Well, we’re in the dead of winter, and all I can think about is spring! Not only to see sunshine and be able to get outside, but to start to work in the garden and greenhouse.

In the early days of Red Gate Farm, my mom came out for the summer from Arizona and was the President of Gardening. The garden thrived and we had a great variety of things growing to sell. She hasn’t been out here in 3 summers and during this time my baked goods took off, so my garden has suffered in the process. I hope to change that this year by getting a jump start on planting seeds and offering garden space in exchange for some labor.

Every year I plant a flower garden and tomatoes, no matter what, but would like to get back to green beans, lettuce, kale, arugula, potatoes, peppers, eggplant, and melons. Last summer my husband set up zone watering and we had that on timers, so the only thing I have to do is get the stuff in the ground and keep it weeded. It seems simple enough, but I never seem to have the energy to do it after baking all night.

I only use heirloom seeds in my garden and am excited to get in the greenhouse and start them in the coming 6-8 weeks. I’ve got warming mats to start them, but no space anywhere, so the seed starting will have to wait until the end of March or early April.

What are heirloom seeds vs organic seeds? “Heirlooms are seed varieties that are at least 50 years old, and you can save these seeds and plant them year after year. Heirlooms are never hybrids or GMOs. Organic seeds are grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers.”

So, that’s a little bit about what’s coming this year in the garden. If you’re interested in helping plant my garden in exchange for some space to have a garden of your own, please email me (redgatefarmmichigan@gmail.com) or call me at 231-228-2577 to talk about it. I’m looking forward to a great 2021 both in the kitchen and in the garden!

Stay warm, be well and see you soon! Andria

I’ve had a solid month off from baking, and have to admit I really needed it. I’ve been pretty “restful” (read: lazy), but it’s allowed me to recharge my battery, and get my creative juices flowing. There are so many things I’m thinking about; how to be more efficient in 2021, how to spend more time with my dear husband in 2021, and whether or not 2021 will be as busy as 2020 was.

In 2020, I had 4 times the sales of my best year ever, which was simply amazing to me. My mother and I talk daily, and so often we talked about the early years and how only 1 or 2 people would stop, or how what I used to bake for a long weekend, I was now selling out of in a morning. Last year was a real learning curve for me, and I’m hoping to be better at it this year. One of my biggest goals is to open on time. So many people had to wait as I was running late last year, and I felt terrible about that. I try to bake fresh every day, so inevitably I was always pulling bread or cinnamon rolls out an hour before opening, where it still had to cool and be packaged. Hopefully this year I will be better at planning and waking up earlier.

Another goal is to spend more time with my new husband, Bob. We got married in September, and are both busy with our work and side businesses. It’s been hard to carve out time to do things together. I’m debating both opening an extra day after Memorial Day, but also taking Sundays off to spend time with Bob. I’d even like to take a weekend off once a month so that we can go camping or to his family cabin in the UP, so stay tuned for those potential changes in 2021. If business stays as busy as it was last year, I may be able to hire occasional help, and they may be able to set up the farm stand if I’m gone. It’s just an idea, and I’d love to hear yours if you have any for someone trying to build/maintain a business and have a life too.

I’ve got an event coming up on February 13th. It’s a mid-winter break/Valentine’s day event working together with a local chef/caterer and florist. I’m excited because I’ll be baking a variety of things and packaging them differently than usual. It’s so fun to plan and then execute these things. I will have baked goods to sell and for people to sample, and my partners in crime will have dinner to go and beautiful flower bouquets. This event will be held at the Maple City Lions Club from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on February 13th. If you have interest in more details, go to my Valentine’s Day link at the top of this menu.

That’s it for now, just wanted to give an update on what’s swirling in my brain and some of what I’m contemplating for 2021. I will open again once the weather is decent enough not to worry about the food freezing. I’m hoping, based on how it’s been so far, that it will be by April. If you have questions, give me a call, I’m happy to bake on demand or field your ideas about how to better manage what I’m doing or what days to be open this year. Thanks for reading, all my best to you! Andria
Phone: 231-228-2577 email: redgatefarmmichigan@gmail.com

What is it about Christmas music, lights, a tree, old holiday movies or animated classics, snow and who knows what other triggers create the spirit of the season? I know I feel completely transformed during the Christmas season – I enjoy listening to music while baking and cooking, the lights on the house and inside give me an inside glow and feeling of comfort, and I’m generally more easygoing and at peace.

