While growing up in North Carolina, I dreamed of leaving the state, living a cosmopolitan life, and marrying someone without a Southern accent, thank you very much! But life is full of surprises.

It all started one evening in 1985 in a bar on Franklin Street. I met and fell in love with the man I would marry, a fellow North Carolinian. After living in Chapel Hill a few years, we moved out to rural Orange County where we began raising a family ... and chickens. Love changed my life plan, and so did Orange County.

So what is it that I like about this place I call home?

We cherish our history. Orange County has played an important role in the development of our state and nation. In pre-Revolutionary War days, Hillsborough was a home to the Regulators, men and women who fought against British oppression and ushered in our country's fight for independence. Our county is home to the nation's first public university, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. But before being settled by Europeans, Orange County was the site of at least three successive Native American villages.

We embrace the agricultural way of life. We have 600-plus working farms in Orange County, many of them family owned and operated for generations. Our farms support local restaurants, grocers and four farmer's markets with artisinal cheeses, crafts, dairy products, free-range eggs and produce. Here's a little information about four of my favorites:

Owned and operated by a fifth generation dairy farmer who relocated from Maine, Maple View Farm produces delicious hormone-free milk and ice cream. On any given day, I can go around the corner and gaze upon Holstein dairy cows in their fields and buy staples in the adjacent country store.

Toward Efland, there's McAdams Farm. Established in 1885, McAdams is famous for its pick-your-own strawberries, fresh-cut flowers, vegetables, and locally reared hormone- and antibiotic-free beef and lamb.

North of Hillsborough in Cedar Grove is Whitted Bowers Farm, a biodynamic operation run by a seventh-generation hometown gal, Cheri Whitted and her husband, Rob Bowers. They returned to North Carolina from California to grow apples, berries, figs, grapes, heirloom melons and pears.

"We remember telling our young daughter that the sounds of the sirens we heard outside our door [in San Francisco] were monkeys and the car horns were elephants," says Whitted. "Now we revel in the sounds of peepers, crickets, bluebirds, the mockingbirds living in our chimney and the early morning cluckings of the thousands of chickens from our neighbor's farm."

Due east is Sunshine Lavender Farm, owned and operated by Annie and Dale Baggett. The Baggetts -- mom, dad, children, cousins and in-laws -- use organic practices to plant, tend, harvest and transform this time-honored herb into sachets, home decor items, culinary lavender and bouquets.

Our farms not only enhance the county's economy, they are a tremendous source of pride.

We welcome all kinds. Of course, not everyone farms. The rest of us are storekeepers, teachers or self-employed professionals who work from home. Others of us are among the ranks at area universities, community colleges, outstanding private nonprofits, the Research Triangle Park, or businesses that have sprung up to support these institutions and organizations. We are also home to artists of all disciplines, both well known and those just starting out.

And friendly, manageable Hillsborough caters to us all. There's Dual Supply hardware and Carolina Fish and Game bait and ammunition shop. Within a block or two, there's the post office, banks, restaurants and Weaver Street Grocery. And because we all need a treat now and then, there's also Valour's Patisserie, Hillsborough Wine Company and Matthew's Chocolates.

We're in the middle of it all. We've got ACC basketball, Carolina Hurricanes hockey and minor league baseball's Durham Bulls. And if those don't suit, we can wander in any number of art galleries or museums, take in a play or live music, or catch up with friends in local coffee houses. When we need a vacation or an afternoon's diversion, we're three hours from the coast or the mountains.

But the best thing about living in rural Orange County is living here. It has a way of becoming part of you, making it hard to leave or even seeing the need to. In the morning, it's peaceful and sweet smelling. At bedtime, the stars light up the sky and sometimes even the woods that surround our home. In between, it's a full life, and I love it.

Libbie Hough lives in rural Orange County and operates her own public relations and marketing business, Communication Matters. www.cmatters.org

The 14th annual Piedmont Farm Tour takes place from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 40 farms across the Triangle.

The tour costs $25 (in advance) per car for all 40 farms, $30 the day of the tour. You can also visit one farm for $10 per car.

Questions?

Call the CFSA at 542-2402

www.carolinafarmstewards.org

www.weaverstreetmarket.coop

TIPS FOR TAKING THE TOUR

Bring a cooler! You'll be able to buy produce, eggs, cheese, meat and other farm products at many of the farms.

Understand that you will only be able to visit three or four farms a day. By the time you factor in driving and actually touring the farm, you'll need to budget at least an hour for each farm.

You can see more farms if you stick to a region of the tour. The tour is divided into three regions: north, central, and south, with a corresponding map for each region. You may want to pick three or four favorites in each region and focus on a single region each day.