Hazen's Blueberry Farm in Howell welcomes generations of pickers for timeless tradition

HOWELL — From 1 to 97. That was the age differential of blueberry pickers at Hazen’s Blueberry farm in Howell on a recent Thursday. Hazen’s has been a tradition for many families in metro Detroit. Tori Robbins, 33, of Livonia, had to stop and do the math: “My mom has been bringing me here... ”

Robbins stops and looks at her mom, Laura Bunker, of Farmington Hills.

“Well..." Bunker fills in the blanks, "I think it has been over 20 years.”

Tony Buchholz, 57, is the third-generation owner of Hazen's Blueberry Farm.

"We like to keep it simple,” he says.

Buchholz doesn’t like to overcharge. At Hazen's, people can walk in, pick a bucket up for free, and gather as many or as few blueberries as they like, and pay as the fruit is weighed — $2.75 a pound for u-pick berries, and $4 a pound for pre-picked. Hazen's has been around for more than 50 years, and has nearly 80 acres dedicated to blueberries, the highbush variety.

“It's a relaxing environment,” said 63-year-old Canton resident Cindy Gross, who picked from a seated position in a folding chair she brought, along with her sisters Keri Kimmel, 61, of Whitmore Lake, and Sherrie Northway, 66, of Redford. The trio could be heard solving the world’s problems, as blueberries dropped plunk-plunk into their buckets. “It’s my first time here, and it won’t be my last,” said Gross.

More: My blueberry farm visit spurred most amazing Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake: Here's the recipe

Through the bushes, guests can hear the voices of children, excitedly discovering the connection between the familiar berries, and their origin and their glee of finding clusters of ripe berries. "Look here, Mom!!" could be heard from more than one child.

And everyone seemed to have creative ideas for what to do with the pounds of blueberries they were going home with. Some prefer just freezing their berries, and others planned to make jam. One woman loves to make and freeze pie filling.

Reporter's note: After I finished taking photos for the Free Press, I put down my cameras and picked 5 pounds of blueberries to bring home to my wife, who repeated a beautiful lemon blueberry bundt cake recipe she made last year. It’s so delicious that I have to share the recipe here.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hazen's Blueberry Farm in Howell welcomes generations of pickers for timeless tradition