Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Reisinger. Them and their team share their story with us below:
For 133 years and seven generations the Leaman family has nurtured and tended the family farm. In 1889, John Welzein Sr. and Sophie Paulitz Welzein came to America from Germany and bought 14.5 acres of land. Starting out as a fruit stand Leaman’s Green Appplebarn has grown into a family fun destination spot. We have expanded from 14 acres to nearly 100 acres total and 10 acres of trees throughout the years. It wasn’t until 1925 when Harry Leaman married 3rd generation Leona Welzein, that the “Leaman” name was introduced. Harry and Leona had one son Jack, who later married Jacquelyn “Jacquie” Dudewitz. Jack and Jacquie expanded the business by building the main barn and store to sell apples, cider, and baked goods. They also added many rows of raspberries, blackberries, and pumpkins. Jack and Jacquie have four children, Jaye, Jill, John, and Jim. John has two sons Curtis and Dequan along with four grandchildren, Cieraka, Ehloni, Dequan Jr., and Legacy. Jaye married Alan Reisinger and have four children, Chris, Nick, Jamie, and Sara. Jamie married California native Robert “Bobby” Jones and have two children, Silas and Margot Jones. It takes a team of many talents to run the farm. Currently, John Leaman and Jaye Reisinger are the owners, and Jamie Jones, Alan Reisinger, and Sara Reisinger are managers. Each generation has brought a new idea to the farm. Starting as a roadside fruit stand Leamans has transformed from a u-pick berry patch to a freeze-dried flower business, to a destination agritourism farm. But it doesn’t stop there! We’re so excited for the next five years as we have some amazing ideas that will be coming to life to make our farm even more enjoyable by our community.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think just like any other business, there are always bumps in the road. I will say the one thing that has been constant to help us with those bumps is our amazing community. A community compromised of our friends, family, employees, and customers. Of course, there have been struggles, some that were really tough to get past, but at the end of the day, our community lifted us up, supported us, and kept us going.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Each of us have our own department.
John Leaman – John handles all the business aspects of the farm along with apple production. Orchard management is a year-round job. During the winter John must trim the tree to ensure for a high yield the next year. During the spring and summer, his responsibilities include spraying, mowing the grass for pest management, and making any repairs the harsh winter may have brought. The fall is harvest season. During the fall he is in charge of a crew that picks and sorts the apples. Apples must be hand-picked so each apple you get from the store was picked by a person, not a machine! Once the apples are harvested, they get sorted for many things including cider, the bakery or to be put into the store to be purchased. Our farm has nearly 30 varieties which makes the picking season start in early August and continue into early November.
Jaye Reisinger – Jaye is a creative mastermind. Her happy place is in her workroom creating items to be sold in our gift shop. She is known for her beautiful wreaths, grave blankets, and seasonal décor. Along with creating, Jaye is an enthusiastic educator. She is in charge of the tours that come to the farm in the fall. Each year we host nearly 3,000 school kids to enjoy a hands-on experience learning about the apple industry. She writes a script each year, creates an educational display, trains tour guides, and hosts groups. Jaye constantly jokes that she is the full-time “cleaning crew,” always walking behind customers, employees, etc. cleaning up messes. But I do want to give her a shout-out because she has an eye for perfection when it comes to keeping the farm orderly and tidy. Details such as those truly make a difference and we are so thankful to have her put that effort into the farm.
Alan Reisinger – Alan’s role is the “fat, bald, and grumpy farmer” and yes, I said that! As odd as that may sound, it sums up Alan’s personality on the farm. When people call him on the phone and say “how are you doing?” he always replies with, fat, bald, ugly, grumpy – just the normal thing.” Alan has the perfect personality for his responsibilities including attending fairs and festivals to sell our cider slush, tractor driver, and general farm maintenance. He is on the road June-August traveling from festival to festival in our concession trailer selling cider slush, ciders sundaes and other apple treats! This is quite a responsibility as he is in charge of the crew, setting up, tearing down, inventory, traveling and all obstacles that are met while on the road. During the fall, Alan loves to be driving the tractor that pulls the hay wagon. He loves meeting our customers, learning where they came from, and giving them a warm welcome. You can truly see the glow on his face as he tells us the stories from the day after driving.
