Six containers of heirloom tomatoes, miniature squashes, and herbs on your back patio or six acres of beets, cabbages, and strawberries? Five chickens and a honey bee hive or a small farm with three dozen sheep and a couple of quarter horses? Regardless of the size of your “field of dreams,” Essential Guide to Hobby Farming is your best first step to making that hobby-farm aspiration a pleasurable and profitable reality. A hobby farmer for the past thirty years, Carol Ekarius shares the joys, challenges, and rewards of living the rural life. Hobby farming is as much a state of mind as it is an address in the country, and this instructive, beautifully photographed manual addresses every topic beginning hobby farmers need to know, from purchasing the right land and equipment to choosing and maintaining crops and livestock to marketing and selling your hobby farm’s yield. TOPICS DISCUSSED INSIDE: -Assessing finances and resources—land, water, tools of the trade (trucks, tractors, various implements) -Choosing the best crops for your land, climate, hardiness, and profitability -Selecting and caring for the livestock—chickens, goats, cows, sheep, etc.—that best fits your hobby farm -Protecting crops and livestock against predators, pests, and disease -Business and marketing options for selling your “local food” directly to restaurants and farmers’ markets and through CSA programs -Preserving the harvest, through canning, drying, and freezing, plus over two dozen original recipes for your homegrown produce NEW FOR THE SECOND EDITION: Expanded section on chickens, including urban and suburban accommodations; honey bee keeping; adding a barn or annex building to the farm; trends in planting, including miniature vegetables, heirloom varieties, and “hot” new vegetables and hybrids; adding flower beds to the property; getting involved with a CSA

Do you long for the country life? Hobby Farming For Dummies is a practical guide that will show you how to handle all the basics of small-scale farming, from growing healthy crops to raising livestock and managing your property. You'll see how to decide what to farm, provide shelter and utilities, select plants, and protect your investment. It's all you need to dig in and start growing! You’ll get a real idea of what it really means to jump from your current lifestyle to a life farming in the countryside. You’ll get the information you need to decide if the farming lifestyle is right for you and your personality. You’ll learn everything you need to know about property and how to access a power supply. You’ll get practical advice on which animals would work best for your farm and you’ll learn how to acquire them and what you need to know about caring for them properly. You’ll get help with all of the major decisions like whether you’re better off with subsistence farming or a more ambitious project. Find out how to: Make from change to a farm lifestyle Get along with your neighbors Find and buy rural properties Select and maintain equipment Raise and care for animals Use and preserve food items Avoid common farming pitfalls Choose plans for your farm Complete with lists of the ten unique opportunities for fun and the top ten misconceptions about farm living, Hobby Farming For Dummies will help you discover how you can live the simple life.

Eggs, meat, milk, wool, fur, feathers, and some priceless bucolic bliss. No hobby farm is complete without critters…possibly a small herd peppering the field or a microflock flapping around the hen house or pond. A single information-packed volume with everything a hobby farmer needs to know about farm animals, this new comprehensive manual to selecting, caring for, and breeding livestock brings forth the expertise of six hobby farmers, each of whom has real-life on-the-farm experience with the animals she discusses. Whether you’re contemplating adding a small herd of sheep or goats to your existing hobby farm or you’ve always wondered about the benefits of raising angora rabbits or Muscovy ducks, Livestock for Your Hobby Farm provides the kind of guidance you need to begin a herd or flock and expand your pens and fencing. With exhaustive detail, the authors offer complete coverage of chickens, ducks, goats, sheep, cattle, pigs, and rabbits, including the housing, health-care, special needs, advantages and challenges of each. -Extensive sections devoted to the seven major farm animals, including profiles of the most popular breeds and varieties -Detailed how-to chapters on the care, handling, feeding, health, and safety of each animal -Special chapters devoted to the breeding and raising of young animals -Recommendations for ways of capitalizing on your livestock’s output, from selling eggs, milk, fiber, and so forth -Tips for troubleshooting potential problems and warding off diseases, parasites, and predators

Farming, growing your own crops, and raising animals have never been as easy as they are today. With modern technology and access to a plethora of knowledge and resources, farming can not only be easy but profitable as well - even for someone who has never stepped out of the city. In fact, you can do it from the comfort of your own home! Get a detailed explanation of what it takes to farm different crops and animals. Become an expert on farming techniques, crop management, and animal care. Avoid common pitfalls and problems through advice on the best practices taught by seasoned experts. Take the first step today for a fruitful tomorrow! All you can need: Tools and Equipment For Agriculture Veggie Gardening Choose the Right Location Choosing Veggies Baby Vegetables Designing Your Garden Fruit Gardening Tips for Tree Planting Raising Chickens, Ducks, and Geese Chicks vs. Pullets Breeding Raising Cattle and Pigs Raising Cattle Types of Cattle Breeds Tips for Cattle Selection How to Raise Cattle How and When to Breed Cattle Raising Pigs How to Build a Pigpen How to Raise, Feed, & Care for Pigs Raising Sheep and Goats How to Raise Sheep How to Raise Goats Become a Beekeeper An Introduction to Honey-Making Bees How Bees Make Honey Essential Supplies Building a Beehive Getting Your Honeybees General Tips on How to Care for Your Bees Harvesting Honey This is the must have guide for any farmer-whether they're beginners or experienced mini farmers looking for new ideas.

Enjoy a weekend breakfast featuring eggs, bacon, and honey from your own chickens, pigs, and bees, or a holiday meal with your own heritage-breed turkey as the main attraction. Gail Damerow covers everything you need to successfully raise your own farm animals, from selecting the right breeds to producing delicious fresh milk, cheese, honey, eggs, and meat. Even with just a small plot of land, you can become more self-sufficient, save money, and enjoy healthy, delicious animal products. Also available in this series: The Backyard Homestead, The Backyard Homestead Book of Building Projects, The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, and The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How.

When the farm is a lifestyle, but not quite a way to earn a living, it’s considered hobby farming. Most of us want to live a sustainable and healthy life in which we protect the environment and keep it safe from development and overproduction. But we can take this a step further by learning how to grow our own produce, while still maintaining an alternative, successful career to fund this passion. In this back to basics guide, Michael and Audrey Levatino share how to: Grow your own food Raise chickens, horses, llamas, bees, and more Practice being (a little) off the grid Sell the bounty in your local community Balance a professional career with a rural lifestyle The Joy of Hobby Farming is a guide that will excite armchair farmers and inspire any do-it-yourselfer. While this book won’t help you become a farmer by trade, it does provide step-by-step instructions and various tips and tricks to maintain a thriving farm. It will surely teach those who aren’t farmers by day to raise their own livestock, plant their own fruits and vegetables, and live out their countryside dream.