Battling My Superiority Complex

Sometimes I think I can do everything by myself.

My heart tells me that I am a superior being that can flawlessly pull off any task - woodworking, plumbing gardening, etc. My mind, however, bitch slaps me back into reality, and I've recently been thinking about how to most effectively transition my lifestyle towards homesteading.

Farming and gardening are not easy tasks. I believe the rise of intellectualism and white collar work have brainwashed many into believing that blue collar work is worth less or somehow requires less intelligence. Simply not true. That is not to say that I do not value intellect or academia -- I plan on going to graduate school and perhaps even pursuing a PhD.

However, I did not realize the full extent of planning and study that goes into developing and maintaining a healthy farm, especially if you plan to grow year round. Depending on zone, you are limited in what you can grow. It is important to plan months and years ahead of time, if only to ensure that the soil remains nutritious and the garden stays abundant. Some plants require pruning; yet others require manual pollination. Heavy machinery takes practice to operate, and composting can be finnicky. This is all quite different from what Animal Crossing taught me.

Farming Apprenticeships

My current position (I work in foreign policy) ends in 3 months. I have spent some time pondering what comes next in my life, before I apply to graduate school next fall. Something interesting I have come across are farming apprenticeships, or internships.

I had originally wanted to pursue a "communal living" type experience, where I live and work the land in a sustainable community. However, the ones I found online proved to be quite cult-ish, and having seen both Save Me (a Korean drama) and Midsommar, I decided against these opportunities.

Farming apprenticeships/internships, on the other hand, seem to provide me what I want in a safer manner. Many offer housing and food, in exchange for your labor on the farm as well as a stipend. Not to say these opportunities pay particularly well, but they seem to be a great way for someone like me to learn what it's like to run a farm.

In between studying for the GRE and the LSAT, I hope to carve out time to apply to these opportunities.

The ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture Program managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) seems to be a great resource to find these types of internships.

Excited to see what the next year of my life holds!