12MAY08

Greetings from Baker Heritage Farms.

This post is a little late, but better late then never. This weekend was an eventful weekend.

Donald and David went on a shopping spree on Saturday and picked up the rest of the fencing material for the test garden. Hopefully we will get the fence up in the next two weeks. They also picked up vegetable seeds while they were out. As we are getting a late start, we will not be planting heirloom seeds this year; however, we will be planting organic seed. As we are trying to maintain the integrity of even the test garden, we do not want to contaminate it with seed that has been organically modified or that has been altered in anyway. We plan to plant sweet corn, sunflowers, onions, squash, watermelon, and some other seed to at least see how the garden will do. We still need to get soil samples of the main plots and get them to the laboratory as soon as possible.

Donald and David also worked on the hen house, and were able to get half the floor in and two more sides up. David will now need to design and build the nesting boxes so that the hen house can be completed. Once completed, the fence will be installed. Due to recent events, the fence is being redesigned, and will be imbedded in the ground with rebar used to prevent anything from entering under the fence. In addition, electric fencing may be installed around the parameter as extra protection.

The turkey shelter was also completed, and Sunday the turkeys were let loose in the run for the first time. Unfortunately, they did not make it to see daylight Monday. As a result, the fence will be reinforced. One thing that the farm constantly produces is rock. We have several rock piles that have gathered on the hill and will be using this rock as a parameter around the entire pen. In addition, electric fencing will be installed on the outside of the chicken wire to further insulate the turkeys from outside intrusion. We are still considering if we will provide cover over the pen, though this may not be possible due to the size of the run.

We are making progress, though it has been slow. As time goes on, we will continue to work on all aspects of the farm to ensure that we get a good strong start in 2013.

Future plans include:

• Preparing the east pasture road which entails clearing the fence line. This road will act as the 25 foot buffer from one neighbors property to the garden and livestock plots;
• Preparing the production garden plots for winter cover crops;
• Prepare planting areas for the fruit trees and grape vines;
• Complete the fence line clearing and install a fence for the goats;
• Start preparing the livestock plots.

Blessings to all from Baker Heritage Farms.