The holidays always make me reflect on my earliest Christmases spent with grandparents in Wisconsin and their silver tree, our early Christmases in Arizona and putting the tinsel on the tree ONE STRAND AT A TIME (thanks, Dad!) and later Christmases when I lived in Germany and was so lucky to go to the outdoor Christmas markets that felt like a living fairy tale, or Christmases in my first house where I really enjoyed decorating to the nines!

There is something almost magical about Christmas for me. It’s not a want of things, God knows I have too many things. Rather it’s a feeling of peace and goodwill that seems to have been missing this year, whether that’s due to the global pandemic and everyone’s nerves being shot, or the political drama that’s played out over the last 4 years and continues to play out. But as soon as it’s getting close to Christmas I put on my Christmas playlist and everything feels right again in my world.

Sadly my husband isn’t very excited about Christmas. He says he doesn’t know why, but he certainly doesn’t share my sentiments about the holidays. Fortunately he still helps me hang lights, my giant, blow molded Santa head that lights up, and helps to haul things from the garage to the house so that I can decorate. He’s more interested in putting a water pump in my old truck than hearing stories about the ornaments I bought in Germany, or how my dad made us put tinsel on one strand at a time, but he humors me and feigns interest, and that’s OK.

My father passed away in early December of 2007. That was the year I stopped sending Christmas cards, and I’ve never gotten back to sending them. (I used to send out about 90 cards with hand written notes each year) My grandmother also passed away in mid-December of 2001, so December was a tough month for a while. But with time, which DOES heal all wounds, the spirit of the season restored in me a sense of possibility, love, joy, and peace each year since those huge losses.

All I can do is enjoy the season and hope that others also feel the sense of possibility, goodwill towards others, a return to kindness, and the joy that the season brings. I know I’m not really articulating what I feel very well, but I’m very thankful as I sit here the night before Thanksgiving. I’m thankful for the love and support of my husband, family and friends. I’m thankful for this new adventure I’m on, and my ability to work from home. I’m especially thankful that I took a chance with moving to Northern Michigan, and that I hung in there when it didn’t pay initially. My new motto is, “If you bake it they will come”!

I’m sure I will reread this nonsensical rambling tomorrow and recognize it’s fueled by very little sleep, a holiday that’s upon us, and the fact that my Christmas playlist has been burning up my old iPod for a week! Sending love, blessings and peace to anyone who took the time to read this mess of ideas thrown together haphazardly. Happy Thanksgiving! Andria

There will be a holiday market here the weekend, Monday, and Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The market location will depend on the weather, but hopefully I will be able to have it at my farm stand, with a tent there too.

My plan is to have some of my staples; coffee cakes and cinnamon rolls in the standard size and also family sizes. I’ll have brownies in my standard packaging, but also in boxes with larger quantities available. I will bake bundt cakes in a variety of flavors and shapes, but any and all can be specifically ordered. There will be a variety of baked pies, but also pies that are frozen that can be taken home and baked there. There will also be a variety of jam for sale.

The updated order form is below, and it has everything available to pre-order. You can specify everything from cake pan shape and flavor, to pick up date and time. Special orders will need to be submitted by November 14th. If you don’t do a special order, you will still be able to buy things that I make for the holiday market. (kind of like last year’s market in Glen Arbor where I baked a variety of bundt cakes, small “bundlettes” in variety packs, etc.)

Lastly, the first weekend of November I’m going to have an open house at the farm stand for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday. I will have samples of everything I will be baking for my holiday market for people to try, and hopefully order. I will have more details on that as it gets closer, but anticipate opening that weekend, and staying at the farm stand offering samples a la Costco.

Thanks for your patience as I work through how to replace last year’s income from the Glen Arbor Holiday Market with my own Holiday Market!! Stay tuned……

Best, Andria

The colors are vibrant, the leaves are falling, and it’s my favorite time of the year! I picked up seven bushels of apples yesterday for baking, selling, and making apple butter/jam. It’s so nice to know the time to slow down is coming up, and those of us who have seasonal businesses will get to recharge our batteries soon. (well, maybe not until after Christmas)

Business has been incredible this year! Last year was my best in 6 seasons, and this year my sales are more than 3 times last year’s sales! The hard part is that I’m limited in working out of my home kitchen to how much I can sell, so I’ve got to start thinking about whether or not I find a retail space – either build one on my property if I can get it approved, or find a space to rent – which isn’t something I really want to do. In the meantime, I’m doing research to figure out how to operate for next year.

