Baker's Acres of Chenango

Our work horse and Sugar Shack

2011-11-11T04:19:00.001-08:00

Here's our work horse and a few photos of our sugar shack that is coming together quite nicely. All the siding, flooring and lumber (except for poles and trusses) was cut and sawed out from our Hemlock trees here on the farm. It's a 16x24 structure and will be so much better boiling and processing our sap next spring!! The sliding door on the front is from my grandfather's barn that fell down last winter due to snow load! The windows are from our house when we replaced them. The entryway door is also from our house and the wood door on the back is also from my grandfather's barn. The goal is to paint it red w/ green trim to match the roof.

The floor boards still need to be nailed down and the 2x6 evaporator needs to be installed into its final location and smokestack installed as well.

The Baby Watch Continues.....

2011-03-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

The weather here at the Farm is cold and the snow is still blowing and the the wind howls outside on the hill. Even though things are still feeling very much like winter the barn is cozy warm with heat lamps in place and tons of fresh straw. Here at Bakers Acres it's Spring as we are welcoming our second batch of lambs.

The news of a babies arrival is always exciting. That time that we wait the excitement grows in anticipation! We were lucky enough to be part of this birthing process! The boys and I all took part and didn't miss a beat! We are so very lucky to have these amazing experiences.....our children are even more lucky to experience the circle of life at this age......we agree that learning about this amazing circle is helping our children become strong well rounded individuals. How many three year olds do you know that can say that they helped to deliver lambs. Those of you who are lucky enough to have raised animals know what I mean. Life is so dear to us all yet we don't always know how to handle the challenges that it throws at us. We feel that raising these amazing animals with our children is going to better ready them for all different nooks and crannies of life both big and small.

Kizzy was a second time mom the other day! We are thrilled to introduce you all to her three babies! Two ewe lambs and one ram! Kizzy is a wonderful kind and caring mama! Sheep are very tender hearted as this photo well shows and motherhood falls into place without a second though it seems. we have not yet named these little ones but will keep you posted as we come up with them! keep any eye out for more baby updates!

Keeping Cozy in the Cold

2011-01-29T17:16:00.001-08:00

An new room is now finished in the barn just for babies! Rob's brother does wonderful work and I gave him and idea of what I was looking for to keep our baby goats and lambs warm for the harsh winter and early spring weather and safe. He then made an amazing little room. It's fully inclosed with a wonderful hand made door, exterior window for the natural light and interior window so that the sights and sounds of the barn will be heard. The windows and ceiling are safely lined with heavy plastic to keep the heat from the lamp in. It's amazing to walk in there on these cold days and feel the heat! They are so very cozy warm in their new space!

They are enjoying the nice cozy space!

The room also has custom made grain and hay feeders.

More work is being done with changing the large pens. Marc split the pens on one side of the barn in half and the yearlings are enjoying the new space as well as the Alpines who now have much more room to run and play. The hay drops are getting lowered for the sheep which will cut down majorly on waste and mess.

The Ram pen (once a Billy Goat pen) is getting reworked as well. Right now it's a very closed up space and the hay drop is too high for the sheep. It will be opened up more for light, and made a little bigger for all the Rams to fit much more comfortably. I can't wait to see how it will be when it's done. The return date for Billy the Finn Ram is in late Feb so the pen will be finished by then.

The barn is really coming together for us and all of our farm family! If you get the chance to come and see it please stop in!

Lets talk about honestly......

2011-01-28T09:01:00.000-08:00

Today I'm posting sad news as have to tell you all that Puzzle, when purchased her was very ill unbeknownst to us. As many of you know we happily brought home our first ever dairy goat and were thrilled to have stared out herd.

We knew upon arrival at the "farm" that if we chose to take Puzzle that she would be a type of rescue project for us. We are a little known for that and I have to admit Puzzle has taught us a major lesson, one that was very important to for me to learn, "you can't save everything". She was underfeed, majorly, her coat was a mess and she had sad eyes. We thought we were doing the right thing as we loaded her up and headed home.

As we got Puzzle settled in her new home inside out of the cold, cozy with more hay then she knew what to do with and a fresh bed of straw, water at any time that she would want it and grain, which was a big difference from the cracked corn that she was eating when we met her.....She was shy but friendly.

With in a couple of days we knew that she wasn't "right" . She had come from a small herd and was currently on her own until we knew that she wasn't sick. We did let our two new Alpines visit with her in hopes of perking her up but they were not allowed to stay with her for any extended time and honestly she paid them no mind. I had a friend of mine who is a farmer come to look at her....she noticed that she was doing loads of teeth grinding and that she seemed to not care to have her hind legs touched. I called the vet right away!

We are very lucky here to have a large animals vet that works as a team and they are very good with goats and sheep as well. This is wonderful for us and I know many people find themselves with a large animal vet that deals mainly with cows and horses. After looking her over closely and checking on the babies she informed me that her fever was 105* and her worm load was crazy high. She feared then that it was Meningeal worm. This worm is a rotten little thing......It comes from white tail deer who happily pass it along in their droppings for all the snails and slugs to then eat and if goats or sheep and other animals as well happen to consume them while out in the field the problems begin. There hardly ever is a happy ending. It takes many meds and if the animal lives there is often some permanent damage to the brain and spine.

I got the run down on the signs, the meds and the road ahead of us. I worked around the clock. I made more trips then I have ever made threw out the nights to the barn......Suddenly we found her in labor......She wasn't due until late March/early April. I was thankful that I had been studying and quizzing myself on delivering the lamb for the past month. I was as ready as I was going to be and just hoped that their bodies were enough like sheep that I was doing what I needed to. A quick call to the vet was made and she informed me that I would probably have to do all the delivering since she was far to weak.

I pulled on my glove and got set up. She didn't complain, and didn't' stain.....one baby was out and what I would have thought of as about the right size for the age. Another was on it's way....I helped out a little with that one and is was just so tiny.....stroking her head as she chewed away at hay, very unfazed. I was crying. Telling her how sorry I was as these tiny pink lifeless babies arrived. There was a little bit of a break before number three. Suddenly a gush and out it started....and then, stuck. This one was the bigger of at three and the heart break worsened as I then had to step in, and it was clearly kicking. Thankful my wonderful husband was by my since reminding me that not all things can be saved.

Puzzle never stood again after this.....she was eating find, no longer had a fever, drinking but her hind quarters seemed to no longer function. I called the vet again and did as she advised more strong meds, reposition her a couple of times a day and do some nerve testing. She felt that the worms may have done to much damage but wanted to try one more round of meds. Still nothing. I did a little research on my own and talked to a couple people about sling building. Rob fashioned a great one to her but alas nothing changed and again I called the vet.

This was her last visit to Puzzle. She later informed me that she (not the first vet that came to the house as there is a team of them) knew of the location that she came from and that she was very disappointed that she had been sold and without proper information. She stated that she had a history of treating her. This sadden me and yet, I knew that we had given her a wonderful home for the short time that we had her here at Bakers Acres.

I have learned so very much from this. First off again, I can NOT save everything. I've learned many more questions to ask about current and past health and how they were raised, what foods they eat, where they graze and how to take a good look at their coloring, external body temp, coat texture, smell, feet and teeth. I've become a master of taking an animals temp and giving shots. I also had a heartbreaking lesson in loss, of our animal and of her kids. We however have not given up and although the lessons that I've learned were hard and not ideal to say the least they have made me a better herd/flock owner and hobby farm operator and I'm grateful for that.

Time to Lesson the Blow

2011-01-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

Tyce a 4 week old buckling

Not that long ago my husband found a blog that he thought I would really enjoy following, I would like to share this with you because any of you following us here at Bakers Acres I'm sure would enjoy it! So please take a minute and check out - blog.tricottdairy.com. This blog follows a family run goat dairy. And I would encourage you all to read the entry on Jan. 12. I have read if several times over and have had my boys all read it as well.

The farm is located in Mexico NY where currently is very much snow country. I really wanted to make it to their farm to see just how they have it set up, run it, and of course see all the goats that they had for sale. We really had wanted to get there a week or more ago but with the weather and Puzzle not mention our own colds getting there seemed to be a problem. Friday the realization that the sling wasn't changing the condition of her we decided to make plans for Saturday afternoon it was time to lesson the blow and show our boys and ourselves a farm that took pride in the way that they raise their animals and care of them. We headed out!

I need to back up for just a moment to tell you that my two older boys had pockets full of money ready for the trip. After seeing the babies that were for sale they saw two that they really thought would be wonderful to bring home. This was their own money and we felt that this would be a wonderful start for them.

All of us loaded into the truck and off we went. As we neared the farm Rob and I decided that if either of us had any doubt of the care of the animals we would walk away. After all that we had been going threw with Puzzle we weren't going to risk bringing home another sick animal. To my delight it was the kind of farm that you hope you are lucky enough to visit, learn from and bring home animals from!

Jinglebell meeting Baxter for the first time.

