Blueberries, peaches, and the lake that makes them possible

There’s a reason the townships between South Haven and St. Joseph look like one unbroken orchard. They sit in the heart of Michigan’s fruit belt. That’s the strip where Lake Michigan’s water delays spring frost and stretches the growing season. Cultivated blueberries were practically invented as an industry here. The sandy, acidic soils around South Haven, Covert, Geneva, and Casco townships proved perfect for them. Michigan remains one of the nation’s top blueberry growers. South Haven styles itself the Blueberry Capital of the World. The famous Redhaven peach was bred at South Haven’s horticultural research station, too. For decades it was the most widely planted freestone peach variety on earth.

The towns celebrate accordingly. South Haven’s National Blueberry Festival has run every August since 1963 — pie-eating contests, parades, and all. Coloma’s Glad-Peach Festival has honored gladiolus flowers and peaches since the late 1940s. Living here means U-pick farms ten minutes away. Roadside stands line every county road from July through September. It also means the occasional traffic jam behind a fruit wagon. There are worse problems.