Jamie Jones – Jamie is our donut magician. She has completely taken the donut side of our business to a new level. We have had donuts dating back to the ’80s, however, it was the simple apple cider and pumpkin donuts. She began experimenting with flavor and toppings in 2016 where she created our famous “Apple Pie” donut. Which she later ended up winning an award for at the Detroit Donut Festival. That’s when where it dubbed the name “Award Winning Apple Pie.” Since then, she has added over 40 flavors including blueberry cheesecake, peanut butter lovers, cider buttercream and so many more. She also creates themed donuts for each holiday decorating them to be festive and delicious. When Jamie isn’t in the donut kitchen she is out working with the animals. Due to her amazing care, we have been able to grow our herd to 20 goats, 5 sheep, chickens, ducks, cows, and pigs. This has opened the opportunity for goat yoga, a petting barnyard, and traveling to nursing homes and schools. Jamie is also in charge of our TikTok account. This takes an incredible amount of work but brings smiles to our followers! If you’re not following us, you should be! (:
Sara Reisinger – Sara’s responsibilities include marketing, social media, hiring and training staff, online ordering, event planning, and the gift shop. Day-to-day responsibilities change throughout the season. During the off-season, it consists of prepping for future events such as the holiday cider sundae fundays, barnyard bash, sunflower days, and Santa Night. Prepping for those events include creating advertising campaigns, planning out layouts, scheduling employees, and reaching out to vendors to collaborate with. Once the main season gets closer Sara is in charge of hiring training staff in the different positions. During the fall we have upwards to 75 employees, most of which are first-time employees.
Those listed above are the managers of the farm but without our amazing staff we absolutely could not do it. We have so many people that put blood, sweat, and tears into the farm that have truly made it what it is today. Those employees include Sue D., Todd, Elissa, Connie, Missy, Sara G., Pam, Casey, Topanga, Chaz, Bobby and so many more.
Our business is a seasonal business that is open June through December. Each season we offer something a little different. Our opening weekend in June will be our “Barnyard Bash.” This will include the opening of our playground, petting barnyard, store, and bakery. Special to this weekend we will have the tractor and wagon running, strong farmer activities, and educational displays. This will be the opening weekend for our store where we will be open 6 days a week with fresh produce, cider slush, specialty donuts and drinks, and the gift shop. We will be hosting Sunflower Days the last weekend in July and the beginning of August. This events allows our customers to visit the field, take pictures and enjoy activities. Come September we have our annual Country Craft Show. This will be our 37th annual craft show which will include over 50 vendors showcasing their handmade items. The craft show is our kick-off of the fall season. After that weekend we will be open 7 days a week with our fall activities open along with pumpkins, corn maze, hayride, etc. The bakery will also be in full swing producing pies, cookies, donuts, cinnamon rolls, and more. The beginning of November we transition to Christmas where we will have festive gifts in our store, fresh green wreaths, grave blankets, and porch décor. The first two weekends in December we host “A Night with Santa and Lighted Orchard.” This event includes a lighted hayride, bonfire for s’mores, visits with Santa, petting barnyard, festive drinks, and MANY MANY MANY lights decorated around the farm. Even in the “off” season, we open for special events and holiday. We host Cider Sundae Fundays and create donuts for holidays including Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and other events. We highly recommend following us on Facebook or Instagram to see the what we’re offering for each holiday!
What matters most to you?
What a loaded question! I don’t think I can narrow it down to just one thing. However, there are four things that are important to us as business and family.
1. Providing an environment that families can find love, make memories and continue traditions. In Michigan, visiting your local apple orchard is a yearly tradition. We strive to be the best place for families to do just that. Our customers are our family and we want them to feel like they are part of the family each time they visit. We’re not a big box store – we want to create those relationships, get to know our customers, and learn from them. We want to continuously improve and add more to be a constant memory maker for our customers.
2. Educating our visitors about agriculture. Today, most people are 2-3 generations away from the farm which puts a big gap between consumers and producers. We strive to have has much educational information on our farm as possible to help close that gap. We host events such as goat yoga and barnyard bash to get people to experience the farm in a fun, hands-on way. Hosting events such as those bring people to the farm that may not come otherwise. Michigan is the second most diverse state in the nation when it comes to Agriculture. I think sometimes us Michiganders take that for advantage as other states can’t go to their local farmers’ market and get such a large variety local fruits. vegetables and meat. Providing those hands-on experiences is so important in educating the consumers.
3. Our staff. I cannot put into words how much they are appreciated. Working on the farm is not a glamorous job by any means, however, we have such a supportive and enthusiastic group that has truly become our family.
4. Family. Full disclosure, working with your family can be rough. But at the end of the day, we are so blessed to be able to see each other daily, work together, follow our dreams together and accomplish our goals together. Growing up I would get off the bus at the farm and be able to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and parents every day. I never truly knew how lucky I was to have that opportunity and now my niece, nephew, and cousins have that same opportunity. My grandfather is 90 years young and still comes out to sort apples or visit the kitchen for his favorite job, quality control. Growing up on the farm has taught me so much and while I am still “growing up,” now I am at an age that I get to watch my younger family members do the same and it is such an incredible feeling. Having four generations work together is something I will forever be thankful for.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leamansgreenapplebarn/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leamansgreenapplebarn
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@leamangreenapplebarn
