There are many good,books, one is Grass Fed Beef, and the other by Joel Salatin is Salad Bar Beef. Beef cattle are one live stock species that as long as you have good fences, good rotated pastures , and good water you do not have to be there everyday, but you should everyother day. Do not let cattle in ponds, I know people do, but if you want to be at your best do not, especialy if you are not present every day. Cattle can get caught in the mud and die, cattle can drown, cattle defecate in water and spread worms and disease, ponds are expensive, cattle are like bulldozers and evertime in and out they fill the pond with sediment and wear down the dam, the 2 books I mentioned discuss this in detail. Also the NRCS will help design and pay for water facilities and even ones that do not freeze in winter. You need to subscribe to the Stockman Grassfarmer, run a search to find the website, 3 year subscriptions are 56 dollars and well worth it, they have a great book resource, another good one is any one by Allan Nation, and Greg Judy. josh

Johanna, I have an idea why many farms do not landscape. As a former city gal it took me a while to figure it out. DH and I moved back to the farm he was born on and built a house close to the original one. Remember farmers are practical. My FIL cut down the fruit trees MIL planted after she died because they were too messy. Flowers and bushes get in the way of mowing. At the new house I cannot plant trees over there because the water pipes from the well come across that way, nor over there because the power lines are in the way, not over there either because of the septic and the septice fields, nor over there because the equipment has to have access to the crib and the tool shed and the lean to. Have you seen the new equipment?? One piece is as big as a barn!!! And there a are lots of pieces, so we have to leave plenty of room. Okay fine, I will plant in the front of the house....and did. It is soooo very extremely windy there that I felt sorry for the poor flowers and baby bushes being tormented constantly by the wind. Talked to a few farmers wifes who agreed. Flowers and bushes will be beat to death. No hanging pots or wreaths on doors or decorative items sitting around either, as they will all end up in the next county. Geeze. If you were to drive by our place you would see about five acres that one would think could be beautifully planted out, but that is not the reality. Being a stubborn lover of nature, I did manage to put in some fruit trees, behind the old house. Lost 2 cherry, 2 peaches and 2 plums..was it the wind? 3 apples survived... Horray!! Put in a small raised garden between the new house and old garage, a little protection from the wind that way, mixing veggies and flowers. I am so glad it is working out. This spring, I hope to have flowery paths going to our future chicken house and yard. And this too will work out...at least it does in my head. The man who farms our place just smiles and says his wife gave up long ago and got a job in a flower shop. I remain stubborn... hope you do too. Joan

Hello, I have inherited land In Tippah county ms. My family use to truck farm part of this land years ago when I was a teenager. now my children are grown and live away and my husband has his own businesses. I need a partner and I am interested in doing exactly what you have described above. Please contact me to see if this is something that work for both of us. I am physically fit, use to hard work, computer literate, have reliable transportation and a dream of doing something productive with what I have been given. I would not need a home. I am use to driving 150+ miles a day but am planning on retiring from this job and I am examining all my possibilities. I look forward to talking with you. Carol.

I'm late to the game, but wanted to share an idea we're doing this year. We're starting some local, neighborhood-run produce markets. They're technically grey-market - someone will turn a garage or shed into a produce stand. Anyone can drop produce by, and they list inventory on a whiteboard. Payments are handled through Venmo, so shoppers pay growers directly through a mobile app. It's a grassroots thing meant for neighborhoods, but I think if you had a handful of these going in town, a professional growers could drop off a steady supply of produce to each one. The folks who host it get to keep any produce unsold after a couple of days, so there are definite benefits for them. We wrote down the business model, if anyone wants to steal it :) http://www.hackyourhometown.com/the-grassroots-produce-stand-that-runs-itself/