I cant' even begin to tell you what a wonderful trip this was. This family run farm was amazing. It ran like clock work. The animals were wonderfully healthy, clean and friendly! I was even lucky enough to be greeted by a roo landing on my head in the barn! Ha it was great! Now to get down to the real secret of this farm, the people. They really were what made this farm amazing. You couldn't have met a more genuine group of well rounded, kind, energetic, welcoming people. Each and everyone one of them from Parents to youngest daughter were a joy to meet. I hope that this will be a wonderful friendship that will carry on.

Jinglebell-Bryce just fell in love with the name!

We were lucky enough to get a tour of the barn, see milking in action, ask tons of question and get loads of information! I hope that we get the chance to go back in the near future and I do hope that they can make a trip this way in the future to see how these wonderful little goats are doing.

Another shade of red

2011-01-22T20:14:00.001-08:00

Our Ruby is a different shade of red.

We are very happy to welcome Ruby of Hut on the Hill located in New Woodstock to our farm. She is actually the mom to my first sheep Kizzy and Grandmother to Oreo (Kizzy's baby). We now really have an extended family. We are so very please to have her! If you look closely at this photo that was taking during a past lambing by her previous owner she is wonderfully loving! She has a sweet face with eyes that look as if they are wearing eye liner and the most beautifully soft pink nose ever!

She is a purebred Finn Ewe that is expecting. We are so very thrilled to add to our sheep. Our Finn are extremely loving and social. They can be nervous with stranger but warm up to you quickly. All of our Finn love to be pet and talked to which is wonderful since our boys are in the pens loving them up non-stop!

Ruby has a wonderful history of throwing multiples and her top number is 5 lambs at once! WOW! I'm hoping for 3 because I personally feel that is more about the moms being able to care for them and not feel stretched to thin. This however isn't something that we can control. Finns are know for "litters" of babies at a time. I believe that world record is 9! Wow! Can you imagine!? I'm going to be very happy if everyone is healthy! Our first babies we will be expecting from the mid to end of March! Please be sure to check back with us from time to time for updates on the mama's as the excitement grows with our lambing season approaching!

When Ruby was dropped off Billy our Finn Ram that came to us from Pa and is an out cross (meaning that he is not related to any of my ewes and that was why we ended up in Pa to get a Ram as all Ram's that I could find in NY were related-this is a growing problem that I hope Billy can help with) was loaded up to make "social" call to Hut on the Hill! Mary has reported that he is "having a party" and seems to be very comfortable with the ladies that he is visiting there! I will be so very excited to see the outcome of his visit. He will be returning to us near the end of Feb. where he will be put into a newly designed pen with his buddies! I will soon post pictures of some of the changes we are in hopes of making in the barn.

There is much to be done as Spring approaches and that will lead to a busy lambing and kidding season for us here at the Farm. The excitement is running high as this will be the first year our babies will be born here!

Slow and steady.......

2011-01-15T18:39:00.000-08:00

Even with the threat of sever cold weather around the corner and more snow in the forecast the trusses were raised today for the Sugar Shack! Rob his brother Marc and friend Matt got to work in the snow and the wind to get all eight trusses up. This was no easy feat as the trusses were dropped of at the edge of our dead end dirt road in front of house. The truck was too massive and there was to much snow to really have to much more of an option. The guys then had the daunting task of lugging them from down in front of the house up and around to the location threw the snow. They of course managed just fine!

this photo shows Marc up and Matt on the ground

The trusses are all in place now and the fun will so begin. They have the window and door placement pretty much planned and the roof coloring I think has been chosen as dark green. Now to see if we can be the sap run? Spring is a busy beginning for us here at Bakers Acres this year. Not only will the sap be running but we will be having baby lamb and kids being born here on the farm for the first time! The excitement is almost too much. There is much to do to get ready for the season! We can't wait!

The start of our little heard.....

2011-01-08T17:28:00.000-08:00

I've always like the Green Mountains of Vermont and at one time thought I might just see our family end up there before we found our dream farm here at Bakers Acres. We made a trip to Leicester VT in the middle of a nice little snow storm. This was a two part trip and this part was the second. We arrived late at night and enjoyed the fun of a hotel for the night. This our boys thought was just a blast and the excitement of the trip was winding everyone up as tight as a top and finally they drifted off to sleep......

The next morning we approached a beautiful farm nestled into the country side. We were pleasantly greeted by Mr. and Mrs Moore and some of their 10 Children. All I can say is that it was such a breath of fresh air to see a large family that was such a wonderful working unit. They welcomed us into the the home and farm.

The Alpines that they keep and use are for a family run business Garland Goat Soap of Vermont. Please check them out at http://www.garlandgoatsoap.com/! We were very lucky to come home with two of their beautifully crafted bars. Not to mention the wonderful Raw Milk that they also sell at their farm. That of course didn't last long in our house as we here in the Baker Household go threw about 5 gallon a week. This was also a test for my boys. I felt that if they could handle drinking raw cows milk then I hoped they would be able to handle raw goats milk when the time came.

One of the Moores daughters was in charge of the goats and we were happy to meet her and hear all that she had to tell us about them. When going to a farm where animals are so well cared for to purchase animals I often wonder just how hard it is to watch them get loaded and carted away to a new farm......this is something that at some point we will have to deal with.....but I'm rushing to that yet.

Meet April she was the oldest of the triplets and looked very much like her Aunt.

This is May! She came second and looked much like her mother.

The third sister had been purchased by the families vet and her name was June!

They are 6 months old and as sweet as can be. They were bottle babies that had been taken from their mothers at birth. I know that this sounds harsh but from all that I have learned and from what the Moores daughter informed us that it was much less traumatic to take them right away then to take them after they had bonded for a week. That made since although I'm sure that I will have guilt over it even though we will put the milk to good use.

After a wonderful tour of the Moores homestead where we learned that the raised chickens, meat birds, processed their own birds, had beefers, a milker, a sugar shack and had the chance to meet the mother and Aunt of our girls the children enjoyed sledding! We enjoyed conversation. It was very nice, very nice indeed. Threw all of this the two kids were walking and playing with us. They have wonderful personalities and we really felt that they would be a perfect fit in our starting heard.

As we loaded our girls and thanked the Moores for their hospitality I felt a wonderful sense of making a right choice. The right choice to add goats to our farm. The right choice to have made this trip. All leading to the great opportunity to meet the Moores. I do hope that our paths cross again as some point......

April and May are settled in nicely and are very cozy in our barn. They welcome us every time we come into the barn and when we let them out they enjoy playing with us all. We hope to breed them this coming fall! We will keep you posted on them as they grow and enjoy the farm at Bakers Acres!

Farmer John and Jason

2011-01-07T19:43:00.000-08:00

For the last two days I had been trying to set up a meeting time with Farmer John to see his wonderful goats. He has several listed for sale and I really wanted to try to arrange to get a couple. When I was in contact with him and he offered us the chance to come and see the goats first hand I jumped at it. I was thrilled at the chance to meet him and see just how he does things, ask questions from someone with years of experience and knowledge in an area that I'm just getting started in and that we are so very interested in. The plan was made to meet him around 4:30pm Friday.

Friday arrived and I found myself loaded in the car with four boys, a dog and all that we needed to stay for one night at our final destination point in VT. The problem was that my husband was still in a teleconference and the snow was starting to really come down. As the clock ticked and my worry of never even leaving the driveway started to consume me. Finally he arrived at my window and said we were ready. A quick call to Farmer John to see if us arriving a little later then planned would be ok and we were on our way!

Farmer John is the owner of 110 goats that we later found out were all breed and partner Jason greeted us. John was out plowing as the snow was coming quickly came down around us. It was pretty - all that snow and the soft glow of light coming out of the barn door.

I have to admit I was a little nervous that they would look at us as if we were crazy, arriving in a snow storm for starters, later then we had planned due to the weather and as we started to get out of the car......the trail of children we brought with us...... To my relief they didn't blink an eye and my nerves were set at ease

The barn was amazing. As we walked in we were greeted by all the animals that clearly adored John and Jason. Poka Spot that is shown above was a big hit with my boys. She was nose to nose with all three of the older boys and they couldn't get enough of her.

John has a list a ready for us to choose from, names, parents, milking records tons of info that was really helpful. When it comes right down to it the boys who play a very active role in all that we do on the farm had the final say and for them it was based on looks. Stanton loved Holly since she had one horn and Bryce adored Domineak-and I know I'm killing the spelling here sorry about that. Both with wonderful colors and eager to come when called and both breed.

John and Jason were so very kind as to give us a tour of the barn. The milking room, the milk room the chicken coop....wow Jason has made some wonderful things that are so useful for the helping the barn run smoothly. They are like a well oiled team. You really should take the time to check out their websites and blogs to see all that they have done, do and how they care for their animals. In my head it what a farm looks like.

As well loaded our troops in the the truck that was pointed in the direction of VT we thanked them again, shook hands with happy smiles on our faces and talked of when we would come back to pick up the girls. As we pulled away I have to admit I was a little sad that we couldn't have stayed longer heard more stories of the work that they do and the plans that they have......I can't wait to go back.

