13JUN10

Greetings from Baker Heritage Farms;

As many of you already know, we had severe weather the end of May, which put a damper on accomplishing much around the farm. We are way behind and do not have much hope for catching up in the near future; however, this may be the best thing that has happened to the farm.

Our farm crew keeps shrinking. David is no longer on the farm, Danielle is in a family way and her participation is limited and will be further limited as time goes on. And now, Donald has accepted a part-time position with the church. While all of this may seem limiting (it is), it also may be a blessing in disguise.

One of our goals with the farm is to build a farm business to supplement our retirement. With all of the changes, we have learned that time management skills are a high priority. We are currently working on an acceptable schedule that will allow all of us to participate, as a family, in the farming enterprise. This should improve both the operation of the farm and our piece of mind (we are hoping to have time to spend setting on our deck just enjoying the evening).

The children are now an active part of our farm crew. Elizabeth and Logan are working with the Turkey's and the Chicken's, which is a great help to Danielle.

Adam has been the primary caretaker of the seedlings, but we hope that he will have less to do with them in the near future. This past Friday evening, when Donald got home from church, we all went down to the production fields as a family, and planted just under 150 pepper plants. We got two partial rows of each variety planted, and plan to plant tomatoes Wednesday morning before it gets too hot (yes, summer appears to have arrived). We can only hope and pray that they survive the month as we do not yet have the irrigation turned on for the production fields.

With the exception of Adam and Logan, the entire family will be off the farm for 10-days. This will result in a very busy and hectic schedule from now until Thursday evening (we leave the farm early Friday morning). Some of the chores that need to be completed before we leave include cleaning out the chicken house (the first cleaning of the actual house), clearing out the chicken droppings under the house, hopefully getting them more hay, and cleaning the turkey tubs. We also hope to get at least the tomatoes planted as well.

Danielle will hopefully complete tying down the fence around the turkey pen (we use hog rings) so that we can get the rock down as soon as we get back. They are getting big and will be ready to go into the pen by mid-July. Donald is debating whether or not he should enclose their lean-to so that they have additional protection at night.

As soon as we return, we will need to get the irrigation system up and running (hopefully it will not be too late). An unusual request, but we will actually be praying for light rain while we are gone to help support the peppers and tomatoes that will be in the ground.

Donald took the little tractor to town to mow the property there. If he did not mow it, there was a very good chance the city would send the company a nasty letter and threaten to do it themselves, and charge the company. So it is done and should not need it again for two weeks.

Adam and Logan will be in charge of the farm while we are gone, but they have been taking an active part in the farm operations and should not have any problems.

Hopefully we will be able to update the blog before we leave.

Until next time,

Blessings from Baker Heritage Farms

"The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly." Joshua 14:9