Grow up farming
For kids who like animals, dirt, machines, weather or figuring things out: a few ways to start, right here in Lincoln County.
Farms are a big part of Lincoln County’s story. Like a shop, a farm spends money early (seed, feed, fuel) and does a lot of work before anything is ready to sell. Curious where it could start?
We ask farms for nothing. Everything here is something a kid and a grown-up can do on their own.
Local paths4-H, FFA, fair junior shows and young farmer programs.
One we’ve already checked: the Lincoln County 4-H Home School Club (UT-TSU Extension, Lincoln County, grades 4–12), with meeting dates and how to join.
Where kids around here already do this
- 4-H, UT Extension Lincoln County. Grades 4–12, no dues. Livestock shows, judging teams, projects. Lincoln County 4-H · 208 Davidson St. E, Room 117, Fayetteville · 931-433-1582
- FFA at Lincoln County High School. An FFA chapter listed by Tennessee FFA. Ag classes sit within the school system’s Career & Technical Education program. The course list isn’t posted online, so the school (931-433-6505) is the place to ask.
- Lincoln County Fair. Junior livestock shows, including a Junior Meat Goat Show, and 4-H entry forms. lincolncountyfairtn.com
- USDA FSA Youth Loans. For ages 10–20 in 4-H, FFA or a similar group, for a small, supervised, income-producing ag project. Up to $10,000. fsa.usda.gov
- TN Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers. For farmers and ag professionals ages 18–35. tnfarmbureau.org
- Ag degrees. MTSU School of Agriculture · UT Herbert College of Agriculture · TSU College of Agriculture
- Starting out. USDA’s beginning-farmer resources · the state’s Pick Tennessee Products farm-direct directory · agritourism help from the TN Dept. of Agriculture
- Century Farms. Tennessee recognizes farms owned by the same family for 100+ years. TN Dept. of Agriculture · MTSU Center for Historic Preservation
Start at homeSmall projects, no farm needed.
- Grow one thing. A bean in a cup, a tomato in a pot, herbs on a windowsill. Write down the day you planted it and the day you first see a sprout.
- Keep a weather log. Rain, sun, the first frost. Farmers watch the weather every day; try it for a month.
- Read the label. Pick something from the kitchen. Where was it grown? How far did it travel?
- Count the cost. Before you plant, write what the seed, soil and pot cost. When it’s grown, was it worth it? What would you change?
- Care for something every day. A pet, a plant or a garden bed. Notice what happens on the days you’d rather skip.
Starter ideas: pick one, or none
- One row or one bucket. A container garden on a porch, or one row in someone’s garden. (See Grow something.)
- A few chickens, or a 4-H animal. 4-H’s livestock projects are built for this, with an adult and a record to keep.
- A farm record book. Write down every cost, every egg, every sale. Farmers kept books like this long ago, and many still do.
- A stand, run with a parent. A table with a cash box and a hand-lettered sign. What sells? What’s left at noon?
- Farm Detective counts. On one drive in the county, count hay bales (round or square?), cows (what colors?), long low barns (poultry houses), fields of corn, soybeans or cotton, Century Farm signs and farm stands. Then compare: the county had 69,050 cattle and 3,673,394 broilers on hand in 2022 (USDA NASS Census of Agriculture).
Grow somethingA bucket, some dirt and a sunny spot.
Easy first plants
Radishes (ready fast) · lettuce · bush beans · sunflowers · potatoes in a bucket · herbs (basil, parsley) · one pumpkin vine, if there’s room to sprawl.
When to plant (Tennessee)
| Plant | Spring window | Fall window |
|---|---|---|
| Radish | Mar 1 – Apr 15 | Aug 1 – Oct 1 |
| Lettuce | Mar 1 – Apr 15 | Aug 1 – Sep 15 |
| Spinach | Feb 15 – Apr 15 | Sep 1 – Oct 1 |
| Peas | Feb 15 – Apr 15 | — |
| Irish potatoes | Mar 1 – Apr 15 | Jul 1 – Jul 31 |
| Snap beans | Apr 10 – Jun 30 | Jul 1 – Aug 15 |
| Tomatoes | Apr 15 – Jun 30 | Jul 1 – Jul 15 |
| Pumpkin | May 1 – Jun 30 | — |
From UT Extension’s The Tennessee Vegetable Garden (W 346-B), Table 5. UT also publishes a month-by-month 2026 garden calendar (W436).