Another Piece to the Puzzle.....

2011-01-02T10:27:00.000-08:00

Today we collected another piece to the puzzle that is making our farm complete. We are happy to welcome "Puzzle" to Bakers Acres! She is a Nubian Dairy Goat that came from the small town of South New Berlin that is not to far away. She is about 3 years old and is believed to be breed which would put her due around late March early April. We are very excited to add her to our farm family. We have been talking about Dairy Goats for sometime now and all the benefits that they offer.

Some goat milk fact:

Goat milk protein is more easily digested than cow milk protein
Goat Milk Protein is known for reducing the chances of contracting diabetes and other health problems
Naturally Homogenized

And the list goes on, these are just three that we here on the farm find to be wonderful. Not to mention all of things that you can do with the milk

Drinking milk
Butter
Wheel Cheese
Yogurt
Soap/Lotion

We have yet to mention the wonderful personalities of these animals. Granted we are only getting started with goats but have found them so very lovable! They are a wonderful addition to the harmony of our farm!

Our future Crop......

2010-12-14T10:38:00.000-08:00

Tis' the season for fabulous trees, the smell of pine and cookies, the crackle of a warm fire and the the laughter of children! We are very lucky here at Bakers Acres to be able to enjoy all of these things! We hope that all of you that follow us are also able to enjoy the wonders of the holidays!

This wonderful pine we pictured above is a Fraser Fir. They are one of our favorites. The smell is fabulous, the needles aren't painfully sharp and it last a long time! We have high hopes for planting these trees here in the future, along with a couple other types.

As a child it was a very special day with wonderful memories of collecting our tree....snow covered hill tops, trouncing threw the snow, cutting down a tree that was "just right" and then trying to be patient while sipping coco waiting for it to dry so that we could start the decorating process.......each special ornament has a wonderful story of our past.......memories of people that are extra special to think of this time of year and the joy of adding new decoration to the collection for years to come. We want to help with all of this by providing a wonderful tree hunting and cutting experience!

The Christmas Turkey

2010-10-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

As the holidays approach it is clear why heritages birds had become hard to find. For those who wanted to raise birds that were giant with large meaty breasts a plain run of the mill white fast grower is what you ran off to the store to buy. We how ever are enjoying our birds for longer.....they are not fast growers and are not hopped up on medicated feed. They enjoy the grass on their feet, sun on their face and a good scratch on the head from one of the boys!

Heritage breeds grow slower and leaner=healthier. We allow all of our bird outdoor time everyday to were many of your store bought bird have never seen grass, sun or felt the wind in their feathers. Its sad really and that is one reason we decided that it was so important for us to start now with our boys young showing them the right way to raise animals and food for the table.

In our area it's not all that easy, without a little digging to find a person with heritage birds and if you find one nine times out of ten they will talk your ear off about all the wonderful reasons that they like them.....I would anyway. The idea of helping bring back a breed that was almost a memory is one of the main reasons I was so interested in them. Not to mention all the health reasons. If you are lucky enough to find that person that is raising heritage birds and actually has some for sale don't think twice about it, grab them and rush home to get them settled in. Make no mistake however raising a heritage breed is a commetment it takes longer which mean it cost more. But it's worth it in the end, believe me.

Frank the Christmas Turkey-as you enjoy the up dated picture of our turkeys and how much they have grown please enjoy this fabulous song! It is a favorite in our house! While listening Frank is the big guy in the back on the left!

We hope that in the spring of 2011 they will happily lay fertile eggs for us to hatch and help our population grow. I would like to add a couple other heritage breeds as well if I'm lucky enough to find them. Our holiday season of 2011 and we will be happy to set our own home grown turkey on the table to give Thanks. What an amazing life we are so lucky to live. To grow and enjoy our own food!

The Shed

2010-10-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

Rob has worked hard with the boys to side this machine shed. The wood came from right here on the farm, hemlock that was milled right here on the hill in the meadow. This is a great addition to the farm for all that we have now and what we will be collecting!

We hope to soon be posting pictures of the start of the Sugar Shack! That will be an exciting building to watch go up and even more exciting to start using! We are already looking forward to the sap running this spring! Yummy! Please be sure to keep and eye out for our Sugar Updates!

Garlic Garlic Garlic

2010-10-07T05:29:00.001-07:00

We had a great garlic crop this year and are really excited about next years crop! It was our first year growing our own garlic and we were really pleased with the outcome. We are about to get the ground ready for the planting our next years crop. The chicken tractor has been parked in the "garden" area threw the summer! They have been earning their keep by working the ground over good for us! We are adding at least one more type of hard stem to the variety.

We are still taking orders for Garlic at this time. Please contact us at robandzoe@frontiernet.net. We will be happy to send out your order. Be sure to let us know which type you would like and if you are looking for large or small bulbs. We have been enjoying pickled garlic and roasted garlic! Yum! The garlic from Bakers Acres has such a wonderful taste! Give it a try!

A Good Trim

2010-09-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

We decided that this year we really needed to be on track with trimming the sheep, the Finn's as well as the Cheviot's, and Baby Dolls really needed it and we wanted to also have the Angora's trimmed as well. I was lucky enough to find the name of a young woman that was willing to travel out to our farm listed in the our local Pennysaver. She did a wonderful job and was very affordable. I hope that she will visit us int he spring when it is time to make everyone look wonderfully fresh! Now I'm searching for a mill to send it off to.....I can hardly wait to see what comes back. I'm very excited to see just what lovely yarn it would come back as. We hope to have this as a future product of Bakers Acres......and as a knitter I can hardly wait!

The Fabulous Beekman Boys

2010-09-18T18:02:00.000-07:00

I have been trying like mad to catch every past show of a fantastic new series that I'm totally hooked on and for many reasons. My brother told me about the show and that he thought it was great and that I really needed to see it he thought that it was right up my alley and as always he was totally right! I am a massive fan of the Fabulous Beekman Boys http://beekman1802.com/ . Please if you have any interest in Farming, Buying Local, Goats, providing for your own table, making life changes such as city to country, and being true to yourself then you will love this show.

The two amazing men have a small shadow of a town and have brought back a new sense of being. What they have done for the town a Sharon Springs is truly amazing, not to mention to movement of farm to table. I really encourage you to take the time to check out their website, show, books and products.

We were lucky enough to actually meet them, and I can say this, they are very wonderful people....the lines were long and I'm sure that they stood there into the night.....but if they made everyone feel as if they were as special as they made us feel, us as we stood in line with four boys and a puppy .....taking the time to talk to each of the boys, pet the dog, talk to us about our little farm and our hopes......then they sure are doing something right!

We left the wonderful Harvest Fest of Sharon Springs with wonderful ideas of Dairy Goats......I can't wait to see what the Spring bring to Bakers Acres!!

The change of seasons.....

2010-09-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

As our crops are slowing and the leaves are changing here at the farm I have been busy in the kitchen....Garlic Dill Pickles

Gramma's Bread and Butter Pickles

With a large family of boys food doesn't last long in our house, especially food that they like! As we all know the yummy things that we can when given the time save from the garden or Farmers Market to enjoy when the wind and snow are blowing outside and the fire is burning is wonderful! I enjoy canning and freezing an many wonderful treats from our yard as well as the Market. Honestly with the animals, and the kids it's hard to find the time but I really try to make a point of it. Not only do all of these wonderful treats save us a money and work well as gifts for others I find it very relaxing. This is something that right away, if you can look past the mess that it just made in your kitchen you see a wonderful product of your work-not to mention the smiles of four growing boys when I break them out of the pantry!

Peach Butter and Peach Jam

Homemade Sauce

I still have lots to do and more fall harvesting to take care of. Next year I will be adding tons of herbs to mix for drying and to add to all the goods I'm canning. This year has been a test of just how much extra we need to plant for the Farm Market and for our family. I hope to have some of these wonderful treats for sale at our Market next year!

A little fuzzy bundle

2010-09-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

We love to camp in the fall! One of our favorite times of year to head out as a family and have a wonderful time. We had the farm set and headed North! On our way to the ADK we of course stopped at a Farmers Market on the way.......needless to say as soon as we stepped out of the truck there she was Whimsy and all of her brothers and sisters looking for new home. She was so tiny and cute and our boys feel in love and I have to admit......so did we! With some wonderful fresh fruit and a new puppy we headed out on our way!

Whimsy is going to be a perfect addition to are Farm. You never know what you might come home with-as lest we here at Bakers Acres never know!

Did you say Bill The Goat?

2010-09-11T17:59:00.000-07:00

This is Bill......Bill the Goat. He is the Naval Academy mascot. This is my husband alma mater.....Let me go back a little and explain this a little better.....

