''Hobby Farms'' is a bimonthly

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

, devoted to the life of hobby farmers, homesteaders and small producers. Its editorial offices are based in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

. ''Hobby Farms'' magazine's tagline is "Rural Living for Pleasure and Profit". The magazine is known for its award-winning design and photography.

History

The magazine was the brainchild of Norman Ridker, founder and chairman of BowTie Inc. In 1999, he was visiting a friend and business associate in upstate New York who enjoyed making maple syrup on his farm in his spare time. Looking around at the farm and his friend's life — a working professional who enjoyed farming as a hobby — he realized that no magazine existed that served him and others like him. He enlisted editors to begin researching "hobby farmers" and the seeming groundswell of urban professionals moving to the country seeking a more meaningful existence and with a desire to farm in their spare time. Finding that a very real need existed for education and basic information about farming for such individuals, BowTie trademarked the term "

hobby farm A hobby farm (also called a lifestyle block, acreage living, or rural residential) is a smallholding or small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income. Some are held simply to bring homeowners closer to n ...

", and launched ''Hobby Farms'' magazine in the spring of 2001. In 2004 ''Hobby Farms'' editorial office moved from

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

, to

. The magazine helps small producers in the United States and around the world turn their hobby into a viable business. Focused on the modern "

back-to-the-land movement A back-to-the-land movement is any of various agrarianism, agrarian movements across different historical periods. The common thread is a call for people to take up smallholding and to grow food from the land with an emphasis on a greater degree o ...

", the magazine is designed to appeal to older

Gen X Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the demographic cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the late 1970s as its ending birth y ...

ers,

Baby Boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the demographic cohort preceded by the Silent Generation and followed by Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom that ...

and the growing population in between who are in tune with organic growing methods and lifestyle. ''Hobby Farms'' features articles on raising livestock humanely,

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is agriculture, farming in sustainability, sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an ...

, marketing a small farm,

self sufficiency Self-sustainability and self-sufficiency are overlapping states of being in which a person, being, or system needs little or no help from, or interaction with others. Self-sufficiency entails the self being enough (to fulfill needs), and a self ...

, history and preservation, and the dangers of factory farms. Columns cover farm equipment and tools, cooking, buying land, and agricultural news and trends. The magazine thrived in 2006, and was the fastest-growing farm publication in the country. In 2013 the magazine was acquired by I-5 Publishing LLC.

Notes

External links

Official Hobby Farms Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobby Farms (magazine) Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Lifestyle magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 2001 Magazines published in California Magazines published in Kentucky Mass media in Lexington, Kentucky