Our humble farm... pic heavy.

Thank you both for the suggestions - at the moment irrigation and the plastic mulch are not too convenient for me... I do have the "secret weapon" though that is the Farmall 100 with the cultivators, side dresser, and fast hitch... it makes things much easier for the few of us who are working the land. For the time being we just plant when best we can, and rely on the rain to get us through the summer and in to fall - it's not let us down just yet... though down the road if things grow as we hope that they do, I will probably start experimenting with the irrigation/mulch. I will definitely be going to a wider row on the vine crops this year, I was thinking somewhere around 6-8' spacing as you all have said. Right now the garden is a little shy of an acre altogether, which for my father, wife, and myself keeps us plenty busy. This year I'm planning on trying to regularly visit the county Farmer's Market to get an idea of how the market stands and what there could possibly be to be grown that's not already going strong. Through my business managing a Produce department I've also met a few other farmers who have already "diversified" from tobacco to produce with a good amount of success - and they have offered to help us out any way that they can (they use irrigation with the plastic mulch with great success.) I am also going to try and stagger my planting this year with a few of the cooler weather crops, namely cabbage - to see how that works out. The flowers are something that some farmers around here are working on with good success too, and I will probably try that out once I get a better grasp on the produce end of all of this. Thanks again for your advice, I'll take every bit of it that I can get

Jim, those offset Farmalls really are the trick for setting the rows, dad does ours the same way - setting the rear cultivators in and he somehow gets them dead straight every time... I'm still learning that part. Weed control is definitely made much easier with these tractors as well - but is there a "trick" to getting the weeds properly controlled on the melons? I can plow them to some extent but after they become so long it gets to where I have to resort to pulling each weed up - which while it is rewarding afterwards... it's not the greatest on a hot summer afternoon. It's really only an issue with the melons/cucumbers though, everything else it seems like the Farmall and the hoe take care of quite well. Thanks again everybody for the advice - really looking forward to seeing what everybody around here is growing this season at market.
Corn Cob - I am definitely going to have to check out these new plants, as much as I love Brussels Sprouts I have yet to grow any - I fear the bugs could be a problem down here... but I do want to try it. And the Large Spanish Onions sound great too - I'm trying my luck with the Candy Onions from Dixondale Farms this year -we'll see what happens.
And Grandpa, you're always a great help - look forward to this year more than ever!

For me, weed and grass pressure is determined mostly by how much rain I get and when it come. If rain comes early after planting and I can't get in there with the tractor, I am already behind. I plow alot early and while plants are small. I rescued a melon patch 2 seasons ago that was solid green with grass because of an extended wet spell. I'll see if I can find the pics. They were on the old site.

I use a hoe a lot too in all the stuff we plant. I cultivate the melons until runners are about as long as my arm. Sometimes I walk the rows and lay the runners in the row so the cultivators won't tear them off. Everytime I plow the melons, I plow the skipped rows. Then I slide the front cultivatos to the center to plow that ground as well. It depends upon the field, but I have used a scrape blade on the skipped rows after cultivating at layby to smooth them for walking when harvesting. I seldom walk over the field and weed it. I may pull up a BIG ragweed when picking, but that's about it. If the melons grow right, runners will meet in the skipped rows and most of the ground will be covered which suppresses weeds..

Corn Cob - post pics of the setup whenever you can - it sounds like a really neat implement. I have seen something somewhere before that sort of reminds me of what you're describing, if I'm remembering it right. 1-2 mph is not bad at all either considering everything that is being accomplished. The raised beds sound very nice for the tomatoes and peppers as well, so far our Farmall has served us well in keeping those in line... at least until the tomatoes are staked.
Jim - you should post up the pictures that you had on the old board - they were very interesting and I enjoyed them a great deal - I'm sure that everybody else would too!
Betty - I appreciate the compliment and I'm glad that you've enjoyed the pictures. Hopefully I will be able to get some good ones this summer when things start going in full swing.

On a personal note - we managed to get out one row of Sugar Snap Peas in the ground this afternoon.. it's our first time attempting these and it might be just a little bit late, I don't know... but we'll see what happens!