Dear Reader,

Within these pages are events that really did take place, over a five year period, on our 100 acre farm in Verulam Township, Victoria County, Ontario, that we hadnamed "Active Acres". These stories will evoke laughter, and some may bring tears to your eyes as they recount the way "food" was grown on this farm firstly for private consumption then available as "Farmgate Sales".

Some of these memorable stories were sad and hard for me to write down, but most are full of laughs, fondly remembered, and just plain fun to retell. Some are age old scenarios, and others will have seasoned farmers just shaking their heads.

In these chapters I have recounted the joys and sorrows, the trials and tribulations, our everyday life as two first time farmers and our animals like Cloudy the horse, Heidi the apple loving cow and her unusual partner Joey, and what we all had to go through (and put up with!) in order to make life on the farm worthwhile.

There's even pictures!