I’ll be open the remaining weekends in October, provided the sales are there to justify being open. After that, I’ll be preparing to make Thanksgiving dessert/breakfast time easier for my customers by having a 4 day open house right before Thanksgiving, featuring pre-baked goods (cakes, pies, coffee cakes, cinnamon rolls, bread, rolls, etc.) and take and bake goods (pies, maybe cinnamon rolls). I’ll have my order form updated and published here and at my farm stand this weekend.

I’m reflecting on how I started and the farm and heirloom vegetables were the focus, and how I’ve gravitated towards baking as a way to get money coming in earlier in the season. What an interesting metamorphosis it’s been. Without someone else to help in the garden, I’ve been limited to tomatoes, flowers, and a few other veggies. When Facebook memories pop up during the summer, I’m reminded about how much my Mom did in the garden and what wonderful harvests we had. Hopefully she’ll be able to make it out next summer for a few weeks and her gardening juju will bring another decent harvest of variety! (don’t worry, Mother, I won’t expect you to manage the garden)

The chickens are laying very few eggs and have switched over to freeloader mode. We have about 45 chickens (we’re actually not sure how many we have now), and yesterday I only got 8 eggs. SO, eggs at the farm stand will be sporadic at best. If you need eggs, please text me and get on the egg list so that I can get you some eggs. (248-342-6200)

It’s staying dark longer in the morning, getting dark earlier, and soon the white stuff will be falling. I’m looking for work and trying to figure out what all I can do to prepare for next season (sewing lavender sachets, throw quilts, etc.). Hoping to be able to get back into sewing this winter, it’s a hobby I love and haven’t had time to do for a while.

My ramblings are over; so many things swirling around in my melon about how to keep my customers coming in the off season, looking for new recipes to mix things up, and grateful for this past season and all the new, local customers! Have a great week everyone!! Andria

Well, things are slowing down at the farm stand, and I’m trying to figure out how to make some money this winter. I’ve been reaching out to my automotive contacts looking for work from home jobs, but there seems to be the typical 4th quarter hiring budget freeze right now, but I’m still shaking the trees.

There won’t be a holiday market this year in Glen Arbor, so I’m thinking about having an “open house” the weekend and week before Thanksgiving and offering much of what I offered last year, but with some additions; pies, (both cooked and “take and bake”) large pans of cinnamon rolls and coffee cakes for family gatherings, different sized cakes/more variety packs of smaller cakes, and maybe some new types of bread. So many possibilities, I just want to make sure it makes sense to do it. In the meantime, I’m open every weekend (except when I go take a mini honeymoon) at 9 a.m.

I’m also trying to get the house ready for my new husband to move some stuff in. Even though he has stayed here every night for the last 3 years, he only has a robe and some slippers here, LOL. Since I’ve moved up here full time twice, I’m still consolidating the furniture/kitchen stuff, etc. from 2 other houses downstate with the stuff I brought up here initially, when this was just a fun weekend getaway. I’m selling furniture on Facebook Marketplace, having a garage sale Sept 24-26, and using the time hubby’s gone for a long weekend to purge, clean and organize. So much to do, but right now I have the time to do it.

These are the things churning in my head this morning, as I struggle to get off the couch and do something. I’m loving being in Northern Michigan full time, and grateful that this year I’ve been able to do it without going downstate. Can’t wait to purge STUFF and simplify. Have a great week and stay safe! Andria

Wow, what a ride it’s been since the 3rd weekend in March!! I don’t usually open the farm stand until Memorial Day weekend, and then it’s usually pretty slow until the 4th of July weekend. What an exception this year was!!

On a whim, I decided to bake during the initial stay at home order, and it proved to be a good decision. Not only did I have sales that sustained me over those months, but I finally got a good base of local customers, something that seemed to be missing over the years. I can’t tell you how many local people told me, “I’ve driven by for years but never stopped”…..well thank you for stopping, your purchases have allowed me the life up here I’ve always wanted!!!

I’ve also had the good fortune to meet both local and seasonal customers that have told me they’ve been customers for years. It was such a crazy, busy season, by mid-July I didn’t know if I was coming or going, but I do know that I met some really fantastic, and caring people. Some of you, and my regulars, saw me a little stressed out at times, and their words of encouragement made all the difference to me that day! (have I mentioned that I’m a one woman show?)

My original intent for Red Gate Farm was to be solely focused on the garden, and occasionally bake a few cookies or muffins. Well, over the years as the garden performed or didn’t, I realized to get a little money coming in, I needed to add SOMETHING else, and so came the evolution of baked goods at my farm stand. I’ve always enjoyed cooking and feeding people, but never imagined I’d morph into a bakery with a garden on the side. I do hope to change that next year and get more focused on the garden, but in the meantime, the baking pays the bulk of my bills.

