Introducing our newest farm family: Two Tracks Acres near Grass Lake
This season the Market welcomes a new farm: Two Tracks Acres, a certified organic farm in the Grass Lake area. In addition to vegetables, farmers Stephanie Willette and Taik Fountaine also grow gourmet mushrooms on their 10 acres.
The two started Two Tracks in 2011. “We’re from Grand Rapids, but we moved to the area to intern at another vegetable farm,” says Stephanie. “We started the business in 2011 but didn’t get this property until 2013.
“Our old farm house was built in the 1890s,” she added, “and the land has been farmed in some way ever since – vegetables, a dairy operation, hay and now us.”
Stephanie says they are lucky to have a barn and a house on the site. “We live in the house and use the barn for storage.”
Before farming full time, Taik worked as a sprinkle fitter and Stephanie managed the highly regarded Ann Arbor Farmers Market. “It took us a long time to get to the point where we could both do this full time,” she said.
Finally, in 2020, they took that step.
Now they have six hoop houses that allow them to grow lots of early spring produce. “By April we usually have radishes, lettuce, pak choi, kale, chard, arugula, pea shoots, salad mix, and a good mix of hearty greens,” she said.
Their summer crop includes tomatoes, onions, potatoes, greens, melons and much more, while fall brings another flush of salad greens and lettuces as well as other veggies. “We usually have veggies through Thanksgiving,” she said.
Stephanie Willette and Taik Fountaine with their daughters on their farm, Two Tracks Acres, near Grass Lake.
So where did the name for Two Tracks Acres come from?
“There is a two track running to the back of the property,” said Stephanie, referring to a common sight on farm fields of random tire tracks made by trucks or tractors. But their name had another inspiration.
“When we started, we raised chickens and pigs that left footprints everywhere they went on the farm, hence the name,” she said. “Now we joke that the two ‘tracks’ are from the deer and sandhill cranes.”
There’s potential for other tracks as well. Says Stephanie: “Our family has grown so now we share this wonderful world with our two little girls, Lucy and May.”