Grosse Pointe Teen’s Summer as Sweet as a Leelanau County Berry

GROSSE POINTE, MI — A Grosse Pointe teen spent the summer sorting and packing fruit Up North, something six generations of his family have done since 1865.

Jackson Greilick, a freshman at Grosse Pointe North High School, spent six weeks toiling during the busy strawberry and cherry picking seasons at Bardenhagen Farms, his family’s homestead and one of Leelanau County’s oldest farms.

The farm was founded by Greilick’s great-great-great-grandfather, Johann Bremer, a German immigrant. The 184-acre farm, given to Bremer for his service in the Civil War, has been handed down through the generations, Sheila Springsteen Greilick, told the Grosse Pointe News.

Other family members, including Jackson’s father, John, have taken their turns as farm hands. The work is arduous with 6 o’clock breakfast calls and 10-hour days during the peak ripening season.

His parents figured a two-week experience would instill some valuable life lessons, but their son thought otherwise. Instead, “he wound up staying for six weeks because he kept saying, ‘Can I stay longer? Can I stay longer?’ ”

» Read much more about this on the Grosse Pointe News

Image by Terra Osborn via Flickr Commons