- Sunflowers and herbs aren’t in that table. Follow the seed packet, which usually says to plant after the last frost.
- Frost dates: W 346-B’s frost table doesn’t list Fayetteville. The nearest station it lists, Nashville, has a last spring frost of April 21 and a first fall frost of Oct. 10, at a 10% chance of frost (NOAA 30-year data). Fayetteville’s dates may differ, so UT Extension Lincoln County (931-433-1582) is the local check.
- Hardiness zone: look up ZIP 37334 on the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.
What you need
A sunny spot (6+ hours of sun), a bucket or pot with holes in the bottom (or a patch of ground), potting soil or garden soil, seeds, water and a notebook.
Grow journal (one page a week)
Date · weather · what I planted or did · how tall · a drawing · what I’d try differently.
Grow it, then sell it
A handful of radishes or a bunch of basil at the family stand or on a neighbor’s porch. The record book tracks seed cost against sales.
Save some seed
Let a bean pod dry on the vine, or a sunflower head dry on the stalk. Pick out the seeds and store them in a labeled paper envelope. Many gardeners do this every year.
Local help: UT Extension Lincoln County, 931-433-1582.
Family questions: What’s the first thing you remember growing, or seeing grow? Who in our family knows how to garden, and what would they show us?
Ask a farmer (optional)Only where a farmer is already selling to the public, and only if they have a minute.
Before you ask
- Go with a grown-up. Always.
- Pick a quiet moment. No line? Good time.
- Buy something small if you can. (You don’t have to.)
- Ask one or two questions. Not all of them.
- Busy? That’s OK. Say “Maybe another time!” and smile.
- Say thank you. Every time.
Pick a question
- What does a day on your farm start with?
- What do you grow or raise, and when is it ready?
- What kind of weather worries you most?
- What’s something you learned the hard way?
- What would you tell a kid who wants to farm someday?
All optional. Ask only where a farmer is already selling to the public, like a market table or a farm stand, and only if they have a minute.
What you don’t see on a farm
Notice and wonder; you don’t need to ask.
- Seed, feed and fuel are bought long before anything is ready to sell.
- Animals need care every day, on holidays and in bad weather too.
- One storm, a dry spell or a late frost can change a whole season’s work.
- When a machine breaks at harvest time, someone has to fix it fast.
- What has to happen before food gets to a store shelf or a market table?
Farm Detective driveFrom the car or the roadside, with a grown-up. Never on private land.
- Notice. On your next drive out of town, name three things you see in the fields. What’s growing, or what animals are out?
- What’s going on here? Is a field just planted, growing, ready, or finished? What do you see that makes you say that?
- Look for the work. Hay bales, a tractor, a fence being fixed, a barn light on early. What job was someone just doing?
- Look again on the way home. Did anything change? What would change by next month?
- But maybe… What’s one other explanation for what you saw?
Back home: draw one field you saw, and write one question you’d ask the farmer who works it.
Farm careers todayFarming grows a lot of other jobs.
Running a farm takes people who know animals, plants, soil, machines, money and weather. A few jobs that grow out of farming: farmer or rancher, large-animal veterinarian, equipment mechanic, agronomist (a crop and soil scientist), extension agent, ag teacher, and the people who sell seed, feed and supplies.
What farming looks like as a job now
- Agronomy: soil and crop science.
- Ag tech and drones: mapping fields, spraying, counting plants.
- Large-animal vets and vet techs.
- Equipment technicians: today’s tractors run on computers.
- Ag lending: the farm credit and bank side.
- Food entrepreneurs: the jam, the salsa, the food truck.
The degree programs under Local paths cover most of these.
A few more numbers
- The average Lincoln County producer is 59 years old.
- There were 1,926 farms here in 2002 and 1,450 in 2022.
- Across the U.S., 86% of family-farm households earned more than half their income off the farm in 2024.
629 Lincoln County producers counted in 2022 were new or beginning farmers, 158 were under 35, and 68 farms sold food straight to neighbors.
Sources: USDA NASS 2022 Census of Agriculture (and the 2007 census for 2002) · USDA ERS, America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance, 2025 Edition (EIB-299).