We decided to take the kids this summer to a local fair in Madison County. It was a typical small town fair where you often run into people that you know, see the same things every year but go anyway just for the fun of it. When we got there we noticed that there also happened to be a Fiber Festival taking place. This was very exciting to me. We noticed that the farm that our Baby Dolls were from was being represented by some very cute sheep and the very friendly owner. There were Alpaca's, sheep, cashmere goats and Angora goats. We have talked on and off about adding goats to the farm here but weren't to sure what way we wanted to head with them....fiber, meat, or milk.

On our way home from the Fiber Festival we talked about how neat the Angora goat was. Suddenly Rob looks at me and say "Bill! I think that's what Bill the Goat is!" Upon arriving home Rob was on the computer in a flash and sure enough that was Bill alright! Suddenly Rob was taking a real interest in getting goats!

While camping up North Rob had located a family run farm that just happened to have two Buckling's for sale. He really wanted to go and see them and we were game! On our way home from our camping trip we stopped. What a great experience. The family was so welcoming and full of great experience and information that they happily shared with us. Lets just say that they were so cute, we came how with two.

Adult Angora

Angora goats at a glance look much like sheep to many people. They have a very curly haired "Rasta" effect fiber. They are actually sheared like a sheep and the fiber reaped from them is Mohair. This is often mixed with wool. This of course falls right into the things I'm interested in. I'm working hard to build up fiber for spinning. This I was in hopes would be a wonderful addition.

These little guys are yet to have names but are very sweet. They come when you call and follow you anywhere! They are a great addition to our little farm family here. We are contacting a local person tomorrow in hopes of setting up fall shearing. I hope that after this shearing of everyone that I will have enough to send off to a mill. We will keep you posted on names and fiber. We would love to hear any name ideas that you have!

The "Meats"

2010-07-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

Freedom Ranger Chickens

We decided to look into a cross breed of bird known as the Freedom Ranger that is raised for meat. We have raised our own beef, eat the eggs that our chickens lay, grow as much fruit and veggies as we can and now are starting to look into raising some poultry for food as well. I wasn't interested in raising the Cornish chickens after so many of the horror stories that we read about. These birds seems to be a nice cross between the Cornish and a Rhode Island Red. This cross makes them a slower growing meat bird then the "norm". We were able to locate some that were just a couple weeks old and scooped them up.

They are a nice bird, very active, pretty and seem to have personalities. From what I can tell we have straight run (which means that we have both male and female birds) They are currently in our Chicken Tractor, which is a mobile chicken coop that helps to promote fertilizing the land for future crops and will next year be one of the gardens that we grow in. This tractor is not located very close to the house and we can't really see the birds like we do in our coops at the barn. I thought that this would help in the butchering process. My hope was less attachment for the kids and myself.

Upon picking them up our three year old very matter of factly stated, "Oh these are what the Meats look like" as we chuckled we had to agree with him that was the perfect name for the new group of birds that we were about to bring home.

The "Meats" are doing wonderfully and will so be heading out. We hope to change their feed out to a higher protein feed for the next two weeks and then they will be sent to a local poultry butcher that goes by the name KNK which is located in Edmensten NY only about 30 minutes away from our home. If this all goes well for us we hope to be able to offer fresh processed chicken for sale here at the Farm. These are pastured raised birds with free choice grain. The are able to enjoy the wonderful hillside here at Bakers Acres during the day. This practice should help to ensure a wonderful full flavored meat. We can't wait to taste test it! Bakers Acres has high hopes of being able to offer it's visitors all of the different flavors of the farm.

You never know what good things you'll find.....

2010-07-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

We had decided that we were going to head out on adventure to an auction that was a bit of a ride for us but sounded as if it had some really interesting poultry supplies, as well as a few hopeful items for the barn. So we headed out. It was a cool morning and had the makings for a wonderful day.

As we loaded up our wonderful treasures from an interesting auction we were trying to decide what road we wanted to take to make a relaxing, wandering way home. As we enjoyed the countryside we came into Massonville. My husband told me that when we came the the Massonville General Store I had to go in! He thought that it would be an instant hit with me. And he was right!

Massonville General Store

As I was finding myself lost in the wonderful smells of coffee, beautiful labels of wonderful organic products, the feel of high quality wool, the creak of plank flooring and a wonderful cozy old time feel, I overheard the owner chatting with a customer about her Bourbon Red Turkeys. I have to admit that I was shocked! For the past couple of weeks I had been searching everywhere that I could think of for Bourbon Red Heritage chicks to raise. As I tried to calmly walk to the counter and show manners as to not knock the women down and scare the owner into thinking I was a crazy bird lady, I took a deep breath and apologized for overhearing that she had these wonderful Turkeys. She was very kind and told me all about her birds and chicks that she had decided she would have to list for sale. I looked at her with a big smile and offered to take some off of her hands. Her husband just happened to be home and she would give me direction and him a call.

As I climbed into the car Rob said, "Well did you like it?" I laughed and said, "you never know what good things you'll find......." And we headed to pick up chicks.

Day old chicks

We stared out with 9 chicks, sadly we lost three.....The six that we have are growing and doing great! They are so cute and so funny to watch. Truly funny little birds.

What a full grown Tom will look like.

Thiswonderful Heritage Breed is a great addition to the Farm. Not only will they look breath taking wandering threw the pastures but we hope to have hatching eggs from them not to mention a wonderful holiday dinner. With some luck we will be able to offer them to the public for the holidays!

A wonderful sight....

2010-07-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

I've always found it very exciting to see seeds take form. Now I'm finding it even more exciting as we work as a family, planting seeds, weeding and now picking some of our wonderful crops! Now with the bash over we are back in the dirt enjoying the work.

Our sweat onions are fantastic!

Our sweat peas have been a treat

And our beet are really looking wonderful!

Next year we hope to be up and running with a Farm Market here on the Farm and visiting the Norwich Farmers Market once a week. We are also looking into the Bounty. We intend to build a timber framed Market using the lumber that has been harvested from our own woods! It's all very exciting! Be sure to check back in with us to see what is new here on the Farm!

I love the smell of hay.....

2010-07-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

I really love the smell of hay......it brings back wonderful childhood memories of being on the back of my grandfather wagon and stacking the bails as they came off and then it was off to the hay mow to put them in place. Wonderful memories, and all just from the smell of hay!

We were lucky enough to contact a local farmer that works with the "share" plan in place. This works out well for us because we don't have to own and maintain all of the hay equipment and devote the time that we don't have to getting the hay ready. They do all the work and even park the wagons inside for us and we then unload them. We get one wagon load for every two that they take. It's really win win for both of us.

The barn is nicely filled with hay now for the sheep and well we'll just have to wait and see if any other animals pop up!

Our new little beauties

2010-07-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

We tried to find these little gems last year but had no luck! We were always just a second to late....this year we got lucky. We are happy to share the pictures of our new Peacock! We traveled about two hours northwest to a town my the name of Mexico where we were greeted by a women that truly loved Peacocks! She currently has about 30 adult birds!!! They were amazing to say the least, and yes they were loud but we were thrilled!

We came home with 5 of these little gems. The women thought that maybe there were two males and three females so we will see! I have my fingers crossed for at least one pair for hatching eggs next year! These are Purple Shoulder Peacocks and are truly breath taking as adults.

We will keep you posted as they grow and change. Right now we are enjoying their soft peeing sounds and seeing their little crowns appear on their heads!

Another coop has arrived!

2010-07-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

Our new coop arrived and is now in place. We found these wonderful coops over near Richfeild Springs. The business goes by the name Yoders and they offer a wide range of building and furniture. Wonderful people to do business with and really well made pieces. We loved our first one didn't think twice when another was needed.
Here is a picture of some of our spring chicks. They are growing into beautiful birds. We have however come to realize that we have way to many roosters!
We intend to keep some but not all. We want to be able to have hatching eggs in the spring so are keeping our finest Roosters.

This pictures show just how wonderful the new coop fits in! Soon the run will be fenced in and the next round of chicks will be settled in!

The Artist

2010-06-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

We decided after much talk that we wanted to give our barn a little face lift, but in a way that was not only beautiful but also would support local farmers.....the search began and it wasn't long that it became very clear just who the person was for the the job! That person was Scott Hagan-http://www.barnartist.com/-from Ohio.

We started with our farm seal.

Then moved on to something we are passionate about....

Supporting our local farmers.

Each piece came to life.

Our barn has been more then just a Big Red Barn to us but now wow..... We are putting our own foot print here.....Thanks Scott!

And then.....

2010-06-26T18:50:00.000-07:00

After a wonderful dinner we welcomed the public to Bakers Acres for an Open House event. This allowed the public to come and enjoy seeing the Airstreams and meet the campers. After Open House the public was asked to join us for an amazing fireworks display. It was breath taking and everyone that attend spoke of the wonderful show of lights. Fellow Airstreams shared these amazing pictures with us and I thank them. These shots help to show you some of the magic that was created here on the Farm.....

As the calm after the fireworks started to settle in another "unplugged" concert was provided by Antsy McClain---www.unhitched.com.

Two days left......

