Well, I grew up on a farm so had all the experiences of helping out around the farm as a kid. We still live near my parents and I have a very hard time living in town. When my husband was in the military (16 years ago), I looked at the map before we even moved near the base. I looked for the most rural small towns I could find that were close enough to the base and that is where we rented! I still was so homesick for the country though! Of course, it didn't help that we movd all the way across the country and I didn't see my family much for 3 years! We have 20 acres now and love it. We just moved here not long ago, so I don't even have chicks yet. I had them where we lived before but when they got old they went to my folks to 'live out' their days scratching in the dirt, as I knew we were moving and I couldn't take my coop. Husband is building me one this Spring so I can get more. We have 2 dogs, 5 cats and 1 very old horse at the moment. We hope to get some piglets to raise over the summer for meat. I guess you could say farming is in my blood, although with 20 acres we would probably be considered hobby farmers now. But I do have a life long background in farming. Karen

You really posted a rough one for most folks to answer. First of all, you need to gain some knowledge on your local climate and what plants grow well in your region. With this knowledge you can then decide what you might want to grow. Second, you need to understand the advantages and disadvantages to the various plant and animals you could choose for your farm. Some are realitively easy to grow, while others will require large amounts of time, energy or other resources for success. Third, once you have decided upon what plants or animals you want to produce, you need to understand your local/regional and national markets. This can even include the regulations controling the propogation of certain plant and animal species, and the production of products from them. (For example, if you decide to raise dairy goats and sell goat's milk, cheeses, and soaps you might find there to be a ready market for them in your local area, and that you could even get a reasonable return from selling them to boutiques/shops in Toronto, or even in Farmer's Markets, but you will need to factor in the compliance with Provincial regulations regarding the sale of these products, and thier production.) As a start up farm I would recommend you try and do things that will give up the quickest returns possible. One of the previous commentors suggested firewood sales. This can give you a relatively fast return on your investment, and can be a part of your overall farm improvement program. (You can select trees which would yield material suitable for fence posts that you can either sell or use on your property, plus yield firewood that you can either use yourself or sell, and if it is a desirable lumber species the trunk might be suitable for sale to a sawmill. Another advantage to this is you can also develop a tree management program where you can remove less desirable species and encourage the growth of ones that are.) If you can, you should think about your first years on your farm as being ones where you are building your farm, and may have to work off of the farm to provide cash income to pay for all of your expenses. If you are lucky, you will be able to provide yourself with all of your food needs from your farm, but you may not have any additional income from your farm for many years to come. (Sorry I am such a downer, but that is the way farming is.) Unfortunately, you got onto your farm a bit late in the season to have a greenhouse up and in production. If you had, you would have been able to market bedding plants and gotten a return on your investment this year. The remark about producing salad greens and other vegetables is a good one. As you are close to Toronto, early spring green vegetables would have been a good income producer, another option is to construct a greenhouse and look to make some income from producing green vegetables for the fall, when most locally produced vegetables have stopped being produced. I hope you get some good recommendations as to what to produce that will help give you a sustainable farm, but the big problem is in having knowledge and skills that will make it successful. Kevin

Hi Whitney: I really encourage you NOT to let your dog roam free, or to use the invisible fence. This advice is true whether you want a livestock guarding dog, or a farm pet. When I was a college kid, I let my German Shepherd roam free on the acreage. She "appeared" to stay at home, and was always there when I returned. The neighbor informed me that as soon as I left, she'd go hunting other people's livestock, and he'd seen her on more than one occasion bring a chicken back. I was mortified, and worried that she would get shot, or hit by a car, or cruelly treated. Therefore, I'd chain her when I left. She used to just wind her chain round and round the tree, until she couldn't move any more - let alone get to her water (this was in Florida - access to fresh clean water at all times was even more essential than in other places). In the end, I kept her in the house when I was away, and gave her plenty of off leash supervised exercise when home. Now that I'm an adult, and have a farm and livestock of my own, I get to see it from the other side of the fence! I've been trapped in my barn protecting my sheep from a pitbull for four hours before the animal control came. I've lost numerous valuable rare-breed chickens to dogs. I cannot walk along my road because of roaming dogs. I get chased when on my bicycle. I certainly cannot take my own dogs for a walk in the country. Invisible fences do work for some dogs. However, for those highly predatory ones, they can simply run right through them, but THEN cannot get back in! With my own dogs, I've had my young dog chase one of my cats straight through a barbed wire fence, and then it cost me a fortune at the ER clinic getting her stitched back up again. As my female was very well bred, and I wanted to breed from her, I also had to worry about when she was in season that someone's mutt would climb the fence. It was such a hassle, I ended up having her spayed, rather than having unwanted pups. Now, we have a backyard securely fenced for our dogs to be in unsupervised, and off our livestock. However, they prefer to be inside in the a/c during our hot Texas days, and out of the mosquitoes at night! At least this helps guard against heartworm (even though they are on preventative). By the way, I also have a friend who lost her beloved Aussie on her 200 acres - she went out to the bathroom one day, and never returned. They think she was shot by a hunter. As yours is a rental home, by all means, use the empty stable as a kind of crate when you're not able to supervise. However, a purely outside dog just doesn't get the attention or training they need to make a well-adjusted pet, other than in EXTRAORDINARY circumstances. Obviously, if you have a Great Pyr. to protect livestock, then he/she needs to be shut in with the livestock at night to guard them, NOT in the house with you! I agree with the other posters - two dogs is double-trouble. They will tend to bond with each other, NOT with you, and just wreak havoc far and wide (and near). Good luck!

