We recently went on a bus tour organized by Kent County Agriculture Preservation Board. Several Kent County Commissioners and area business organizations got to see 5 very different Kent County agriculture operations. First stop: Heidi’s Farmstand and Bakery.
Ben and Aaron Kaeb told us about their start 20 years ago with tomatoes and sweet corn. The next obvious choice was a maze, since they already had corn. Then they added pumpkins.
Now they have a greenhouse for the flowers they sell, as well as hydroponic vegetables. They have a bakery and farm market where they sell their own vegetables, as well as fruits and vegetables they buy from local farms. And they have 30 acres of fields that grow tomatoes, sweet corn, and pumpkins. Heidi’s is a partnership between three cousins, each managing one aspect of the operation. Ben said, “No one part can support itself.”
His advice to others starting out in agriculture: “Pick and choose your battles.” There were apple trees on the land, but so many other farms in the area do apples so well that they chose to put their efforts into growing pumpkins. They buy apples from other producers for the market.
While Heidi’s started in 2006, the family has roots in Lowell and West Michigan agriculture deeper than that. Noah Blough bought land in Lowell in 1949 where the family still runs beef and row crop (wheat, soybeans, corn) operations. When Ben and Aaron’s generation grew up and wanted to make a living in agriculture, they had to expand because the main operation couldn’t support all the working adults. There are still opportunities for growth (possibly u-pick strawberries), but it would require an additional family member willing to start and manage it.
The greenhouse opened for the season on May 1, but work starts long before then. They start tomatoes and vegetables in the greenhouses on January 1, and the flowers in February. There are only two weeks of the year that they don’t have to run payroll. A month into the season, they have around 30 employees, mostly part-time, which increases to four dozen in the fall.
They hire local teenagers to pick pumpkins. Aaron said, “I really enjoy working with the kids 14-17 and watch them realize what they can do, especially kids who’ve never worked with their hands. They have to be 16 to drive a tractor, but young ladies are better drivers.”
You can visit Heidi’s at 11999 Cascade Rd SE, Lowell. The bakery makes donuts, muffins, and bread every day. The farmstand has salad greens and vine-ripened tomatoes from the greenhouse, as well as local asparagus and rhubarb. Strawberries will be coming soon. There are lush flower baskets and plant starts in the greenhouse. Check out their Facebook page for updates.