HUDSONVILLE, Mich. — West Michigan is known for its beautiful agriculture and produce, and for a family in Hudsonville, they are growing their own part of that tradition.
Tucked just off of Port Sheldon Road on 48th Street, Bremer Produce has created a little bit of paradise with a sea of sunflowers.
"This land is amazing and we just want to share it with people," said Alison Bremer.
Two years ago, the Bremer family started with just half an acre of sunflowers, but this year, they've expanded their field to an acre and a half.
The family plants each of the 30,000 seeds by hand.
"It's pretty incredible just to be a part of something that takes so much effort and patience," said Jordan Bremer.
But the family wanted to share this space with the community as a U-pick experience. There are 12 different kinds of sunflowers and more than 120,000 to choose from.
They are a dollar a stem and they also offer glass jars for $1 as well.
"We've had a pretty tremendous, positive response," said Jordan, "and I just love seeing people come out of the sunflower field with a big bouquet and a big smile on their face."
But with the spring drought and heavy rainfall at the end of June, there was a little extra work that went into making sure the sunflowers could grow.
"The ground is lower in the front part of the field, so that was really all under water," said Ross Bremer. "So I dug a ditch by hand to connect to our main ditch along the road here to speed up the process of it draining when it was really wet."
And to spread the love even further, the Bremer family gives all of the proceeds from the U-pick farm to refugees in Italy.
"We wanted the community to know that not only is this a place to come and have fun and enjoy, but there's also a bigger reason to come out here and be part of a bigger story," said Jordan.
The farm is open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and they have all the supplies you'll need.
"We really wanted to spread the word that this field is here for the community," said Jordan.
You can learn more by visiting their Facebook page or website.
Related video:
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.