before going any further

Before going any further, you should know some of the things that this farmer wants to do that are illegal. I'd strongly encourage everyone to read Omnivore's Dilemma by Pollan, and then Everything I want to do is illegal by Salatin:

On farm processing. He would like to slaughter his own chickens, hogs and pigs on his own farm.

He would like to sell his neighbors jams, jellies, cider, etc, at his on farm store.

On his own property, he would like to build a 900 square foot house.

Those things are illegal.

You'd be surprised at how the other half lives....We thought this was outrageous. Especially consider that we believe that the way most animals are raised is disgusting, and we would like to have the ability to buy direct from a farmer.

and the saga begins

Let me begin by telling you a little bit about us.

In late 2009, while my husband Vince was wandering around the Whetstone library, he saw a book called "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan. The first time he saw it, he thought "Looks like a diet book, no thanks."

Since we have mind numbing jobs, we listen to audio books a lot to keep our minds active. He came back a few weeks later and it was still sitting here, so he picked it up.

We both listened to it and liked it, so sought out other books by the same author.

Thanks when we happened upon "Omnivore's Dilemma" by the same author. That book changed our lives.

In that book, Pollan explores local food systems, and contacts a guy named Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms in Virginia. Trying to find out what's so different about local, grass fed beef, he asks Joel to send some Tbone steaks to him at his home in New York. Joel refuses. Pollan goes to Polyface instead, and experiences farm life, and the system that Polyface uses.

This is all documented in "Omnivore's Dilemma", and we were fascinated by the events described.