Continuing our Michigan A-Z series is C for cherries! Cherries are probably one of the things that Michigan is most famous for, after cars and Motown, and definitely what we’re most famous for agriculturally. Michigan grows 75% of the nation’s tart cherries and are available in mid to late July. The National Cherry Festival is held every year in July in the “Cherry Capital of the World” aka Traverse City. The festival offers over 150 events including parades, family and kids events and entertainment.
Cherries were first brought to America with early settlers in the 1600s. French colonists planted cherries along the Saint Lawrence River and on down into the Great Lakes including the Detroit-area. Peter Dougherty, a Presbyterian missionary started modern-day cherry production in Traverse City during the mid-1800s.