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    The Joy of Hobby Farming: Grow Food, Raise Animals, and Enjoy a Sustainable Life

    The Joy of Hobby Farming: Grow Food, Raise Animals, and Enjoy a Sustainable Life

    3.8 5

    by Michael Levatino, Audrey Levatino


    eBook

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      ISBN-13: 9781626367814
    • Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
    • Publication date: 04/01/2011
    • Series: Joy of Series
    • Sold by: Barnes & Noble
    • Format: eBook
    • Pages: 256
    • Sales rank: 246,810
    • File size: 52 MB
    • Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

    Michael Levatino works off the farm at a major publishing house. His twenty-three-acre farm, Ted’s Last Stand, is located outside of Gordonsville, Virginia.

    Audrey Levatino has hobby farming for almost fifteen years, producing and selling flowers, vegetables, honey, eggs, and hand-made jewelry and crafts at several local farmer’s markets. She and her husband, Michael, tend their crops and animals on their twenty-three-acre farm, Ted’s Last Stand, located outside of Gordonsville, Virginia.

    Table of Contents

    Preface x

    1 Place

    1 Introduction 3

    Why Hobby Farming?

    Slowly Farming

    2 The Search for a Farm 9

    Renting or Leasing

    Location

    Realtors and Other Resources

    How to Look

    Finding the Silver Lining

    Evaluating a Farm's Water Profile

    Zoning, Property Rights, and Easements

    Taxes

    Insurance

    3 Your Farm 19

    Where to Get Information

    Wells, Springs, and Cisterns

    Septic System

    Generators

    Heating with Stoves

    Farm Safety

    Guns and Hunting

    Farm Equipment and Tools

    Fencing

    Gates and Cattle Guards

    Outbuildings and Barns

    Firewood

    Ponds

    2 Growing Things

    4 Where and How to Garden 65

    Garden/Farm Journals and Record Keeping

    Our Gardening Philosophy

    Soil Tests

    Garden Placement

    Garden Layout

    Bed Preparation

    Compost

    Cover Crops

    Weed Control and Soil Building

    Pest and Disease Control

    5 The Food Garden 85

    Popular Crops and Best Practices

    Crop Rotation

    Growing Berries

    Growing Mushrooms

    6 The Flower Garden 107

    Growing Flowers for a Cutting Garden

    Planning and Constructing the Cutting Garden

    How to Choose the Right Blooms for Your Farm

    Elements of a Cutting Garden

    7 Extending Your Growing Season 123

    Growing for the Selling Season

    Cold Frames

    Row Covers

    Hoop Houses and Greenhouses

    3 The Care of Living Creatures

    8 General Animal Care Basics 131

    Our Philosophy of Raising Animals

    Animal Care Basics

    Where to Find Animals

    What Do All Animals Need?

    Preparing for Animals

    9 Small Creatures for the Hobby Farm 141

    Chickens

    Honeybees

    Dogs and Cats

    10 Large Grazing Animals 169

    Handling Large Animals

    Shelter

    Food

    First-Aid

    Dealing with Death

    Donkeys

    Llamas and Alpacas

    Longhorn and Grass-fed Beef Cattle

    Horses

    4 Running Your Farm as a Business

    11 Bringing it All Together 201

    Bartering and the Farm Community

    The Importance of Hobby Farming Businesses

    Starting a Farm Business

    12 The Farmer's Market and Other Sales Opportunities 209

    What Will You Sell?

    Market Management

    Fees, Payment, and Sales Taxes

    Establishing Your Farm Brand

    Setup and Location

    Selling to Retail Markets and Restaurants

    Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs)

    Websites and Social Media

    Afterword 224

    Resources 231

    Bibliography 233

    Acknowledgements 237

    Index 239

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    When the farm is a lifestyle, not just a way to earn a living, that’s hobby farming. Most of us want to live a sustainable life in which we protect the land and keep it safe from development and overproduction. But we can take this a step further by learning how to grow and savor what we can produce ourselves—while still maintaining an alternative career to fund this passion. Michael and Audrey Levatino here 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 book that will excite armchair farmers and inspire any do-it-yourselfer.

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    Ferenc Maté
    The Joy of Hobby Farming will guide you toward self-sufficiency and restore your faith in your own two hands, if you’d just start digging.”
    The Daily Progress
    As the title of the book suggests, this is not a guide for those who want to become full-time, year-round farmers. It’s for those who want the ground they live on to nourish their bodies as well as their spirit.
    Erykah Badu
    Friends, check out this dope lifestyle book authored by one of our BaduWorld family members! An easy manual to healthy living... please spread the word. peace and light.
    Richmond Times-Dispatch
    Detailed but never excessively so, and richly illustrated with color photos, the Levatinos' book is a useful manual for would-be hobby farmers and a world of entertainment for readers with a passion for going green or simply with fond recollections of farm life.
    North Jersey Record
    …in this book, they provide tips for everything from growing your own food to choosing the right blooms for your garden to running your farm as a business for additional revenue.
    From the Publisher

    The Joy of Hobby Farming will guide you toward self-sufficiency and restore your faith in your own two hands, if you’d just start digging.” (Ferenc Maté, author of A Vineyard in Tuscany and A Real Life)

    “As the title of the book suggests, this is not a guide for those who want to become full-time, year-round farmers. It’s for those who want the ground they live on to nourish their bodies as well as their spirit.” (The Daily Progress)

    “Detailed but never excessively so, and richly illustrated with color photos, the Levatinos' book is a useful manual for would-be hobby farmers and a world of entertainment for readers with a passion for going green or simply with fond recollections of farm life.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

    “…in this book, they provide tips for everything from growing your own food to choosing the right blooms for your garden to running your farm as a business for additional revenue.” (North Jersey Record)

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