In his midteens, every Saturday Jimmy Spencer would sit next to his dad, who was a financial adviser, and help him on the computer.

“I knew that’s not what I wanted to do in the future,” he says. “I did not want to be stuck behind a desk. I wanted to be outside, playing in the dirt, hunting, fishing and doing all that.”

So, at 17, Jimmy — with the support of his dad, Jim — decided to give farming a try on their 173 acres in Harbor Springs, known as a tourist and resort town in northwest Lower Michigan. The first try at a garden included plowing a 10-acre hayfield and trying to grow vegetables. The weeds grew taller than the crops the first few years, Jimmy says.

But, with each year, the passion for farming also grew. There were two choices, as he saw it, try harder or quit. The farm slowly evolved over the next few years.  

Jimmy went off to Albion College and worked the farm in the summer. They sold produce at the end of the driveway out of an honest box. After a year, Jimmy transferred to Michigan State University where he studied agriculture and horticulture.

As his farming skills improved, what to do with the produce became an issue. Farmers markets had not become popular, and “local” was not a buzzword, so Sharon, Jimmy's mother, began canning as much of the excess as she could.

The county deemed the roadside stand a traffic issue, and the idea of building a market on the farm was hatched. Jim, Sharon and Jimmy worked together to build a farm market off the side of the existing dairy barn on the property. As time went on, the farm became a small general store.

People started bringing children, grandchildren and guests to feed animals, pick berries and go on wagon or hayrides. “We saw they were coming for entertainment,” Jimmy says. “They also very often asked for recommendations for places offering lunch.”

While chefs were calling the farm for local produce to meet newfound demands of consumers, Jimmy says, “It proved difficult to execute due to the supply chain, packaging, deliveries and invoicing.”

So, in 2007, they served their first lunch — a $6 grilled cheese on a panini machine. 

A need to expand their offerings and culinary skills spurred the addition of ticketed, five-course, farm-to-table dinners. So, what’s a fancy dinner without wine?

That same year, Jimmy had been slowly cutting down trees on the hill in front of the market to make way for a vineyard, recalls his wife, Marci. “I got an email from a customer, Jim Palmer, who is now a partner and dear friend. He thought our place would make a great winery,” she says. “Our 10-year plan got accelerated because of his great inspiration and financial backing.”

Three years later, the first vineyard, Sunset Hill Vineyard, was completely cleared, and 2,500 vines were put into the ground in 2011. A few years later, they planted some hops and started brewing beer.

“Some of our hops comes from the farm, but the majority is sourced from Michigan growers,” Marci says. “We try to locally source everything we use. Our brewer, Trace Redmond, is very bold and embraces local products, so the strawberries and rhubarb in his strawberry-rhubarb beer will come from the local farmers market.”

They offer 16 wines, 12 beers and four hard ciders.

New to the farm in 2020 is a pizza oven. This has led to expanding their 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. hours daily to include Friday or Saturday pizza days from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The farmer’s wife

Fifteen years ago, Marci Petzinger escaped the Arizona heat with a trip to Michigan. “I came looking for a job, and farmer Jimmy hired me for the farmers markets and to do farm education programs, like the field trips,” she says. “I guess he liked that I arrived with fishing poles strapped to the roof of my car.”

A summer of work and friendship ensued, which later morphed into courtship and marriage that following fall.

Today they have four children, Emma, 13, JJ (Jimmy Jr.), 11, Lily, 7, and Sawyer, 5. All are active on the farm.

Jimmy is a catch-all, overseeing and participating with everything at Pond Hill Farm Vineyards and Winery, which is located on the scenic Tunnel of Trees just 5 miles north of downtown Harbor Springs.

Marci has focused her role more on the marketing side of the business. “When I started, they didn't have a logo or a website,” she says. “Back then, it was a farm where people could pick up pumpkins and do a little shopping. Being I have a background in graphic design, I took that challenge on and also the social media side of things.”

She also imagined the possibilities the farm offered and played a large role in creating the café, winery, brewery, playground, volleyball court and other special attractions.

Pond Hill Farm is designed to be kid- and dog-friendly. “We love to be outside hiking, mushroom hunting and all that kind of stuff, so we were thinking, how can we motivate kids and get them excited about being outside, in nature and hiking?” Marci explains. “When you’re hiking with little kids, they sometimes decide they're done, they throw themselves on the ground and you end up carrying them back. We thought, what could we do through the woods that would really engage kids?”

The answer: hidden gnome houses where children can collect letters of the alphabet to solve a code word. “We have a lot of woods filled with moss and streams and it’s like magical — perfect for gnomes,” Marci says.

About a 1.5-mile trail through the woods and farm is filled with gnome houses. A map is provided, and when each gnome house is opened, participants write the letter on the map. At the end, the letters spell a word that can be redeemed in the market for a special prize. Each gnome house is based on different “collector” gnomes, who like to gather things from the property. Each offers a story about the gnomes that live there and their environments.

“Parents can bring drinks on the trail, so they can have a beverage as they're hiking,” Marci says.

Real farm life

The Pond Hill Farm, which has grown to 238 acres, has a rustic, real and intentional, on-farm vibe. An on-site saw mill provides wood for the countertops throughout the facility and slabs customers can purchase. “We wanted to use pieces from our land in the building,” Marci says.

The farm has goats, pigs, chickens and bunnies, too. “That’s been dramatically downsized since I first came to the farm,” Marci says, noting there used to be upward of 40 cows, and a whole herd of sheep, pigs and chickens. “The whole process was not financially viable, so now the animals live here for our guests to enjoy,” she adds.

People particularly like their chicken wagon, a mobile chicken house that allows chickens to forage on new ground as the wagon and fencing are moved to new areas of the farm as cleanup after harvest.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the farm hosted many educational fields trips, which Marci hopes will soon return. “We are teaching kids about where their food comes from, parts of the plant they eat, and making good choices in what they eat,” she adds.

There are four hoophouses on the farm with three heated. “We’re growing things year-round like kale and spinach in the winter, and in the summer, we’re doing everything from tomatoes and broccoli to cucumbers and peppers — it’s really the whole gamut,” Marci says.

In the fall, the farm hosts its very popular fall festivals on the weekends, including music, bonfires, squash and pumpkins. They can draw 1,000 people a day. 

“Our giant pumpkins are a hit,” Marci says. “My husband is obsessed with growing giant pumpkins. It’s his favorite thing. … Well, it’s more like pumpkins, fish and beer.”

The farm was named after the pond Jimmy’s dad dug on the property when he was a youngster. It’s used for irrigation, but also has schools of fish — rather large trout.

“We have obtained a license and will now be able to replace the store-bought, smoked trout we serve in our café and our trout dinners with our own stock,” Marci says.

While the pond is part of the trail system on the farm, visitors are invited to feed the fish, but not to drop a line — that’s reserved for the owners.