Everyone loves a clown

2010-06-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

We were so very lucky to start our day off here at Baker's Acres with will a fabulous homemade breakfast and then an amazing clown show! This show was provided by a family friend of our who goes by the name of Obie the Clown. He is a fellow Airstreamer and what a Clown!!! He is a favorite here in our family and the kids, and adults look so forward to seeing him clowning around and just being a happy camper! Thanks Obie!

And it begins.....

2010-06-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

And so it begins.....the much awaited and much talked about "Birthday Bash". Let me give you a little break down of what this represents. It's a celebration in honor of the creator of the Airstream travel trailer. This event was held by a new club known as TAC, The Airstreamers Club. This wonderful new club was founded by no other then my husband Robert Baker! He has been an Airstream enthusiast for years......all going back to very wonderful memories of his Grandfather Donald Stanton and his own love for Airstream's and making it a family affair. We carry that mind set ourselves. Camping for us is a "family" affair.
The first trailer arrived 6/20/10 and slowly but surely they are cruising in......we are expecting 85-90 trailers.......and event of a life time......an event to remember.....

Scapes! What a treat!

2010-06-14T06:24:00.000-07:00

These are our Scapes! Scapes are the blossom of garlic. Much like that of the bloom of an onion you should also trim these. Scapes have a slightly softer Garlic taste and don't have to be cooked to be eaten.

I'm in hopes of using them in fresh pesto, freezing them, pickling them, and cooking with them. I'm amazed how much our kids love them. They are such a treat! You will have to be sure to look for them at our farm market next year!!!

The smell of fresh cut wood.....

2010-06-12T19:17:00.000-07:00

The portable sawmill arrived yesterday and was hard at work today in and out of rain showers. Rob contacted a millsmen by the name of Mike Ulrich of Sherburne for the job. He had a really nice set up and between he and Rob the knocked out about 13 hemlock logs.

This wood will be the stickered in the barn for the future Farm Stand and Sugar Shack here at Bakers Acres. The idea that the wood came here from the Farm is wonderful. We are always busy here with our plans!

Enjoying the Farm

2010-06-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

Things have been very busy here at the Farm. We have had a swing in the weather that has kept us in for a couple of day due to the rain which was much needed. We had quite a stretch without any rain to refresh our little farm. Now we have had a soaking and things are greener, and growing wonderfully! I love seeing the garden and just how much it has grown. I've always found it exciting to see the earth come to life!

We are very busy getting the grounds ready for our big and exciting event known to many as "The Birthday Bash" please check it at, http://www.bakersacresofchenango.org/ and join in the fun! We have a day that is open to the public and would love to see you all there! This will be a fun filled event that has been created to celebrate the joys of camping, travel, memories both past and those in the making! Its focus is on that of Airstream's and those that enjoy them.

Our sheep are all doing well and have been growing like weeds and loving life here at Bakers Acres! I'm still in search of a Finn Ram that I can use this fall....this is proving to be harder then I ever thought that it would be. Seems that there aren't to many Finn Breeders that are in NY so finding and unrelated Ram is currently a thorn in my side so to speak! I do have high hopes the still locate one before fall.

Our chickens are really turning into beautiful birds. Our first batch are very lively! Soon they will hitting 15 weeks which means that soon eggs will be arriving! We have however found that we have at least 4 Roosters! UGH! These will have to be thinned out. They are all very pretty and we enjoy watching them but two are rather aggressive toward the hens and I would like to relocate them.....I would like to keep one or two of the Marans for breeding. The chicks that we hatched are growing like crazy! They are trying to patiently wait for their new coop to arrive and the 20 other chicks that we have are now out of the brooder and soon will be ready for a coop as well. They are all hens and will be wonderful egg layers.

Our garlic is beautiful! I will be cutting Scape's tomorrow and plan on putting them to good use. The smell is wonderful and I'm really looking forward to cooking with them. Next year when we have our farm stand is up and running we will be able to share them with you!

All and all we have been loving life here on the Farm. Watching our children grow, our farm grow and our lives grow! It can't get much better then this!

Baa Baa Black Sheep....

2010-05-29T18:42:00.001-07:00

Baa Baa Black Sheep......tell me she isn't cute! Welcome to our new addition! We have yet to name her but hope that we will have a great name for her tomorrow. She arrived this morning and fit right in with the other lambs! The twins ran right over to her as if to say "it's you!".

She has a perfect little Babydoll face with a wonderful smile and a great personality. The kids have totally enjoyed playing with her and she comes right up to them. All of our babies are so very freindly. This has been such a great experience for our kids and us. I would encourage anyone with children and the desire to raise an animal with them. It's not only totally rewarding for them but it is for you as well as you watch your child grow.

A great little helper

2010-05-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

This amazing little thing majorly helped me out with the "Bottle Babies". These are called Pritcherd Nipples and they are smaller then the normal sheep bottle topper. I was introduced to it by one of the owners of the Border Cheviot's. She told me how wonderful they were and was kind enough to pass a couple of them on to me. After seeing just how great they were I headed to the store to invest in some more. I also transitioned the Daisy and Maisy (the Babydolls) over to them. The first feeding they weren't sure but by the second it worked great for them and the transition proved to be very simple.

One of the great things about this bottle top is just that it fit on some "people" drink containers like soda, and bottled water. This is very helpful since that allows you to have the right sized bottle to hold all of the milk that the sheep require which saved a lot of time for me and them. They all were able to drink from them at a nice speed as well and they were easy to clean. As far as I'm concerned they were a great find and I was grateful for being passed down some! I would recommend them to anyone with baby sheep!

Quack, Qauck Waddle Waddle

2010-05-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

Quack Quack

Our ducks are grown into their beautiful water feathers. They now have a real "Quack" about them as well. Sadly they can't head to the pond. While Rob was down fishing with the boys the other day he spotted a very large (12inches around) Snapper. Knowing the damage that they can do to young water foul we have decided that until he is removed the ducks will have to enjoy a kiddy pool. We were really looking forward to introducing them to the pond but for now we will have to wait for now.

Beginnings of a Raspberry Patch

We have been working on getting a Raspberry Patch, Blueberry Patch and and Apple Orchard started. We will have to use some TLC to be sure that everything really gets settled in and takes hold but so far we are seeing progress and we are looking forward in the years to come enjoying all of the wonderful gifts they will all give us.

Who Said That It Was To Early To Plant?

2010-05-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

I find it interesting.....people even if they don't garden seem to keep wanting us to start our garden only around Memorial Day. No sooner several people have said. Hum.....We started ours weeks ago! We did some reading on Cold weather planting and what are good early spring plants to get in the ground that can handle the frost that is still to come. I'm happy to share some of the photos of what we have peeping out so far!

Beets

They must be tasty since we are have three rabbits that visit them every morning and every evening.....we will need to come up with a fencing system .

Onions

Rob is just having wonderful luck with the onions that he planted! He planted both Red and White . They are growing wonderfully! A dear friend of mine was telling me that she was heading out to get onion sets and hoped that she would get them in the ground in two weeks.....I didn't have the heart to tell her that our we grown wonderfully and coming along very ahead of schedule.
Peas

Now these the rabbits love!!!!! They seem to hop up and down the row all the time.....so I'm very impressed that they are looking as great as they do! Rob may say that his favorite color is red but he sure has a green thumb!

I think that with the right planning on good cold weather plants you are fine to start early. We are having good luck so far and when there are frost warnings we will take them to heart and be sure to cover. As for now we are enjoying watching everything in the garden come to life!

Made for pictures

2010-05-19T18:04:00.000-07:00

Now look at this oh so cute face! That is a face made for pictures! This cute little addition will be joining us once she is able to leave her mother. She is so very cute. I just can't wait to get her here! She is also a Babydoll that is coming from the same home that the Twins, Daisy and Maisy came from. She is going to make a perfect addition here.

This picture was taken this evening as the babies were still enjoying the wonderful green spring grass. They all seem to be getting along really well together. All of the babies seem to be a nice tight group and they are enjoying the same field right now that the two big girls have. As soon as they spotted me they all came running. They seem to love all of the hands on. The Twins aren't even getting bottles anymore but love to pet and fussed with and let me tell you attention they surely get!

Our flock is really growing. I'm already looking to the furture when the little ones are all big enought to be mama's and papa's.

All Welcome......

2010-05-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

A friend and I were talking the other day and she started to chuckled, "Zoe'" she said "you need to hang out a shingle that says 'All wayward animals welcome'" I laughed at this at the time....I'm starting to think that she was right!

This is Cordelia.

Our four new Bottle Babies have settled in nicely and seem to be loving it here. I think that the Twins have almost tripled in size! They are doing so good and are just so very cute. We have one more lamb yet to come who is also a Babydoll. We are really looking forward to adding her to the mix. She is a nice dark color and I have to admit that I just love the sheep with nice rich colors! In fact until I saw the 6 little while lambs that we have now I'm not to sure that I would have planed on while lambs but these six once I laid my eyes on them there was no turning back!

