Red Sunflower Farm

Short Term Plans

I have a very long list of projects, and I am constantly re-prioritizing that list. Projects on the front burner for summer 2010 include:

1. Lay 24” wide swath of plastic around entire one acre perimeter of vegetable garden and cover with wood chips to keep weeds from growing up, touching the lowest wire on the solar electric fence and shorting it out
2. Reset fence posts with 14 gauge wire
3. Bush Hog the fields before we are overrun with weeds!
4. Build nesting boxes in the chicken coop
5. Build another tree stand
6. Find a stone mason who will work for food
7. Finish ditch around the garden for water drainage
8. Finish stone walkways around house
9. Move 25 large half-ton rocks at the edge of the yard to the bank of the pond

Additional projects in the short term include developing nearby sources of manure and planting clover food plots to attract deer. In the next twelve to twenty four months, we intend to build a summer kitchen and start a CSA.

Long Range Plans

Mackey and I want Red Sunflower Farm to become a community focal point. At age 60, it will be impossible for me to accomplish all of the projects that we envision here. We will need the help of community volunteers and apprentices. And as we learn how to do things like build stone walls and buildings with slipforms and grow shiitake mushrooms, we want to teach others how to do it.