2012 - Beginning Our Farm

Our farm is finally getting off of the ground. After eleven years of talking, work has finally begun.

The purpose of Baker Heritage Farms is:

• To be good stewards of the land, maintaining the land for future generations;
• Providing a safe and healthy farm environment;
• Providing unaltered, healthy and wholesome food products to the less fortunate, those in need, and to the general public when available; and
• Providing information and working knowledge by sharing experiences and results with those interested in achieving a better lifestyle based on basic traditional values.

Over the next five years our goals include:

• Determining the best use of the land while maintaining good stewardship;
• Plot development, building fences and animal housing facilities;
• Determine the best produce and stock/poultry for improving health, decreasing expenses, and remaining sustainable and environmentally friendly;
• Purchasing appropriate seed, seedlings, and stock; and
• Being an integral part of the community through farming and sharing of experiences.

Baker Heritage Farms will initially be an experimental farming enterprise to educate the public on the advantages of backyard/small acreage farming, and all operations will be documented. Documentation will include costs, types of fruits, vegetables, and small livestock, as well as equipment used, etc. While the farming enterprise will be experimental, it should also reduce food costs while providing healthier and more wholesome food products. Excess production will initially be donated to local churches for feeding the less fortunate. Ultimately, we hope to pass on the land and the farming enterprise to our children and grandchildren.

Our initial operation will include heritage chickens, turkeys, and goats, as well as a variety of heirloom vegetables and fruit trees. The location of initial plots for the chickens, turkeys, goats, vegetables, and fruit trees have been determined and fence lines are being cut (where needed). Over the next 60-days we hope to begin fencing the plots and constructing housing for the animals.

Our Soil

Deep, nearly level to sloping, moderately well drained loamy soils that have a loamy or clayey subsoil over colluvium or shale; on uplands.

Area soils are in broad, smooth areas and in narrow valleys. These deep, nearly level to gently sloping, moderately well drained soils are very slowly permeable. The surface layer is brown silt loom. The subsoil is dark yellowish brown silty clay in the upper part and mottled., yellowish brown and gray silty clay in the lower part over soft shale.

Soils of minor extent are the moderately deep Cowton soils on low ridges and the deep Wing soils, along small drainage ways, that have a high sodium content in the subsoil. Also included are the deep, shaley Kanima soils on strip mine pit spoil banks and soils similar to the Stigler soils on low, circular mounds.

About 75 percent of the soils in this area are in tame pasture and native grass meadow. A few areas are in soybeans and small grains. Both tame pasture and cultivated crops respond favorably to fertilizer and lime. Native vegetation mainly is mid and tall grasses and a few scattered hardwood trees.

The dominant management problem in broad, smooth areas is removing excess surface water. Because of wetness in winter and spring, these soils have medium to low potential for cultivated and sown crops. If row crops are grown on sloping soils, terracing and contour farming are needed to control erosion. Mounded areas that are too irregular for terracing are better suited to tame pasture or sown crops. Crop residue management is needed to help maintain tilth.

The soils have low potential for woodland. The clayey subsoil restricts root development, and seasonal wetness restricts equipment use.

Because of seasonal wetness and the high shrink-swell potential, the soils in this area have low potential for most urban and recreational uses. Potential is high for use of these soils as habitat for bobwhite quail, mourning dove, and cottontail rabbit.

Our Climate

The winter average temperature is approximately 43 degrees (F) and the average daily minimum temperature is 32 degrees (F). The summer average temperature is 80 degrees (F) and the average daily maximum temperature is 93 degrees (F).

Average annual precipitation is 45 inches. Of this, 26 inches, or about 60 percent, usually falls in April through September. The growing season for most crops falls within this period. In 2 years out of 10, the rainfall in April through September is less than 20 inches. The average seasonal snow fall is 4.2 inches. On an average of 2 days, at least 1 inch of snow is on the ground. The number of such days varies greatly from year to year.

The average relative humidity in mid-afternoon is about 50 percent. Humidity is higher at night, and the average at dawn is about 80 percent. The sun shines 70 percent of the time possible in summer and 50 percent in winter. The prevailing wind is from the southwest. Average windspeed is highest, 10 miles per hour, in March.

Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, which occur occasionally, are local and of short duration. The pattern of damage is variable and spotty.