By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

PORT CLINTON, Ohio — The area around Lake Erie has somewhat of a microclimate that affects farming. The Bergman family is familiar with the situation, since their ancestors have farmed there since 1859. Dan and Barry Bergman are the fifth generation.
“We farm about 600 acres total; about 150 acres of fruit and 150 acres of vegetables,” said Dan Bergman. “The balance is in grain crops, soybeans, corn and wheat.

“Farming in Port Clinton is unique because of the proximity to Lake Erie. We have frost protection in the early spring when our fruit is budding. We have an extended season because we don’t get the late season freezes.”

The Bergmans have three farm markets and go to the Sandusky Farmers Market on Saturdays. They have a lot of tourist trade. Peaches are their specialty and the main crop at their markets: Brimming with flavor and dripping juice when you eat them.

“Peaches seem to be the fit for this area because of the flavor and we can pick them tree-ripe,” Bergman said. “We have a good quality product.

“At the turn of the century the main crop here was peaches. This whole peninsula was a huge peach-growing region at one time. Since then there’s just a handful of us left that grow peaches.”

The first Bergmans to come over from Germany, however, grew grapes. In the late 1880s they switched to peaches because of the weather conditions. They sold the fruit wholesale, sending train cars of peaches to New York and Chicago. But Bergman’s parents, John and Donna, had a vision to build a retail business.

“Our parents were the driving force behind the retail portion of this operation,” he said. “My dad put in 30 years working nights at General Motors in Sandusky and worked the farm during the day; he built this up to where it is today.”

The first stand was a wheelbarrow full of peaches pushed down by the road, Bergman said. Now the family has branched out.

“We’ve branched out into the vegetable line and we grow a lot of sweet corn and cantaloupe, some cabbage and tomatoes and peppers,” he said. “We have a pick-your-own operation in the fall of the year with apples and pumpkins.”

Yet, peaches are still the main crop, followed by apples, sweet corn and cantaloupe. The fruits and vegetables grown in the area are known for good flavor. Bergman attributes that to the soil.

“The soil varies from sand to some heavier, black, muck-land type dirt, and then we have some heavier clay soils,” he said. “The soil seems to put the flavor into the fruit. I haven’t seen any (peaches and cantaloupe) that even come close to matching the flavor from this soil. It must be unique to this area.”

John and Donna Bergmans’ vision for the farm has been realized. The family has approximately 60 employees in the summer and four or five full-time employees who work year-round. They pack apples all winter long.

Yet, they are plagued by the same problems all farmers face. The work is exhausting physically and then there is paperwork to finish when the sun goes down.

“Just trying to keep up with the cost of the chemicals and fertilizers and fuel has been challenging,” said Bergman. “But business seems like it is very good this year despite the high fuel prices; the tourism doesn’t seem like it’s missed a beat.”