One might think that the purchase of our property at 3131 S. Duck Lake Road in Highland Michigan prompted me to start large animal husbandry, but I have wanted to own a farm since I was a young girl. Although the house and property were a wreck, the purchase of the property just gave me the opportunity to follow my dreams.
Growing up in a subdivision in Novi there wasn’t much room for livestock, but we did have a small garden where I helped my mom take care of fruit and vegetable plants. Over the next few years, I would meet my husband Derek Fowler and by 2003 we were married. Shortly after, our first daughter Lana was born and then 16 months later came her sister Kyra.
One day on our annual Easter gathering at his Grandmothers house, we overheard someone say that the property next-door was finally going up for sale. We decided to take a short walk through some dense woods to have a sneak preview of the house. Although the house and property were a wreck, I could see it’s potential. In 2011 it was final, and we closed on the house.
I wanted to Utilize the stable on the property, and did a lot of research into many different kinds of animals. There was only one clear choice, Alpacas! So by the summer of 2012, we were fixing up the property to make sure it was safe for our first 4 new alpaca “Mamas” to come home. That’s when Oasis Acres Was born with its three owners Lillian Benton, Derek Fowler and me Rebecca Fowler. Over the next few years, my family and I continued learning and grow our company. Our soul focus was the breeding and selling of high quality show alpacas.
Becoming more Knowledgeable and successful with breeding and showing alpacas, we decided to expand out company with the introduction of Shetland sheep in 2015. This Heritage breed of sheep is the perfect fiber animal for our farm.
The next step for the company was obvious, We needed to get the beautiful fiber produced by our animals into the hands of people that could enjoy it for years to come. This prompted us in August of 2019 to start construction of the farm store. Derek and I worked tirelessly over the next few months, after work and on weekends, to build something we could be proud of. By March of 2020 it was complete! To our surprise, the opening of our store just happened to coincide with a pandemic that would close down the country. I knew as things got worse it would be so important to bring my love and passion to the people. As soon as we thought it was safe I started our free farm tours.
These tours are designed around educating the public to the ways of farm life in the modern world. We use hands on experience to spark a love of plants and animals in others.
I’m not sure where our adventure will take us next, but you can stay up to date with our adventure on Facebook or our event Calendar.