This summer I also ran the Airbnb apartment above the garage where my mom used to stay when she visited. That takes some time, depending on how many flips there are in a week, and there’s always a TON of laundry each week, as EVERYTHING gets washed between guests. (the shower curtain liners also get thrown away) In any event, it was the busiest summer I’ve ever had and now I’m reflecting on that.

Since the fall of 2014, I’ve spent the bulk of my fall/winter/springs in the Detroit area working. I was so fortunate to have a company that allowed me to occasionally work remotely, but they also allowed me to have summers off to work at the farm. That was key for me to establish what I call my building blocks: fencing, greenhouse, irrigation, the garage, garage apartment, my home office (she shed), etc. I knew that if I could get to a point someday where I could financially support myself in Maple City, I wouldn’t be able to afford much, so I put the building blocks in place before I left the auto industry. Some days I REALLY wish I had stayed a bit longer and updated the house, but right now I’m so happy to be up here that doesn’t matter.

One last reflection – when I say I had a crazy, busy summer, let me put that in perspective for you……Last year I had the best sales for my farm business (Back to Basics MI, LLC) EVER. This year, sales are more than 3 times last years sales!!! My Airbnb rentals are up 26%, and that’s with extra days blocked before and after rentals due to Covid. Granted I was open at the farm stand earlier this year, but to do 3 times what I did last year is just phenomenal. I hope it continues at some pace between now and Christmas as I am so grateful to be at home and not down in the Detroit area.

Thanks to everyone if you’ve read this far – I’ve had a few days off and am finally catching up on a lot of things I let go during the summer. I got married last week, I’m trying to downsize and make room for my wonderful hubby to bring some things over so that we can officially live together, and I’m getting ready for a garage sale. So, the craziness isn’t AS intense, but it’s always busy here. I’m so grateful for your patronage this year, and in the past, and thank you all for helping me to live the life I’ve imagined!

Andria Metrakos Bufka

The last month or so has been incredibly busy for me. On a whim, I opened my farm stand earlier than usual, to bake for locals who might want something different and don’t want to go to the grocery store. Word got around, and each weekend I’ve been incredibly busy – what a blessing!

About a year ago I left my high paying automotive job to try to make a go of it full time up here (I tried in 2013, but ended up going back to the Detroit area each fall to be able to farm in the summer). The apartment above the garage that I built for my Mom got converted to an Airbnb, the farmstand did well enough, and I sold my goods at the holiday market in Glen Arbor over Thanksgiving weekend.

I was also fortunate enough to get a job selling ads for the Leelanau Pages, our community directory/white and yellow pages. That was very humbling for me because it was a hard sell in today’s digital world, but I was so glad to have the opportunity as I met a lot of great people doing that job. Unfortunately I didn’t make my sales goal, and felt terrible about that. It was a real learning curve for me, but I was glad to make that experience and meet some different people along the way.

Today I’m struggling with being able to get out in the greenhouse and get some seeds started. My Mom and I talk all the time about my inability to do both the baking and garden, but I don’t have the money this year to pay for help in the garden, so I’m trying to figure out how to plant some things, but maybe not the entire garden. The wonderful Mr. Bufka helped me set up zone irrigation last summer, so I’m wondering if we do that will that be enough to help me manage the garden on my own? I guess time will tell. At a minimum, I’ll plant heirloom tomatoes, basil, zinnias, bachelor buttons, and more lavender. I’m hoping for much more than that, but need to figure out how to manage it all.

On this windy, gloomy, chilly day, I’m optimistic about summer, my garden, the farm stand sales and being able to continue to stay here year round. It’s been a great year up here, and I’m so grateful for the chance to do it. Wishing anyone who has gotten through this rambling of mine peace, good health, and happiness – now and always!

Peace, Andria

I haven’t felt like writing lately, I’ve been struggling like the rest of the world trying to figure out what will be the new normal. Since leaving the financially secure job that I had a year ago down in the Detroit area, I’ve gone between worrying that I’ll lose the house to realizing that everything will be OK. I’ve left several jobs with no job lined up, and I somehow always land on my feet. And whatever does happen in the coming weeks and months, I do think things will be OK.