Feeding time!

The boys have had a blast helping with the animals and they have play such an important roll. They have learned how to make bottles, how to change the amounts when needed, amounts of other foods such as hay, grain and water that is needed. They have been reading tons on raising and showing lambs as well. This is all new and exciting to them! This is something special that I can do with them. Not only are we making memories every day but they are are growing and becoming such well rounded young men. They are learning life lessons that they wouldn't learn any other way.

Whistle While You Work

2010-04-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

Things have been so very busy here-wow! We have been under construction for some time and have had to stop on and off due to me not able to commit to a floor plan to me having a baby, but we are finally getting close to saying that we are done with the kitchen! There is still the decorating and a couple of missing pieces of hardware, and but it's been a long time coming! More pictures will come as the last little bits and pieces fall into place.

We are getting ready for the four new lambs to arrive tomorrow! I can't wait to go and pick them up! The kids are so very excited and so am I, maybe even more so! So much is happening here at Bakers Acres, with baby animals and planting season starting and work on the old farmhouse. If you are in the area stop in and see our little piece of heaven!

More babies are on their way!

2010-04-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I was told by my in laws that I really should drive out past this local farm and take a look. My mother in law told me I would love because they had fields of sheep and tons of lambs. Not that long ago we had gone down the road to see tons of lambs at another local farm and after the second drive by decided that it was not the farm for us. Although it would have been wonderful to "save" some of them by bringing them here to Baker's Acres the fear of what else we could bring back to our other animals worried me.

As we headed off threw the hills not to far away we came upon a sheep's dream! A wonderful farm with rolling hills, well kept grounds and sheep that looked healthy and happy! I called Rob right up and told him that we needed to go for a afternoon drive very soon to a wonderful place I knew that he would love to see.

On a beautifully sunny day we headed to the Farm. We pulled to the side of the road put the windows down and enjoyed listening to them and laughed as we watched the lambs running and jumping! We had hoped to reach someone at the house but sadly no one was home so I decided to leave a note. I was pleasantly surprised when I received a phone call! The gentleman that I spoke with, Paris, clearly loved sheep and all that goes along with them. He was full of information, enthusiasm and thought that maybe his bottle babies might just be a great addition to our little farm! Rob and I of course decided that we would take all four of his "bottle babies"! They will be getting picked up May 1st. There are two Rams, Jake and Gilbert, and two ewes Lily and Cordelia.

The Border Cheviot derives its very strong constitution from its origin in the hills that divide England and Scotland. That bleak landscape shaped the Border nature; extremely hardy, independent, and alert.

-A little history-

This wonderful little farm snug in the hills has a great site you should check out www.halcyongrange.com, better yet after checking it out get in touch with them and see if you can set up a visit! I know I'm really looking forward to my visit tomorrow!

Daisy and Maisy

2010-04-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

This is Maisy.
This is Daisy.

We were thrilled to bring home the twins today! We went to Mindy's farm The Old Homestead in West Edmeston, to pick them up. We were more them excited! This is a farm that you should visit if you can. They are taking part in an Open Farm Day July 24th starting at 9am. Anyone that loves sheep, wool and honey should attend!

After getting the girls settled in we spent time just sitting with them letting them get used to us and our smell and our sounds. When it was time to feed them it was a true treat! Not only did we all enjoy the thrill of feeding them but we hope that this will help to create a bond with them.

They will certainly not be lonely. The boys will be sad to head back to school on Monday and have to spend time away from them. He boys have high hopes for showing animals at the fair this year! It's a true joy to be able to share all of these life lessons with the boys. Not only are the animals growing fast......my boys don't seem to be slowing down at all.....

A cluck cluck here and a quack quack there....

2010-04-22T19:04:00.000-07:00

We here at Baker's Acres have really been enjoying all of our baby animals! The circle of life is at times tough but a true joy to take part in. Sadly we lost two of our bigger chicks that were living our in the coop. This was a sad accident were we believe that they were smothered at the bottom of the sleep pile.....On a happy note the chicks have grown big enough to be out in the yard and not manage to run threw the fencing squares!

This is licorice who gets tons of love and attention!

The started out not even being brave enough to go out the chicken door! The word "Chicken" makes me laugh every time as I watch our little lock freak out over funny little things. Then once they seem to get their feet under them they suddenly become brave and step out on a new adventure!

They have now been out and about running in a large fenced in area with tons of room to explore! They are growing to be beautiful birds! We have been watching closely to try and see just who will rule the roost....so far we are sure of two roosters and are guessing on at least two others. I'm hoping that we don't have many. I would like to keep two and no more then three. I want to better the population of Heritage Birds by breeding in the fall and hatching. I don't however want to be over run with roosters. If we find that we seem to have more then we need I will try to relocate them to other farms that so an interest in Heritage Birds. The 15 that we hatched here at home are doing well, growing strong and before we know it will need to be out in a coop too.

The ducks though not in a proper duck house are growing and starting to get their "big bird" feathers. They are still stinky but so very much fun to watch as they jump in and out of the water bowl and chase bugs. I'm looking forward to seeing them on the pond. They once down on the pond will not be as hands on as our other animals but we will be sure to try and keep up with them as much as we can!

We are counting down until this Saturday when we bring home the twin lambs! Can't wait! We will be sure to keep you posted step by step of their arrival.

April Showers......

2010-04-16T17:44:00.000-07:00

April showers bring May flowers! Oh and did we mention Garlic!!!! Wow our Garlic is really growing like crazy. This is our first year growing garlic and so far we are very pleased. We planted 2000 seed in this fall and are really looking forward to a wonderful harvest.
I honestly don't know when the last time something was planted as a crop here on the farm. Our soil is great and the plants seem to really love it! With the rain of the today I'm sure that it will only help our plants. Things are turning so wonderful green here on the farm as Spring showers are bringing everything to life. There is nothing like the smell of Spring rain in the country....

Eggs....eggs...and more eggs!

2010-04-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

Our Guinea Hens have started laying! It's very exciting! These very unique birds have wonderful feathers, a voice few will forget after hearing and wonderful small eggs with very hard shells! Since we have male and female birds we decide since the incubator had not been up away yet to put some in. They take a few days more then chicken eggs and the idea that we might be able to hatch our own birds eggs is thrilling! They are cozy in the incubator along side 10 duck eggs! My Brother In-law gave us 10 of his ducks eggs to hatch for him! The boys are thrilled for the next egg challenge! Being that we are new at this we are hoping that we have good luck again. Due to the size of the duck eggs they will not fit in the egg turner so I'm turning them by hand.

Below is a picture of the new coop in front of the barn! We are hoping to add another very soon! We will have a total of 48 birds! Our 17 older chicks that are cozy in the new coop right now are grow nicely and are really starting to look grown up! They have changed a lot and have wonderful colors showing in their feathers! I do see that the Roosters are already feeling out who is boss and I know that we will have to decide who will stay and who will go. The boys will be showing at least two Roosters at the local fair.

Many of our logs have left the farm that Rob and my Father In-law and Brother In-law cut. We are waiting on the return lumber for the finishing of the machinery barn and the start of the Sugar Shack and as some point a Farm Stand.

So much is happening here on the Farm! So much is new and exciting for us all. We are enjoying sharing this with our children and watching as they jump in with both feet to be part of the experience!

Hobby Farming......it's a wonderful life. If you know someone that is a Hobby Farmer take the time to pay them a visit. It will be time well spent!

Babydolls that don't wear dresses

2010-04-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

One evening while reading the Hobby Farm magazine I noticed in the back where all the ads are that I love to check out for fun that "Babydoll" sheep were listed. There was a small description attached letting you know that there were small as adults known for their wonderful smile and very lovable. I went right to the computer and had to look them up and knew at that moment that some day Baker's Acres would have some of these wonderful little sheep!

I began the search for somewhere local or at least in the state that had them. I located a small handful of places with very cute pictures on line. After contacting them and finding that the waiting list was very long and the price was very high I thought that maybe we would have to pass......this was a major disappointment. Not only to me because I thought that they were dear but for the boys. I had though that these sheep being that they don't get as big as some other breeds would be great for the boys to have as their first show animals with 4H! I wasn't going to give up yet....I kept searching.....then I stumbled onto a website with a local address! I contacted the owners after checking out their nice website, http://www.oldehomestead.net/, and was put on a list to be contacted when babies could be chosen! I also followed them on facebook to see all the new baby pictures! It was all very exciting!

When the email came that all the babies were born we made plans to visit. We went the day before Easter and it was wonderfully sunny and a great day to be out and about! We were greeted by the owner Mindy who was very welcoming and as we listened to all of the information that she had to share with us it was clear that raising sheep was something she had a passion for! The lambs were so cute and she had 14 very adorable ones to choose from.

