About

A family tradition since 1916. That was the year Henry Blakeslee Crane bought the H.H. Hutchins farm, what is now Crane Orchards, a beautiful 180 acre farm of rolling hills bordering Hutchins Lake to the south. In 1939, the 100 acres north of M-89 which is now Gary Crane Farms, was purchased and farmed by Albert Crane. After taking over a portion of the family farm from his father and purchasing the farm to the north from his brother, Bob Crane and his wife Lue needed to evolve in the farming business or flounder. Lue Crane began promoting Crane Orchards in 1967 with custom fruit baskets made up in her kitchen. Pressing cider and selling fruit soon turned into providing food to the people who visited the farm. By 1972, Fennville’s agritourism industry was born. Now Crane’s farms is host to a full menu restaurant and bakery, small-batch farm to bottle wine and hard cider, u-pick orchards, and so much more. The restaurant and winery family includes two of Lue and Bob’s daughters, Becky and Laura, and one of their grandsons, Rob, who represents the third generation of the Crane’s family in the business, while the farm, Crane Orchards, has been run by five generations of Cranes. Guests enjoy food, drink, and homemade Michigan fruit pies in the family’s 150-year-old barn, which has been home to the restaurant, bakery, and cidery since 1972. The business expanded with the addition of the winery in 2014. Farming techniques and family recipes have been passed from generation to generation, preserving family traditions and enriching the community at the same time.