Taking the ‘Bill’ out of Bill’s Farm Market didn’t change the warm, family embrace awaiting customers on the main road just east of Petoskey.
It’s been a couple years since the original owner, longtime Emmet County Farm Bureau leader Bill McMaster, handed the keys to his nephew Lucas Hoffman, but there’s been no change to the beloved establishment's “Fresh Produce, Friendly People” mantra.
Farm Gate popped in recently to find Lucas and a crew of experienced hands busy prepping some of their earliest seedlings for planting.
“This is broccoli and cauliflower,” he said, head down while he and his crew separated frail bunches of seedlings into individuals, ready for planting in an adjacent field after being hardened off to withstand the ups and downs of springtime in northern Michigan.
“Overall it’s been a really been a good start this year, although the weather’s pushed us back somewhat,” Hoffman explained. “We should’ve had all this planted at least by the beginning of this week — even last week.
“It’s been a long, chilly spring. You can tell from today — it’s pretty cool, but the sun’s out and these guys are hardened and ready for the open field.”
Lucas beamed a similar optimism summing up the bigger picture of taking over a popular and wildly diverse farm market, conveniently located just outside a major tourist destination soon to be flooded with an urbane resorting crowd that brings with it upscale tastes in produce.
“It’s been a journey, that’s for sure — but awesome. I’ve always wanted to do this and I’m definitely having fun with it,” Hoffman said. “If I didn’t have fun with it, I can tell you right now I’d definitely not be doing this because farming, it’s a gamble.
Hoffman’s crew that morning was all family and friends: his sisters Rosemary and Abigail Hoffman, friends Sammy Wodek and Abbey Lickfelt, his dad Paul Hoffman and cousin Michael Dielmano.
“All the girls have helped me for quite a long time, same as my cousin Michael over there and my dad, too — my dad’s helped with everything,” Hoffman said. “My sisters have been helping me since day one, so has Sammy and Abbey started helping me too last year.
“They’ve all been amazing. I can rely on these guys for so much and I don’t have to worry about nothin’. They’re always here waiting to show up and do a great job.”
P.S.: Mind you, OG farm marketeer Bill McMaster is only about as “retired” as your average “retired” farmer — meaning somewhere between barely and not-even-a-little retired. He still lives on site and commands the run of the place, only now on his own laid-back terms. He earned it.