These are twin girls that sadly were orphaned by the unexpected passing of their mama. Even before knowing their story their darling faces caught you eye. All of the babies were wonderful but my eye kept returning to the "bottle babies" (the twins and another known as Polly) and a little black ewe....so cute and little.
As we were getting ready to leave the farm we had decided that we would happily take the twin girls! I would have loved to fill the fields at our farm.......After we got home I contacted Mindy and asked it the little black ewe was still available and we were thrilled to find out that she was and took the chance right away to say yes! I still think of the other "bottle baby" and hope that she finds a wonderful home.......if it's not ours.....

The small sounds of Peeping.....

2010-04-05T19:26:00.001-07:00

Our eggs Hatch Day came and went on April 3rd.....nothing.....not even a crack....not any little sign of promise.....ugh! I wasn't going to just give up! I decided that we would wait a couple extra days even if there were no good signs of progress. That night I was checking to be sure that there was water in the bottom for humidity in the incubator and stopped.....was that peeping I could hear? I called Rob out to listen to be sure that it wasn't just me. Sure enough he could hear it too!!!! I was so excited I could hardly stand it! We were up preparing for the Easter Bunny to visit and I was glued to the window of the incubator......peep.....peep......one egg can take 24 hours....oh my I was in for a long night! When we finally gave in to sleep there was a tiny chip in the shell......tiny.....

After we got up and enjoyed the joy of Easter baskets and egg hunts we decide to go to the den and check on the incubator. To our surprise we made it just in time. We watched......we waited and suddenly it all started to happen.....

It was amazing! And the goofballs that we are we were cheering for him......

He was hard at work

With one big push he was out! It was our first hatched egg and it was all I hoped. Rob, I and the boys all were lucky enough to see the whole thing.
What a great day to hatch!

Today our 24 hours had passed and some of the first hatched chicks have moved into a box as we wait for more to hatch.

Our head count is now 12 hatched and more with cracks, rocking and peeping! We had 38 eggs total and are hoping for about 1/2. We will keep you posted.

What a great Easter!

Our little Quackers!

2010-04-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

Rob took the three big boys to our local TSC to pick up some Rabbit fencing for our new Easter Bunny's and come home with these! I had looked at them the day I was in search of the bunny's and I was temped....very temped. As much as I thought wow more babies I was totally excited! These are Rouen's. They are too cute for words. Very fun to watch and the kids just love them. We have a nice pond that will house them well. We will soon be able to let them try out swimming in shallow water! That will be very exciting! They are so much fun to watch playing in the water and lining up as they waddle off to see what the brooder holds!

They will look perfect on the pond as adults! Wonderful for us to enjoy and raise!

So much is happening here at the farm......

2010-04-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

Spring has sure sprung here at the farm. The air is fresh and wonderful, birds are singing the flowers are popping out and baby animals are arriving! We have been tackling several project for the farm and house not to mention keeping up with busy kids lately! Wow we're so glad that the time has changed and there is more sun later in the day!

In this picture my sister in laws husband is prepping the ground for the placement of the new chicken coop that we bought. It arrived tonight and we are so excited to get it in place tomorrow! It is a wonderfully handmade coop that came from Yoders. They are located in Richfeild Springs NY. This coop is "pest proof" and we hope that will help to protect our flock.

This cute little one arrived a couple days before Easter with a sibling! So very cute! We decided that we would get the boys Bunnies for Easter. These are a Lion head/mix. Very soft and so darn cute!!!! They are very loved and are currently comfortable in the house in a rabbit cage. Rob and the boys will be working on building a hutch for them to stay in! The boys love to build with daddy. Not only are they making great memories with these projects they are learning so much in the process!

Our chicks are growing like crazy! This is one of our Heritage Delaware chicks with our oldest son! We spend a lot of time with our chicks from the beginning! They are well loved and hands are one them often! With our past flock our full grown chickens followed us everywhere. They loved people and were never really afraid of anyone. We are hoping that with this batch of chicks we have the same luck. This is however the first time that we have ever had straight run so I will find it interesting to see if there is a difference.

Our sap season has come to an end. It was a good season for us being new comers to the hobby. We weren't totally over run and unable to keep up. I do understand that those who rely on this as their lively hood are finding this hot flash we are having a big let down.....Now that we have tried our hand at this and have found out just how much work it is my heart goes out to them. We are already making plans for the building of our sugar shack this fall. We hope to have our new setup in place for next years sap run!

So much is in the works here at Baker's Acres that things are just humming! It's and exciting time of year for us all. We will keep you posted on all that is new and exciting!

Forest Management

2010-03-31T05:59:00.000-07:00

Husqvarna!

a 16 footer!

The 52 Farmall Super A

Trying to do as little damage to the woods as possible!

Rob's doing a little forest management and cutting some mature Hemlock trees to make lumber for a shed and a future sugar shack for our maple syrup operation that we really want to work next year. Here are a few images of what's happening in the woods.

Holy Sheep!

2010-03-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

I had my first lesson in sheep shearing and let me tell you I got a work out. The sheep were great not to bad to catch, didn't put up a fuss we just happened to pick an extremely cold day to do it! I think that I'm still recovering! There truly is nothing like squatting in odd positions on cold, hard, dirty concrete for hours......

This is a shot of Rob with Oreo. Being only a year old this spring she was new at this just like I was. Not as relaxed and her mama but she did fine and her fleece was great! Sadly Kizzy's wasn't so hot since she was not sheared this past fall.....I hope to get a nice cut from her later this year. They are Finn sheep and they are known for a nice fleece. The amount of Lanolin that I found I was covered in was unreal!

The whole family took part in the lesson with different jobs for everyone and the majority of these pictures were taken by the boys! They did really well with helping to keep the sheep calm and learning along side of me. This is a picture of Bryce collecting Oreos good fleece!

Elizabeth, my best friends (Sue is her name and she also joined us to lend a hand! Not only did she do a great job at holding the sheep she was wonderful comic relief) niece is originally from this area and was home from SUNY Morrisville on Spring break. She is by far the hardest working young women I know, and maybe have ever known. She loves the farm life and all that goes with it. She is outstanding with animals and it's very clear to the animals as well as anyone around her that she not has a strong skill but also passion for the things that she does. Her calm in control manner set the sheep and myself at ease. When it was my turn to try my hand at shearing she was great with instructing me and very positive, I was scared to death that at any given moment one was going to want to bolt and that not only could I hurt the sheep I would also hurt those around me. The shears were massive and very sharp! But all and all I did OK and most of all I had a great time doing it. I really think that in time with practice I could get good at this!

Kizzy and Oreo are now looking very slim and brighter. I'm hoping to that in time we will have enough fiber to take to a mill and have changed into yarn.....some day I hope to spin my own but I think that probably with four growing boys and many other Bakers Acres project that spinning may have to wait.....just a little while!

Signs of Spring

2010-03-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

A wonderful sign of sping was a nice bright green slips, a great beginning of our garlic feild! In the fall Rob and the boys planted 2000 garlic seeds (which is a bulb of garlic split into cloves- then planted one clove at a time). We choose to go with Hard Stem Gralic because it does very well in this area and because of it's demand. We planted to types of this style, White Music and Rocamboly. Both are full of flavor but I think are rather different from eachother. If all goes well and our rainny spring isn't to overly wet they will continue to grow like they are now and we will have a wonderful crop. We love garlic and hope that we will help others to love it too! Our hope to find a good local market for this garlic. This is just one of the many things that Bakers Acres is working on for the up and coming future!

The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of......

2010-03-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

When Rob called and said that he was on his way home with something for the boys and I there was nothing that I could think of that it could be......then he told me that he hoped "they" didn't get out the the boxes......that was when I really got interested!

Anyone that knows my husband knows that he can't keep a secret! He loves to try but just can't do it because he loves to let it all out too! He told me that when he went to look at a new mower for one of the tractors that the very nice gentleman had tons of one of my favorite birds, Guinea Hens! They are just so different looking and sounding how could you not be attracted to them?

Rob told me that the man had so many to choose from it was hard to pick. He brought home a mix of male, female and colors! I was so excited! They were very nervous but we got them settled in for the night and they seemed cozy and relaxed. They are currently comfortable in a horse stall until we have another out door coop ready for them! The boys were thrilled with them. We had bought chick early fall last year and raised them. Sadly when we lost our chickens to some rotten animal that snuck in during the night and robbed us of all but two of our wonderful birds. These are about 6months old and so pretty. I always thought that the traditional image in my head of this bird was my favorite one.....I'm thinking now that I just love the pale almost silvery colored!

With a little luck we maybe lucky enough to raise some in the spring from their eggs! That would be wonderful too! They are wonderfully helpful birds that will clean out fleas and ticks, not to mention many other bugs in a heart beat! They are much more of a timid bird as to where our chickens in the past were very much "Pets". And the sound! Wow wee the hills are alive with the sounds of....hum....racket! And I love it!

Soft Souls....

