Wendy and Dan Babcock’s passion for growing healthy food has been fueled by personal experience and life lessons. When Wendy’s mother passed away in her arms over a decade ago, Wendy knew she would put her everything into building the farm into what her mom hoped it would become. Today, when folks who knew Wendy’s mom see the farm in all its glory, they tell Wendy how very proud her mom would be of her. Wendy and Dan treat their beloved farm animals with compassion, their soil with respect, and truly honor and value the nourishment that comes from well-loved land and animals.
Serendipity Farms sits on dozens of acres of beautiful, rolling pastures, surrounded by woodland. In 2013, Dan and Wendy started farming animals as they expanded beyond their vegetable production. “But, as word spread through farm visits, videos, pictures, and posts about the connection we have with our animals and the passion we have for doing what we do, it grew into the business we have today,” Wendy remarked. The farm has been certified Animal Welfare Approved which guarantees their animals are raised outdoors on pasture or range for their entire lives on an independent family farm using truly sustainable agriculture methods. Their farm remains the only farm in northern Michigan to hold this certification.
Dan and Wendy rotationally graze their animals on different pastures to stave off parasites and to give the land a resting period. Wendy explained, “There’s more life under us (pasture) than on top, and you have to keep that sweet balance.” Serendipity Farms’ birds stay busy out in the fields scratching and pecking for insects. In the summer months, their pigs live in their woodlands, so they have a natural canopy of shade from the trees and farrow naturally as they build their nests from boughs and limbs of trees they find. The farm’s grassfed cows rotate through 40 acres of pasture and an additional 40 acres of open meadows where they can chew their cud while basking in the sunshine. Livestock guard dogs patrol the land, keeping the animals safe from predators.
You can receive Serendipity Farm’s meats and eggs delivered to your door with their new home delivery service. They also work with many local farms including Bear Creek Organic and Harvest Thyme Farm & Vineyards to bring you the best of Michigan.
Molly Stepanski is the Local Food Coordinator for northeast Michigan and the Statewide Sales Supervisor. She enjoys reading with her seven year old, planting and hiking in the dirt, cooking up her own recipes, drinking farmhouse cider, and eating lots of fresh, seasonal produce (and anything deep-fried, in accordance with her southern heritage). She owns and operates Presque Isle Farm with her family and is a founding member and V.P. of the NE Michigan Food & Farming Network. Contact her at [email protected].