Greetings from the hobby farmers down under.

Our farm owner, Alf, has more than 40 years of experience working on many wild and cultivated plants in Australia. Now approaching retirement as a teacher, it is natural progression for Alf to purchase and develop a hobby farm. He is developing a 5-acre hobby farm at outskirts of Melbourne 50km from city center. Alf hopes to enjoy his lifelong passion of growing plants, especially fruit and vegetables. With the help of some friends, Alf has also established an internet portal My Hobby Farm to share his ups and downs in his own piece of paradise.

We are interested to hear what other hobby farmers are doing in Europe and USA, especially in the area of water harvesting system. As most of southern Australia has had below average rainfall in recent years, hobby farmers will have little chance of success without an effective water harvesting system. As we write about the Challenges ahead. we are open to your comments, suggestions or questions. Please relate your thoughts or experiences concernning any topic discussed at our contact page. We look forward to hearing from you.