2010-03-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

This is Kizzy and Oreo. They are our Finn Sheep. We got them about a year ago from a lovely women by the name of Mary at Hut on the Hill in New Woodstock. This should be the time of year that we should be expecting baby lambs. Finns are known for having "litter" of lambs. Kizzy was expecting early on and after the birth of her twins only one survived.....we were given the option to get them as a set and took it! Our sheep are not expecting this spring . We hope to have them both bread for next spring after locating a ram. I was expecting at the time and lambs had to take a back seat this spring. We would love to locate some more from other Finn Farms to add to our flock.

Sheep are something that I have had a soft spot for a long time. I wanted to find a breed of sheep that loved being with people as much as any pet and these are just that kind of sheep. They come to you when you call and are so very happy to hear you. They are soft to the touch and have such sweat soft souls.

I have far off dreams of skirting, carding and spinning.......

Natures Treat

2010-03-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

The out come of our new adventure so far is pretty good. There is a large pot of sap boiling down as I type this......yummy! Natures treats are always the best! My husband has a real passion for this hobby and I believe that he and the boys will make this into not only a wonderful memories but into a small family run business.

The wonderful sunshine that we are getting is helping the small amounts of sap that is running today. With the nights warming up above freezing we are sadly not finding much in our lovely buckets. They are calling for a cooler week this coming week we will have to wait and see if the sap will pick up or if it's done for the season. Either way this was a wonderful adventure for us to try! Not only fun and tasty but great time spent together! Rob has been collecting the supplies that will be needed for next years sap run and has high hopes for a wonderful little sugar shack! Keep an eye out for Natures Treats from Bakers Acres!

Our Little Flock Wears Big Shoes.....

2010-03-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

I have looked more in depth the meaning behind "Heritage Poultry". Our little flock is wearing big shoes and in time I hope will fill them out nicely. There are set standard that a chick must meet in order to have the privilege to take on the title heritage. One of these is that is must be from parent and grandparent stock of breeds recognized by the American Poultry Association (APA) prior to the mid-20th century the genetic line can be traced back generations. Another is that they must be a result naturally mating. They also must have the genetic ability to live a long life and should be able to thrive in pasture-based, outdoor habitat. Lastly the chick needs to have a slow growth rate allowing it to grow to its full potential.

As our chicks are warm and cozy inside we are working on our new layout for them to have a wonderful set up for coop and pasture. Our past flock was a free roaming flock which had it's good and bad points. We are looking in to a more pasture based set up this time with the ability to allow them to roam in other areas as well at giving times. When our past flock was able to roam freely there was no doubt that they looked and laid better then other flocks we knew of.

Our new flock no questions asked was hatched by people that wanted their folk to be the best that it can be. We are realizing everyday how lucky that we were to have stumbled onto Whit- more Farms. Now it up to us to keep up the good work and not only raise wonderful birds but to learn and enjoy every second of it along the way. Our farm is something that we do as a family and that is really the reason we do it. It is time well spent.

That's all for now....off to check the chicks!

Part of the Family

2010-03-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

This is Braedon's ChaCho

This is Sunflower

He gets lots of attention
and
Tons of love!

New Arrivals

2010-03-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

Some of our Maran eggs and Ameraucana Eggs

We have about 40 eggs being held cozy and warm waiting for hatch day!!! We are counting down and just can't wait!

Our little flock!

Our new chicks are now cozy in their box. I woke up several times during the night to the little peeps and cheeps of them happily moving about their box. It's always a sound that I love to hear in the house. They are so cute at this stage, it's before the crazy dino-bird stage where the baby feather are filling the air every time that they move and they have decided to truly stink like birds so often can. They are cute and cuddly.....But like children they grow to fast. We have 17 little chicks and the sex is unknown. As many of you know I have avoided roosters. In fact if you were to ask any of our boys what a rooster is they would say dinner! I however have decided that a couple roosters for breeding stock just might be a great idea! We will see how I feel after the eggs have hatched and just how many we end up with beside what we currently have under the warming lamp....hum.....what am I getting into?! Yet again those of you that know Rob and I know that we are always jumping in with both feet and ready to go! The roosters of course are so wonderful to look at and since the boys are the main caregivers of the current chicks they too have decided that a rooster or two to show at the fair could be fun!

We were very lucky to have found the the wonderful farm that we did! My husband did great research and was able to find a place that he knew would just be great. After a crazy drive there, moments of being lost, moments of being pretty sure that we were going to slip into a roaring creek, and a couple of moments of "could a place this good actually be true ?" had passed we took couple of deep breaths signed and stopped to ask for help! Thanks to the kindness of other people we managed to get back on track and go the stones throw that was required to get there!

Upon arrival it was just what we had hope! An amazing farm to look at and experience! A must for anyone in the area that is interested in farming, animal raising and meeting wonderful people. We had and appointment to meet with Will who was not only a wealth of information but a down to earth wonderful person! As we left and made our long trip home in the rain we kept talking about their farm and how we could better ours.......the door is open for us and there is so much to consider!

So we start our chicken flock again......we never thought when we started our last flock that we could be so saddened by the loss of our fantastic past flock....we are thrilled to have this chance to start up again and can't wait for hatch day! We are counting down and will keep you posted as our chicks grown and as our eggs surprise us!

Chicken, Chickens, and more Chickens

2010-03-13T11:21:00.000-08:00

Future look of the Marans

Future look of the Delware!

Future look of the Americaunas

Today we stopped at the Whitmore Farm near Emmitsburg, Maryland to get some chickens. We bought 17 chicks, and also have 38 eggs (supposed to be 40 but in all the excitement, only 38 made it into the cartons) for incubating and raising from the egg for the boys education. We got some Americaunas, Delaware, Marans, and Mericauna's (sp). We're on our way home, where the boys anxiously await to get the chicks settled and the eggs a warming!!! It was raining, but we had a blast anyway!!

Maple trees tapped and Syruping

2010-03-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

Here's a nice photo Zoe' took after the last sowstorm, our only real good storm of the year!

The SAP is a runnin at Baker's Acres of Chenango!

A little fire on the fire pit... boiling some sap the old fashioned way.

Bought this old Leader Evaporator 2x6 for boiling the sap... gonna use it for the last boil of the year!! I'll rebuild it for next year!

We've got a few trees tapped this year. Next year we'll go alot bigger... but this year, to get into the spirit of Syrup'ing it, here are a few pictures. The boys are enjoying it. Here' are the 4 Baker Boys out enjoying the snow, from left to right, Finn, Stanton, Braedon and Bryce.

An outbuilding and logs

2009-12-28T07:19:00.000-08:00

Skidding some logs out of the Baker's Acres woods. All of these were already either fallen or blown down and I'm just harvesting before they rot away.

The trusty Farmall Super A makes for easy skidding of the logs!

Here's the reason for skidding the logs. I've got a portable sawmill coming over to mill some siding.

10ft x 30 ft 3 bay pole barn lean-to

A place for the tractor, the spreader, and other tools so they aren't in the way in the barn.

Just got a spreader

2009-10-25T12:53:00.001-07:00

Just purchased a small ground driven (I think it's a Cockshutt) spreader.

Here I am on the lower field down by County Route 16 spreading the first load.

She's spreadin fine.. perfect size for our Farmall Super A.

Putting on the new rear chains.

As pulled off the trailer. Not bad for $100.

Today, I mucked the stalls after I worked on our new little ground driven spreader. It needed new chains to the rear end. Two full loads today. The stalls are mucked. Lots of fun tinkering away on this. Enjoy.

Old picture of house

2009-10-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of our house from long ago. We'll be looking at putting it back this way in the future. Enjoy. Where's Frank - my awesome cabinet maker Frank, when I need him!

Some more pictures

2009-10-10T15:43:00.000-07:00

The berated old 52 Studebaker

The 73 Sovereign

Out behind the barn.

Looking up to on the hill.. there's Steve's 64 Airstream Trade Wind

Picture from the side hill out back. Looking back to the barn and house.

This is where I'm planting our 800 cloves of garlic - Hard Stem.

Today's auction purchase.

Another of today's auction purchases.

Here's another auction purchase.. an old De Laval cream seperator.

And here's our big purchase for the day... an old pine cupboard for the kitchen, or den, or where
ever Zoe' desires!

A nice fall time here on the farm!

2009-10-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

Braedon falling in the mud!

The house up on the hill through the fields!

The silence of the pond

I love this time of year - trees are loaded - Crab apples!

Nice reflections.

Our closest neighbor.

A time to reflect!

We'll have McIntosh trees planted for next year - these apples are good - just not really big.
The deer path goes right underneath!

I love this time of year.

Very wet this time of year. And green!

Our barn.

Looking back at the house.

View from the pool area.

Looking north.

Fall is here.. planting garlic, raking leaves, mowing for I hope the last time in the yard. Getting things ready for a good winter's keep!

Welcome

2009-09-08T06:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Baker's Acres of Chenango

This is our first, of many more to come, blog posts about our simple life here on our farm. Our life is a good old country life that works for that simple back road lifestyle. We're into sheep, chickens, beef, raising our 3 (soon to be 4) kids, our Cheasapeake Retriever, and vintage Airstreams. Welcome!