The Christmas Turkey

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

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

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

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

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.....

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

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!