Before you get invested with property, you might check with places that take apprentices, learners, interns, that want to learn farming or raising crops to sell locally. Not sure what they offer, but I know there are programs out there. Locally we have a real basic place, teaches crafts and skills in low tech farming, educating people from other nations who go home to improve their local conditions by training others. Gardening, using draft animals, improved plows made locally, blacksmithing, building wooden things from furniture to barns. They have interns each year, do many projects in learning the skills. http://www.tillersinternational.org/ I am sure there must be other places that teach skills to folks wanting to live closer to the land. This kind of farming lifestyle may sound idyllic, but sometimes must be combined with money producing, RELIABLE income for cash. Can't pay the property taxes with vegtables or a lamb. Anyway, learning is much easier if you get it done before investing money in land or "accessories" to work your own place. You find much information, better methods that work for you in certain settings, and if you really like doing this day in or out. You can travel easily if you don't have property, responsibilities, nothing to hold you, going off to these educational places. Check them out, seek far and wide. PA is home, but other places are fun as well, have other benefits you would enjoy. The more you learn, the better you can make informed choices in deciding your future goals. Best of luck Here is a link that might be useful: Tillers International

In case you dont fine the pretty, rich farmgirl! Farms dont have to be of large acreage. We farm 18 home acres and used to use others land for crops such as hay and corn. On this 18 acres we bred 25 Corriedale ewes, 6-7 Highland cattle, several hogs and Haflinger horses; along with bramble fruits, ribes, and a medium size truck garden. It was hectic and a lot of wear and rear and have now settled down to standard bred bantam poultry and Mini rex rabbits along with increased fruits and veggies. Always had another job or small business to get the real living wages. The most succesful farmers I know do have degrees in Ag business. farming is a business, not just a way of life. Lots of folks dont grasp that. There are grants available from varied sources, for different enterprises, just have do some research on them. There are some USDA cost sharing plans too. I think too much diversity too soon can be the ruination of a farming enterprise, start slow and make plans. Invest in those things which offer the best return, fancy new equipment has little return, that stuff is for those who like lots of debt to appear successful and those who left corporate America with a trunk full of cash and "made the move to the country life"! good luck( Luck is a very important part of the entire shebang)

Try looking up permaculture and biodynamic farming as well - some of the practices/ideas are pretty far out, but I like the basic tenets - that the land, soil, water, plants and animals are all part of a web that is and must be interconnected for any part to do well. There are magazines - ranging from homesteading ones to active working farmers - try Backwoods, Grit, Back Home, Acres USA, Progressive Farmer (I think that's the title), Mother Earth News and a few others, oriented toward small operations, either with an eye to self-sufficiency or producing for sale. Try any number of the publications from Back Home or Storey Publications to get an idea for raising livestock, living, farming on a small scale. If your chosen area publishes a farmer's/market bulletin, get hold of copies and see what is being sold at what prices. Talk to restaurants, etc., and see what they want, then figure out if you can grow it in the quantities and for a price that will allow you to make a profit - some things are in short supply because they are very hard to grow in bulk! Bear in mind that, while you won't necessarily need a large acreage, depending on your operations, you will HAVE to have good water and soil. And the water you will need for as long as you are there - so a good well or excellent spring, and not a lot of building plans in the area for the near future that might run down the water table will be a plus - look at the water situation in Raleigh, NC for a BAD example to stay away from. Granted, droughts are under no-one's control, but... Look at the weather, climate, etc. in the area you want to move to, and then go there and start asking questions - there are microclimates that are warmer and that are colder than the norm in all areas. The nat'l weather service did put out a book with the average temperatures, rain/precipitation, humidity, wind, etc., for each month for the past 10 years, so get a copy of the most recent edition and look at the patterns. Things ARE changing, but you can see trends and patterns. Spend time in the possible areas, a week or more and more than once, and don't just talk to realtors - they may not know the answers - so talk to the farmers and the people who live there. County co-operative extension agents can be founts of information. Think of your market - if you have to drive more than 2 hours to get to your market(s), more often than once or twice a week, you will need to factor in the costs of gas (which won't be getting cheaper) into your profit margins. If you can have something that people will come get, you have less in the way of transport costs, but you will have to figure in the time it takes to deal with the customer(s), and the interruption of other jobs. If the production of "after-market", processed things is in your plans, check local regulations about slaughtering and selling meat or eggs, about value added products like jams and jellies, what is needed or not in the way of facilities - some areas have a central facility for processing crops that is open to the community, and some, you can use facilities that aren't then being used, such as churches in the mid-week. Enough, you don't need overload. As you can see, there's a lot to think about and decide before you ever buy land, for life-style and location, size, etc., etc., etc.

Yeah, Tom has it right. Nothing is too small. Let me tell the story of my "dixie cup" tree. Near the town of Hyattstown, MD--not to be confused with Hyattsville, MD, there was an old house with two Norway spruce trees planted in front as traditional German "bride and groom" trees. These two trees, when I first saw them, made me think of the giant conifers of the Pacific N.W. I visited these trees from time to time just to see how they were doing and to admire their magnificence. One of the last times I saw these trees the house had been abandoned and it was spring, so I thought I would scrounge around and see if I could find any seedlings. Well, I found a few, but they were so very, very small--really just seeds that had germinated just about a week before. No green except the little ring of cotyledons. I put them in little plantic coffee cups that I found by the roadside (not actually dixie cups) and took them home and planted them in my garden. One soon died. Another lived for a little over a year, and the third I have growing now at my place in Winchester. After it grew in my garden in Arlington for about 4 years, I moved it to my timberland place where it grew for three more years and then I moved it to my place in Winchester. It almost died from my fertilizer mistake three years ago, but is now in full recovery mode. I really treasure this little thing--maybe not so little now. So--nothing is too small, even for transplanting. The other two seedlings died, probably because they were not the product of cross pollination. A pair of trees NS growing alone is usually not a good source for seed that will produce good strong trees. But these trees were so magnificent, I had to try to find something. I say "were" because the one that was slightly smaller has died--and I have not seen the other one for more than 10 years now. --Spruce