Big Rock Market

• 9191 W. Main Street
• Kalamazoo, MI 49009
• (269) 372-1237
• Website

It’s fresh fruit season Michigan. One of the best times of the year.

I had to do some grocery shopping last week and as I was leaving the house, J asked if I could find fresh Michigan strawberries. Not from Meijer or Hardings…but local, fresh strawberries.

There are a couple of places around Kalamazoo that sell straight from the farm. I was heading out to the Meijer on West Main Street so I actually had a couple of options of places not too far away in Oshtemo Township.

I just kept going west on West Main until I got to what used to be Husted’s Farm Market. It’s now known as Big Rock Market after it was sold to a new family earlier this spring. The market sits right on M-43/West Main Street just to the east of Big Rock Drive in Oshtemo Township. While the name may have changed, the building hasn’t. It’s still that red barn like building sitting in front of an orchard. It even still has the Husted name on the beam hanging off the front awning.

It’s still pretty early in the season so there are not a lot of fruits and veggies out yet. I stopped in for the strawberries and I found them right away on the counter on the outside of the building. My family probably could have eaten a whole flat but I just grabbed two pints. I figured we could always come back in we need more.

I headed inside to see what else I needed. The shop really hasn’t changed at all in the ownership transition. The inside is pretty much a large room with tables, coolers and shelves stocked with fresh produced and locally produced products.

I looked around a bit just to see what they had. One of the things that caught my attention, though I didn’t buy any, was locally produced pasta from West Michigan Pasta and Provisions in Mattawan. There’s a good chance I’ll go back later and grab a couple bags of these.

Next to that display, there is a large display of house made products. It’s mostly jams and jellies right now but there are also some salsas.

As I was walking around, something jumped out at me that I had to buy. My family asks to order pizza from Bilbo’s every so often because they love the salad. Actually, not so much the salad as the salad dressing. I was really surprised to see Big Rock had the jars of Bilbo’s salad dressing for sale. I knew I’d be a hero if I brought home a jar of that dressing so I grabbed one on my way to check out.

I had to get something to eat that salad dressing and they had bags of mixed greens so I grabbed one of those too. I knew my daughter would eat the lettuce because we had the salad dressing. I figured I’d get some good, fresh greens instead of the bagged stuff at the supermarket.

The cost for what I walked out with was just under $24.

I’m glad that another family bought this market to keep it open. It’s kind of become our go-to in the summer time for fresh fruits and veggies over the years. We don’t get up in the morning on weekends to get to a Farmer’s Market so this is the next best thing. As more produce starts coming out of the field, we’ll start making more regular trips. It’s great to have a place like this so close to home.