Michael Levatino

Greetings would-be farmers - My name is Michael Levatino. My wife, Audrey, and I own a 23-acre farm outside of Charlottesville, Virginia, called Ted's Last Stand.

We named the farm after our first rooster. When we moved to the farm, the previous owners had left behind a white rooster and hen. We named them Ted and Beverly. We knew nothing about keeping chickens and they had no coop to sleep in. Ted slept on the front porch and Bev up in a tree. One morning we woke up to find a trail of white feathers from the front porch to the woods.

We learned a quick lesson about farming and soon built a coop and adopted a dog for protection. Our guilt at being such novices led us to memorialize Ted. And thus the name Ted's Last Stand. Bev had nine eggs she began sitting on after Ted's death and we soon had seven roosters and two more hens. We still have one of those roosters and one hen - Ted Jr and Louise.

We sell fresh cut flowers, some vegetables, beaded jewelry and crafts at two local farmers markets and to restaurants. This is our first book about our experience - the stories of Ted and many others are in the book along with lot's of practical info. We hope you'll be inspired to do a little farming yourself, whether in a back yard or on many acres. Anyone can do it. Just dig in!