Pick Up Models

We are constantly searching for ways to stay flexible and change what we do to keep up and stay relevant. This article originally ran in the January/February 2016 issue of Hobby Farms.

The ergonomic grip makes this hoof pick easy to hang on to. Stainless steel blade and convenient nylon hanging loop.

Farming is a continued lesson in patience and timing; don't forget to have that for yourself. Biggest Challenge The greatest challenge I am finding as a young farmer is in finding long-term access to land.

“The house has preserved a lot of the old,” Terri Allen says, pointing out the original linoleum floor and old icebox full of mason jars. Sandhill cranes fly above the farm to their winter nesting grounds, and a coyote yips as the sun rises.

These are not the most fun jobs on the farm, and we have to discipline ourselves to pay attention. —Lynn Pugh, as told to Cory Hershberger This article originally appeared in the March/April 2017 issue of Hobby Farms.

A learner's paradise, the farm's ongoing classes include goat and chicken husbandry, cheesemaking and the new three-day yoga workshops. Lemon juice 2-3 T. Food is a major part of life at Mountain Goat Lodge.

After providing more than 400 Larimer County families with organic meats, vegetables and dairy products for 15 years, Guidestone Farms closed its doors. Ultimately, what I'd like to promote is called “earth literacy:” Being literate about the ecological...

Find a local source of fresh milk. Test your products out on family and friends. Tags goat's milk When You Visit Check out Fiore di Capra's booth at the Heirloom Farmer's Market at Rillito Park in Tuscon, Sundays from 8 a.m. to noon (summer) and 9 a.m

Firsthand Advice Ridge to Reef Farm your own farm. It will take thousands of thoughtful farmers to make the waters clean again and our soils healthy. Based on our values that is a good thing, but it can get tough when problems arise or equipment breaks...

But more important than monetary savings, we really appreciate how directly we can engage with our land and community through working by hand and foot. Why reinvent the wheel? Often this cargo area is a wooden box, but we opted for a flatbed to allow...

As a society, we have to begin to place more value on our food and agree to pay more for healthy, quality food. The Samutin family's love of cooking with fresh, quality ingredients led these former city-dwellers to move to the country full-time in order...

Gammons Gulch Movie Set and Museum: Movie fans will not be disappointed with this side trip from Sleeping Frog Farms. Since those early days, the farm has expanded to 75 acres, now located 60 miles east in the Cascabel corridor of the San Pedro River...

It's patriotic, environmentally commendable and profitable—if you have the skill and a few legal tips to help. Therefore, if you perform your own legal research, be circumspect; don't expect that like beekeeping, you only need to look in one spot for...

They keep Katahdins and Katahdin-Dorper crosses, hair sheep that are friendly, resistant to parasites and great mothers. They have visitors from across the country, but are particularly a destination for folks on the West Coast and in Portland, Ore.

Cattle and cotton: This is what Arizona is all about, according to Michael McKenzie, co-owner of the McKenzie Inn Bed-and-Breakfast , a farmstay just outside Eloy, Ariz. Events, such as cooking demonstrations by chefs using the farm's specialty produce,...

In addition to allowing the public to stay on the farm, Cold Creek Ranch directly markets meat locally. Easy day trips from the ranch include hot springs, Apache sights and world-famous Tombstone, Ariz., one of the last frontier boomtowns in the American...

These things are hard to come by at the height of the season when your immediate task is to get vegetables out to customers. Inspired by his mother's natural-foods business—the farm's namesake—Kaminsky launched Natural Trading Company , a 40-acre...

Cook With It Culinary lavender is a versatile herb that can be used to enhance both the flavor and appearance of food. Today, Los Poblanos consists of the original estate with lodging, dining, events and retail, but it's the organic lavender farm that...

There are three important questions to ask yourself when it comes to any greenhouse operation: Which crop should and can be grown year round? The most important factors are market demand and having a crop is compatible to grow in a greenhouse (i.e. basil,...

As a working and demonstration farm, Sugarbush stands out from the crowd to draw a huge following. Sugarbush was named “Best Cheese and Maple Syrup Stop in Vermont” by Yankee Magazine , and Luce received “Travel Person of the Year” award by Vermont's...

The Siemans reside there in a 1920s ranch house, growing a mix of grains and beans and raising animals in a holistic rotational system. If you can't visit him yourself at market or at his 100-acre ranch in Lompoc, Calif.

That felt good.” Fast forward to today: The pair owns and operates Longest Acres Farm in Chelsea, Vt., where they raise a variety of heritage-breed animals, including American Milking Devon cattle, Ossabaw pigs and Icelandic sheep.

That's the kind of relationship I like to have with purveyors. Now aided by two workers, UC Davis graduates Caleb Peretz and Vanessa Ramirez, who each work half the week on the farm, Audrey is looking at upping production.

“Our guests are always surprised by how much work farming really is,” Dumas says Jim. “We're more organic than Certified Organic farms,” he says. He doesn't use mechanized tools to cultivate the land, and he allows buffer zones for wildlife to...

Biggest Challenge Their biggest challenge is James having to balance the bulk of the farm operation along with a full-time job as a forester for a local electrical utility company.

“They're a higher-producing bird than most true heritage breeds, while maintaining the heritage qualities of doing well on pasture and retaining their instincts. Kristina Mercedes Urquhart She and her husband, Graham, started Dry Ridge Farm in the early...

Continuously Reinvent Adding new environments for people to enjoy that blend art and history in a beautiful natural setting keeps the property's energy from getting stuck, allowing for innovation and beauty to emerge.