Just look at this nastiness:
http://i27.tinypic.com/2efolex.png
No matter what I do, looking at tons of real world cities, I just can't do rural areas. I don't know how to make good winding roads. My farming towns look dumb and empty, and my farms look misshapen. Can anybody tell me how to improve my rural skills?
Well, first thing is that you've just started your city. Keep going.
Here is one of my cities.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi148.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fs26%2Fjmyers2043%2Finghamshire.jpg&hash=f3dc54592789abe288bf369d64f90b7aae8996a9)
Read through this thread. Some pictures or of rural areas. Many pictures show farms and farming from different zoom levels. You'll get a lot of ideas. Download some of the farms that you see others using.
http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=97.msg2622#msg2622 (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=97.msg2622#msg2622)
I'll be keeping track of this thread if you have further questions.