Normally I open my farm stand on Memorial Day weekend. With people not wanting to go to stores, I opened 2 weekends ago with bread, baked goods, jam and eggs, and it’s been pretty busy. But not without a few bumps in the road……

To expand my baking business, I got a commercial stand mixer and double oven. The oven door glass shattered when it was being installed, but we got a replacement soon after (see, it worked out!). I started using about 25#’s of flour each day that I baked, and didn’t want to go into a grocery store or Costco for more. A friend nearby donated a 5# bag one day, and then 25#’s the next to get me through a weekend. My neighbor read that I was looking for flour, and called a local restaurant who was getting ready to order from a food distributor. They happily let me piggyback on their order so that I could keep baking. And, another nearby chef offered to order for me too – so you see, somehow it all worked out.

Today I realized that I used almost a pound of yeast in 2 days, and happened to meet someone who stopped at the farm stand for baked goods. She works at the nearby school in food service, and I asked if I could order some yeast on their next order. She wasn’t sure if it would work, which I understood, but called back later and said I could order yeast through them – woot, woot! I’ll have 4 lbs of yeast on Tuesday, somehow it all worked out.

This morning I was up at 2 a.m. to bake and it was drizzling, but nothing too bad. My farm stand, when open, faces north. Normally the rain/winds come from the west or south, but today they came from the north and when I checked everything mid-morning, a lot of the packaging was wet. Everything is pretty securely packaged, but I notified customers on Facebook that I was going to dry it off when it stopped raining, and then I promptly fell asleep. I woke up 3 hours later, checked the farm stand, and almost everything was sold. It all worked out.

One local restaurant is feeding 25 families in need every week. We can donate cash or food to help the cause, and many are pitching in to make sure those families are fed. My neighbors and I trade eggs for roasts, and their 4H beef is some of the best I’ve ever had. I’ve also traded eggs with a local chef (for his personal use) for a credit at his restaurant when we’ve been able to go there to dine. It’s a win-win for us as it’s a very fancy schmancy restaurant that we wouldn’t normally go to. (Significant other is Mr. Meat and Potatoes) But somehow it all works out…..

I guess my rambling today is my observation that even though we’re all feeling the confinement and anxiety of COVID-19 in different ways, somehow things work out. People pitch in and help fill a need when they see it if they can, they help their neighbors and those in need, and maybe this confinement is bringing out the good in us that was there all along, but lost in the modern day politics and fighting that seems to have become prevalent in our society. I never knew that my baked goods would sell as they have, and I’m so grateful to have local customers now because maybe their business will allow me to earn a living from what I’m doing. It won’t be a lot, but enough to pay the bills, which is really all I need. Somehow, this all worked out…..

Be safe, stay healthy, and try to find the good in each day. Call your parents, friends, aunts and uncles, siblings, neighbors, and anyone you want to catch up with. It’s the perfect time to reconnect, and tell your village how much they mean to you. My village is both local and global, and I’m so grateful to everyone in it, and their influence on me. Thank you for reading my ramblings, I wish you all peace! Andria

Hello Friends!! Wow, it’s been really busy trying to field calls, emails, Facebook messages and comments trying to keep up with questions and orders for the farm stand. This is normally my time to get ahead BEFORE my season starts. I’m grateful for the interest and business, but I’m going through my annual learning curve right now instead of during Memorial Day weekend.

I’m going to bake for the weekends, and work on yard/garden clean up and getting my seeds started during the week. There’s also tending to the chickens, cooking for the household, getting the dogs outside, and maintaining my social media posts so that everyone is informed. Keeping busy helps me stay focused, more so than when I don’t have a set schedule, but it’s a lot of work.

There’s been some recent interest in the Chicken Bus and farm stand, so there will be an interview/segment this week on 9&10 news, and I was interviewed for an article in the Leelanau Enterprise. Wow, it only took 6 years, but people know I’m here now. Thanks to anyone and everyone who has been commenting, promoting Red Gate, and telling their friends about what we’re doing here – I’m so grateful to everyone! And a huge thank you to my regulars, some of you have been coming to my stand since I opened, and I really appreciate that support. There have been other people who I’ve gotten to know recently and the kind words, words of wisdom, and support helps me get through tough times or when I’m feeling worried. What a great community to take a leap of faith in – God bless Leelanau county and its residents!

I won’t force much more, today I’m not feeling terribly insightful – but I am feeling grateful and hopeful for a coming together of community, a feeling of belonging and taking care of each other, and amazed at the human spirit and how people have tried to help each other in so many ways during this very difficult time. Be well and stay safe everyone – I’m praying for health, peace and happiness now and always for my family, friends and community. Peace, Andria