I have a 9 acre farm in SW Ohio, I have been farming for a living for 15 years with my husband. We rarely have help and when we do it is volunteer or intern help. We farm about 4.5 acres of the 9 acres. We gross about $7K per acre at this point I really do not see 9 acres netting $80K annually The very best you can gross from an acre is $25K (and net will be a lot less). You will have expenses for start up such as refrigeration, greenhouses, tractor or big tiller like a BCS (which is really a 2 wheeled tractor, harvest equipment, vehicle for delivering the produce to the city, marketing costs (farmers market fees, advertising, etc..). And it takes time to build up a customer base. If you are already in marketing than you will be able to do this probably in under a year. If you are not in marketing than it will be more like 3 to 5 years before you get the customer base you need to make the money necessary If you are not a market grower already, expect 5 years minimally to learn how to grow for market. This is not at all the same as having a super big home garden. Market growing is a different animal. But perhaps you already are proficient in succession planting, growing out of season and are an expert on growing 100+ different kinds of crops and know all about fertility, pests and diseases And you have to find the markets that are most lucrative for you. That could be selling to high end restaurants, creating a CSA, selling at farmers markets 6 days a week, or a combination of these ideas. At any rate, your plan has you netting $10K a week if you grow and sell 10 months a year. That is a very tall order for just two acres unless you always have perfect growing 100% of your crop is sellable and you can always sell 100% of that crop at the top price. Believe me that does not happen in the real world but is easy to do if you only farm on paper. I concur that berries are a great money maker. We also do extremely well with alliums-onions of all kinds, garlic, leeks and scallions. We happen to be in a market that is very underserved in this area so we sell all we can grow at top dollar. And that is another thing, you generally only get top dollar if your produce is top notch AND there is no one else in your market selling the same thing at a lower price. Once there is competition you almost always have to adjust pricing.

I lived in Massachusetts for my first 10 years then Illinois for the next 15. I came to California 31 years ago. Out of all the places I have lived I would say I like this the best. I like the weather most of the time and there is quite a variety geographically. We have beaches 5 miles away, ancient redwood forests within walking distance, we live in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mts. so have great views of valleys and even the ocean. I can drive to the mountains in a few hours if I want to play in the snow or to the desert if I want heat. I have lived close to the CA coast for 22 years and enjoy the Mediterranean climate. I can garden all year long and have fresh veggies, flowers and fruit. We are north enough to have some seasonal changes, but don't usually get the extremes in heat or cold. Though in the last couple of years I have been noticing some changes in the weather pattern. Everything you could want is close by, great 5 star restaurants, big shopping malls, historical sites; Santa Cruz, San Jose and San Francisco museums, symphonies, theaters. We get lots of big name entertainers. You could go 24/7 for a week and never repeat anything if you wanted. I don't miss the very cold snowy winters or hot humid summers of the East Coast or Midwest. Occasionally I get nostalgic for the Autumn changes that you get in New England. And I miss the fresh clams and fresh picked blueberries. The only other place I would want to live is Hawaii. Clare

dilly--to avoid this looking like spam I should have mentioned that I purchased my SS counter from him and just ordered windowsills also. It was late and I wasn't thinking. The price for the SS and delivery was MUCH better than what M.Tex. quoted me. In addition M. Tex. wanted to charge me additional for being in a walk up (2nd floor but not a high or wide landing) travel, and for an additional worker. When I called Green Mountain SS to check Vance's references they told me he used to be in charge of their fabrication dept.

I find your apartment luxurious in the layout you now have and I updated your space without major construction, i.e. not moving the dishwasher or changing the downstairs bathroom. Living in NYC, we have welcomed guests and accommodate them as best as we can. Down the road you may want to consider enlarging the master bedroom bathroom to include a bathtub and laundry (!!!). This would enormously increase the resale of your property. I love the hot plates, but a small stove top and convection oven can do everything and more permanent, again increasing the property value. Don't spend the unnecessary expense of moving the sink or dishwasher, just to turn that corner and work with what you have. A decent size counter is a large workspace and dining area. I've had the biggest and best Thanksgivings in a teeny tiny NY kitchen!