Beginning Farmer Revives Traditional Methods for a Modern-Day Operation
In partnership with: Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development
What started as a hobby has become a way of life for Heather Wright Wendel of Apple Acres Farm in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Spanning 14 acres just minutes outside of Houghton, the small-scale regenerative farm sells an array of fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs and eggs via a community supported agriculture, or CSA, model, as well as products like honey, maple syrup and apple cider vinegar.
Wright Wendel and her husband, Caleb, broke soil in 2018 but officially launched the farm in 2020. Wright Wendel is the main grower, while Caleb is the builder.
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Wright Wendel eased into farming while working as a full-time environmental engineering consultant in Duluth, Minnesota. Back then, gardening was a stress relief outlet for her. With time, the garden grew – some bees here, some more vegetables there – before she and Caleb decided to go all in, purchasing their current land. Although she has shifted from engineering for now, her background still supports the farm.
“I spend my winters doing a lot of researching and designing things so that when the summer comes, I can be out there just implementing,” Wright Wendel says. “Not everything succeeds, but it’s kind of fun, even when I do have failures. I learn a lot.”
Buzzing With Activity
Apple Acres Farm is strongly rooted in agritourism, offering overnight lodging and tours, from hiking with the couple’s Nigerian dwarf goats to beekeeping or wild mushroom foraging classes.
“I wanted to help people connect with their food in different ways,” Wright Wendel says. “So, I wanted our farm to be open to visitors and let people experience what used to be a traditional farm.”
The animals featured in these tours all play important roles on the farm. Besides providing honey, the bees are vital crop pollinators, and the goats help manage overgrowth as they graze. Plus, the farm’s free-ranging chickens help cycle nutrients in the soil due to their scratching habits. These birds also devour pests like ticks.
“We don’t really have too many issues with disease or pests in the garden,” says Wright Wendel, crediting the farm animals for helping with pest control.
An Old-Fashioned Approach
Natural pest management is just one component of the farm’s “back to basics” approach that utilizes permaculture – a whole-systems technique that views farms as natural ecosystems – while steering away from chemicals.
“It is a more labor-intensive way to farm, but it ends up being easier in many ways because rather than being really focused on managing pests, we’re more focused on producing healthy plants that can withstand the regular stresses that you would imagine a plant has to deal with,” says Wright Wendel, adding these methods help create nutrient-dense soil that ultimately produces nutrient-packed food.
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The farm operates off-grid, relying on solar energy to power the studio loft farm-stay, barn and main house. While this limits growth in some ways – for instance, they can only harvest so much produce at once without a large walk-in cooler to keep things fresh – it also inspires innovation.
“I think it makes us more creative in some ways, and we really try to think about how can we do things without just always expanding our energy footprint,” says Wright Wendel, adding they might one day solve the cooler problem by adding an old-fashioned root cellar.
Apple Acres Farm is one of several small-scale farms in the area, and Wright Wendel notes that connecting with other U.P. farmers is inspiring.
“It’s a very supportive community,” Wright Wendel says.
Learn more about Apple Acres Farm at appleacresfarm.com.