I had fun reading about everyone else's gardening adventures! It seems like we have had a diversity of experiences.
As for me, my husband and I bought our property in Vermontville about six years ago. It's right on Route 3, but there is a wide drainage area between our land and the road, reducing any concerns we had for road runoff. It had between 2-3 acres of cleared land (now closer to 4) and a gentle downward slope to the east away from the house, all good qualities for starting a farm.
A few challenges over the years. While we are officially in USDA Hardiness Zone 4, we have to plan for Zone 3, as we frost early and warm up late. Additionally, we have learned to only grow corn in our main garden, as this allows the house to act as a windbreak. The wind really whips down Route 3 from the north. We have also had to add quite a lot of compost and manure to the soil to build up its water holding capacity, as we started with a very sandy soil that would dry out quickly in mid-summer.
There are some positives! We have had a minimum of invasive plants on the property, and we inherited seven old but awesome apple trees, all different varieties. This does attract the deer, but we just put up taller fences around our garden and learn to appreciate them clearing up all the ankle twisting drops in the fall. Our snake population helps keep the rodent population down too.