Leelanau fresh farm stand built on 28 years of cherries

Special to the Enterprise On a quiet stretch of East Kohler Road in Suttons Bay, a small sign points to a farm stand stocked with sweet corn, purple potatoes, buckets of flowers in every summer color and a small guest book filled with notes of gratitude from customers over the years that keep coming back for more.

Linda and Gary Thornton opened Leelanau Fresh Farm Stand in 2024 but neither of them expected it to take off the way it has.

“Honestly, we were surprised the first time we put stuff out there,” Linda said. “At the end of the day we were surprised we had something in the (cash) box.”