By Allen Easterly

As the baby-boomer generation begins to reach retirement age, many are looking to escape the city life and move to a simpler, quieter way of living. Many just want to be more self-sufficient, and others are looking for the additional benefits of controlling what goes on their dinner plate by raising their own food. Hobby farming is one of the lifestyle options available along the Blue Ridge.

Hobby farms come in all sizes. Even a house with a nice-sized veggie garden, a few rabbits and chickens and maybe a beehive or two can be considered a hobby farm. If there is ample acreage a small hobby farm can support various kinds of livestock. Make sure you check local zoning regulations in your city or county before obtaining livestock or animals of any kind. Or if “raising critters” isn’t your thing then you can use the extra land to plant an orchard or raise farm vegetables.

Some hobby farm operations are weekend-only affairs while others are full time and many even involve the addition of a few hired hands. Either way, hobby farms are an important addition to the local economy. Plenty of excellent rural living and farming advice is available online. Visit the Virginia Cooperative Extension at www.vdacs.virginia.gov/ for farming information. Stop by the Small Business Administration at www.sba.gov/ for information on how to run your hobby farm as a business.

My wife Peggy, and I started building our hobby farm from scratch a few years ago. We contacted a local realtor in the area and found 16 acres of wooded property. We started by clearing and planting a couple acres for pasture. Of course, we needed tools for the job, so I had to buy a tractor and all the implements. A pond was added to serve as a water source for our stock. Early on, we visited a local nursery, bought trees and planted a small orchard so the trees would be producing ample fruit by the time we moved to the farm. We also cleared and planted another acre for enhanced wildlife food and habitat - to support our wildlife photography hobby and to help our wild neighbors a little. The deer even have their own private apple orchard now. Another acre was then cleared for our house and a pole barn. A local builder is now in the final phases of building the home we had designed by a local design firm. We intend to grow much of our own food by raising chickens, a hog and a dairy goat. To help support our hobby and offset the feed bill we may sell some eggs, rabbits and quail produced on the farm. I’m sure we will add a few more critters along the way.

Peggy and I chose to build a hobby farm because we both love raising animals, want to learn more, and also believe we need to be more self-sufficient. After more than 30 years as a records manager for the federal government and Peggy’s many years as a graphic designer, it is time to add more knowledge, experiences and enrichment to our lives. You only go around once in this lifetime so we feel it is time to do more of what we love and to experience some of a lifestyle we have both always yearned to live.

Although, moving back to the country for a simpler life isn’t all that simple. Contact a local realtor for expert help in locating and purchasing your ideal property. Spring is an excellent time to contact a Blue Ridge area realtor to see the many options available for the hobby farm of your dreams.

Allen Easterly is a free lance writer. He can be reached at Allen.Easterly@gmail.com