what this season is for. A few hours now means real, traceable food on your shelf all winter long + some easy meals on those busy winter nights.
Here’s what’s ready to fill your jars and freezer bags this week:
- Tomatoes & Romas — sauce, salsa, whole canned tomatoes. Romas are the classic pick for thick sauce.
- Peppers — roast and freeze, or pickle for a topping you’ll reach for all winter. Add them to your pasta sauces.
- Onions — chop and freeze now so future-you never cry over a cutting board mid-recipe.
- Sweet corn — cut, bag, freeze. Nothing tastes more like July in January.
- Red Haven peaches — the gold standard for canning peaches. Jam, pie filling, or straight in the jar.
- Beans — blanch, cool, bag, done. (Yes, it’s really that easy – freezing directions below)
- Pickles — brine them up while they’re still crisp off the vine.
Whether you can or freeze, we’ve got you covered. Everything’s available now at the Farm Store or our Kalamazoo and Muskegon Farmers Market stands – let’s get your pantry & freezer ready for winter.
A note about our lettuce
We’ve gotten a lot of messages this week about the outbreak going around Michigan — and we love that you trust us enough to ask.
Here’s how we do things at Crisp Country Acres:
Drip tape irrigation — water goes straight to the roots of the lettuce plants. Well water only, for growing AND washing — the same water we drink at home. Every step, from planting to delivery, done by us and our team. Nothing outsourced. We go through an FSMA Produce Safety Inspection — a check on our water, soil, and harvest practicesOur families eat off the same fields yours does.
Thank you so much for your continued support and for trusting us to grow your food.
Here is where you can find us:
Crisp Farm Store (5888 120th Ave, Holland): Monday – Friday, 8am – 6pm & Saturday, 8am – 5pm.Muskegon Farmers Market: Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday, 8am – 2pm.Trufant Market: 7am – 12pm.Kalamazoo Farmers Market: 7am – 1pm.How we water
Alot of time has been spent moving pipe, checking lines, watching the sky. Irrigation has become a full-time job on top of everything else.
All of our irrigation runs off our own wells, and we’re lucky to have three different systems, each one earning its keep depending on what’s growing:
The traveler covers our larger row crop fields like carrots, sweet corn, and potatoes — it’s a big gun on wheels that slowly makes its way across a field, laying down water over a wide area. Good for covering ground fast when a field needs a soak.
Overhead irrigation also covers those same larger crops — carrots, sweet corn, and potatoes. This system uses pipes that we physically move from field to field, so we can direct coverage exactly where it’s needed most on any given day.
Drip irrigation is the most targeted of the three — tiny lines that deliver water right to the base of the plant, slowly and precisely. We rely on this for our greens, pickles, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, celery, peppers, and tomatoes, keeping them steadily watered without wasting a drop.
Even with all three systems running, we can’t give every field everything it needs right now. There’s just not enough water — or enough hours in the day — to do that. So,we make choices. Newly planted crops get top priority, since young roots are the most vulnerable and the least able to survive a dry stretch. Established plants with deeper roots can hold on a little longer while we get to the fields that need us most.
It’s a balancing act, and some days it feels like we’re just trying to keep up. But this is farming — you plan for the season you hope for, and you adapt to the one you get.
Tractor Day – July 15
Just a quick reminder to mark your calendar — Tractor Day is coming up fast!
It is this Wednesday, July 15 | 10am – 1pm. This is a free event!
Whether you’re 5 or 85, if you love a good tractor (and who doesn’t?), this one’s for you.
Come spend the morning with us:
- Tractor Line Up — Get up close with the machines that run this farm
- Wagon Rides — Hop on and enjoy the ride
- Animal Barn — Come say hi to the crew
- ZOMBurgers Food Truck — Lunch is covered, so stay as long as you like
The U-Pick fields will also be open. Flowers are $1/stem or $10/jar. Check in at the farm store for directions for the flowers. Veggies are $1.00/lb. We will be stopping the wagon ride in the field for those of you who would like to pick veggies.
No RSVP, no planning needed. Just show up and spend a few hours out here with us.
Crisp Country Acres, 5888 120th Ave, Holland. Park behind the wooden barn when you arrive.
See you soon!
Crisp Mystery Produce Box
NEW! Road Construction Special! We’re so thankful for everyone who continues to visit our farm store despite the road construction. As a small thank-you, we’re introducing our Crisp Mystery Produce Box!
Each box is packed with 8–10 fresh, seasonal produce items and filled with a great variety of fruits and vegetables at a great value.
Just $25 per box!To make it even more exciting, 5 lucky boxes will each contain one surprise prize!
Pre-order only: Crisp Mystery Produce Box – Crisp Country Acres
Only 50 boxes available- Pickup: Friday & Saturday, July 10–11 OR July 17–18, at the Crisp Farm Store
Don’t miss out on this fun, limited-time special! Reserve your box before all 50 are spoken for. We can’t wait to surprise you! 
Let’s chat about “new” potatoes!
Let’s chat about “new” potatoes.
There’s actually a reason we call them “new.”
Most potatoes are cured right in the ground. Once the plants die back, the potatoes stay in the earth — the skin toughens up before they’re harvested.
New potatoes skip all of that. Harvested young, while the plants are still green, they come straight from the field to the farm store. No curing. No storage. Just fresh.
That’s also why they live in a bag or container in the fridge, not the pantry. The skins are very thin, so papery thin that practically rubs right off.
They have a creamy, almost buttery texture you just don’t get from a cured potato. They don’t need much — a little butter, a little salt, maybe some fresh parsley. Simple preparations let them shine.
This is one of those things that aren’t around for long. Make sure to pick some up next time you are at the market!
Here is where you can find us:
– Crisp Farm Store: Monday – Friday, 8am – 6pm & Saturday, 8am – 5pm.
– Muskegon Farmers Market: Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday, 8am – 2pm.
– Trufant Market: Thursday, 7am – 12pm.
– Kalamazoo Farmers Market: Saturday, 7am – 1pm.
Strawberry Picking Party – June 17
The Strawberry Picking Party is ON for tomorrow! There aren’t a ton of berries, but we will still have lots of fun!
Here are the details:
Date: Wednesday, June 17 | 9am – 12pm
Address: 5888 120th Ave, Holland, MI 49424. Park behind the wooden barn when you arrive.
Come out to the farm and enjoy a wagon ride, visit with the animals, play on the playground and enjoy a strawberry donut.
See you then!
June 15 – Berry Picking Party has been cancelled
After evaluating the berries in the field we have decided to cancel the event for today as we are all picked out.
The u-pick will be closed tomorrow, June 16.
We will let you know tomorrow if we are able to have the event on Wednesday.
Thank you for your patience. The last 3 strawberry seasons have been extremely difficult to predict and we appreciate your support.
Lindsey