Richard Schinkel

We had strawberries, and then after the strawberries usually came, usually very close together, currents and tart cherries. And then after that, came plums and sweet cherries. And then after the cherries, currents, plums, and the tart cherries, we would get into peaches. Mostly, they were fresh peaches and canning peaches that we would sell. Then after peaches, of course, we would get into apples. During that whole time, we would still [be] picking tomatoes. We would pick tomatoes for the fresh market early in the season, and we would pick canning tomatoes for juice for the neighbors. We had pears, too.

[Delivering produce] to the fresh market was the best. You’d get the better money, but for the bulk and the long term, you would sell it [for] canning.

The farmers would share the migrants that they had that week and say, “I need three extra people today, to do something.” It was that kind of a bond, certainly with my dad, where he had something that they needed and he would go and do it. It made sense that four or five farmers would make use of one product as opposed to all five of them buying it that way. He couldn’t afford all that.

Most of the fruit farmers down there had connections with Michigan State , and we were neighbors and so they did things to [help] us. There were different projects that, I don’t know what many of them were, but they would come and check and look at our crops and things like that. The county extension agents did their [part]; that kind of person there. They also kept us abreast of what things like this were coming or materials, and then they’d put our names on the certified project.

The only thing that came out of there was the Migrant Worker Act, whe[re] they had an inspector come around. Migrant worker inspections, and you had to provide more and more things for them, the workers that you housed. My dad had to build an outhouse and a shower, and refrigerators. [They] had real outhouses.

Mainly, farm workers were used in harvest. That’s one of the reasons we were diversified [with our crops], so that you can keep the [workers] there from asparagus through the apple season. We did it. We had diversity all the way across the board

The initial workers that we had been this term might seem derogatory but we had what we considered hillbillies. They were typically from Arkansas and Missouri [and], occasionally, some from Florida. And these were families that usually followed the fruit crops. They usually started with southern Indiana , and they moved up with the fruit crops. And most of the time, they were families, and we would provide housing for them; beds, and we would have pots and pans, and things like that. Occasionally, there would be families that would come up from Missouri and Arkansas again that were in financial difficulty, many times because of illness and so on. They could not make enough cash on their own farms, and they would work a summer or two and get enough cash to cover themselves for the typical growing season

Mainly, the farm workers were used in harvest, and that’s one of the reasons we were diversified so that you can keep them there from asparagus through the apple season.

U-pick is more of a recent phenomenon in the last twenty years. It is a way for farmers to survive. It gives them a little bit more money than they normally see. Some people do a good job, some people don’t. We dealt with the public. There were three or four of us [who] could talk with people and maybe get the gap so to speak. Some farmers just don’t have that, so they’re better off not trying to do it. It does provide a strain on your normal workers.

Once in a while, we would use students, university students or students from the local high school, but not that often. As the farm got older and the climate changed, the migrant workers changed more over to Hispanics, as opposed to low-income [people from] Missouri [and] Arkansas . [From the 19]70s and up, mainly Hispanics from Texas .

They call it facing, [and] and the very pretty bunch of peaches that would be facing up, we took that whole thing with the metal hole in it and we’d put in underneath the shoot. They’d fill it up with peaches until it was closed. If you checked the bushel basket the edge of the lid and turned it over, and you took that metal lid off and you took the metal sleeve out, you’d have this thing of cardboard and then a very, very pretty bunch of peaches. They’d be all nice and flat, [and that would] be the top of your bushel.

During World War II, we had POWs. We had POWs for three years. And, being of German heritage, they would treat us very well. They corresponded with my parents afterwards. My parents actually wanted to visit them in Germany , but they never had the chance to do that. They worked for us and for my grandparents, and a couple of the other farmers in the area, too.

We sold at the farm, too; we had a sign out. And, this region is known for fruit and vegetables. Many, many people would come up from Indianapolis , Fort Wayne , South Bend , Chicago , etcetera, and they would just drive through the countryside and see we’d have big signs for peaches, wholesale retail. And, they’d say, “What kind do you have?” and “What do you want?” Over the years, you’d build up a clientele and they would say, “Well, we need two hundred and fifty bushels this day,” and they’d come and get them. So, it was a number of places, but we did sell at the fruit market, especially strawberries. Strawberries [a]re such a quick commodity. Now, in those days [1950s-60s], we didn’t have very much refrigeration. But, today, refrigeration can keep them longer. We sold quickly and got to the Chicago market. Eighteen dollars a ton was what we got at that time.

The canners take the excess [produce] that you can’t sell fresh and you don’t want to go to the market with.

We had signs on the road and customers would come back over the years. With the number of relatives on the same road, if we didn’t have something, they’d say, “Well, you know Ann down the road has got them right this week.” He [might have] this variety this week, and we would be able to exchange [with] other farmers, too.

Even though we were farmers, and farmers typically can’t get away during the harvest season, he made a point that we would do that and my uncles did too. So what we’d do is that, say after strawberries were over [and] before cherries would start, there’d be maybe a week period in there, so he’d take off with the family and go up to the UP and go fishing or whatever he did up there. Somebody else and my uncle would cover our farm and watch the animals and so on, and we’d come back and then maybe after cherries before peaches started, that uncle would go up there and we would watch their farm. It would be a switch off back and forth, and every year we’d spend a week or two weeks in the UP.