Community Garden at The Michigan State fair by Michigan State University Graduate Ryan Rowinski.... Urban Farming at the Michigan State Fair We did our yearly caravan to the Michigan State Fair over the weekend. Myself, my husband, the four kids, my mother-in-law, and my brother-in-law go every year together, and Sunday could not have been a more perfect day. It was in the mid 60s, partly sunny, and just generally beautiful outside. While my favorite things have traditionally been the livestock and the agricultural exhibits, this year I was enthralled by the Great Lakes Gardens, an example of urban farming installed right on the Michigan State Fairgrounds. It was the creation of Ryan Rowinski, who is a graduate of the Michigan State soil science program, and donated his time, experience, and obvious green thumb to the Fair this year. I had read about the garden in the Detroit News, so I was interested in seeing it, but I have to admit that the husband and I werenÂt hoping for much. We already HAVE an urban garden, how different could this one be? Well. Great Lakes Gardens Urban Farm I could have spent the entire day in the Great Lakes Gardens. The plants looked fabulous, I loved the way Rowinski laid the garden out, mixing large borders of corn with small, narrow beds for squashes, and a circular bed for pole beans. What I loved about the garden was that it was obviously bountiful, it was beautiful, and it wasnÂt pretending to be anything else. This was a working urban farm, and it didnÂt need any "prettying up" or ornamentation. In fact, as of last week, the plot, which was installed eight weeks ago, has yielded over 300 pounds of produce, with another three to four hundred pounds expected in the next couple weeks. A quick survey of the farm showed that it was growing just about everything: corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers, eggplant, wheat, lettuces, brussels sprouts, sunflowers, and herbs all had a home there. I did notice that none of the corn had been demolished by squirrels, though Rowinski told the "Grosse Pointe News" that bunnies have been a bit of a problem. Ideas IÂm Going to Copy There are three things Rowinski did that IÂm totally ripping off next year. The first was this awesome cucumber tunnel trellis: Emily and Sarah under the cucumber arch. The second is the way Rowinski supported some of his pole beans. He calls this type of staking "Detroit-style" (you would find rebar in many of the vacant lots in the city  may as well use it!) Love these bean supports. The third thing IÂm going to copy is RowinskiÂs use of narrow beds. This is something that would definitely benefit those of us with small, irregular, or partly shady lots who are always saying "just one more bed!" I have a few areas I am already planning to use narrow beds in. I donÂt have a photo of it, but there were several long, twelve to eighteen inch wide, beds along the edges of the garden. A simple idea, but a very useful one. I was totally inspired by this urban farm, and more determined to increase our growing space next year. As a side note, due to funding issues, this was the last year for the Michigan State Fair. At 161 years old, our Fair was the oldest in the United States. We signed petitions at the Fair to save it, and I really hoped something would be worked out. But, Michigan Public Radio reported this morning that the last minute reprieve so many of us had hoped for hasnÂt happened. ItÂs over. I hate to think that my youngest kids will never have the experience of feeding goats and alpacas, seeing giant pumpkins, or watching the pig races at the State Fair. This is a huge loss to so many families, and to our entire state. I agree. I also attended the state fair this year and was completely amazed. I hope it is not our last fair. I consider myself a knowledgeable grower but could not believe the amount of knowledge I was able to obtain from the creator Ryan Rowinski, he is a graduate of Michigan State University crop and soil science program. He had such simplistic but innovative techniques. This young man broke down details of our food sources and soil components that made my mind spin. I found some youtube videos of the garden this morning. I hope the group will enjoy. Its amazing what could be done in the city of Detroit, if not for all the bureaucracy. All of the cityÂs vacant and blighted land could be so productive. WellÂgood day to all! I have some weeds to pick. youtube video links below. part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH3TVOS7QT4 part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtix0E_jGcw part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIS19BFKDo8