Two Months left.

I only have two more months to endure. After June, I am done with High School.
This comes as a great relief for me, because i find this year to be especially tedious.
Once I am out of High School, I will be able to pursue my passions, and study Agriculture.
At Simon's Rock, where I will be attending, there's not an agricultural program.
Therefore, I will find small, local farms to work with while I am attending.
I still intend to major in Sustainable Agriculture, because it is a subject which interests me.

I just got back from Spring Break in New York City, and am not anticipating my return to school tomorrow.
Oh well, C'est La Vie.

Farmers Markets

Before I return to LA, I'll try and visit the Union Square Farmer's Market.
I am interested to see if Farmer's Markets are different on the East and West Coasts.
I am still reading You Can Farm, and I find it interesting.
Joel Salatin tries to steer beginning and future farmers, like myself, in the right direction, and tells readers about his farm in Virginia. When I get back to California, I'll begin reading Everything I Want to do is Illegal.
This book will educate me on some of the burdens imposed on farmers by the government.

Grandparents

I was visiting with my grandparents last night, and discussing my choice to become a farmer. Even though my grandfather didn't make any direct comment, his disapproval was obvious. My grandfather was a lawyer for his whole life, so that probably influenced his comments. When I asked him what he thought, he responded that it's not his place to judge the lives of other people. These remarks were about as subtle as getting slapped in the face. I guess criticism comes with the territory, because I am not choosing an extremely lucrative, elitist career. If I had chosen a desk-job within corporate America, my grandfather would have been supportive. However, because I am choosing a fulfilling occupation, my choice becomes an object of criticism.
I am off to New York tomorrow. I am hoping that I can get a chance to visit some local farms. I will also be going to the Farmer's Markets in Manhattan.
I'm currently reading You Can Farm, by Joel Salatin, and it's a great book. It gives a lot of useful advice to the beginning farmer. As I read this book, I'll continue on my farm plan.

My detractors.

When I speak to people in my local area about my plan to become a farmer, I sometimes get responses that frustrate me. One of the more frustrating responses is "you're young, and your aspirations might change."
That response is tremendously condescending. Saying that my aspirations might change is insinuating (and not very subtly) that I have chosen a career path that the person finds disagreeable.
I am not trying to convert anyone to an agricultural lifestyle. I am simply choosing to become a farmer, which has no impact on these critics.
I am not here to convince others about the validity of my choices, but I am content with them.

The books have been ordered

I ordered You Can Farm,and Everything I Want to do is Illegal, both by Joel Salatin.
These books will be the beginning of my agricultural course of study.
I plan on completing a course of study before studying agriculture in college.
My course of study will include reading farming books, and interning on different types of farms.
After these two years, I will enter a program where I can formally learn more about farming, and then start Drouault Farm.

Animals on Drouault Farm

After much thought, I've created a rough plan for Drouault Farm.
I intend for the farm to start out with laying hens, meat birds, and a dairy operation, with cows and goats. As I continue, I may expand. I want this farm to be grass based, similar to Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm.

I want my farm to be within 3 hours of New York City. That way, I can have access to the many farmer's markets.

I am not following in the urban footsteps of my family.
I am blazing a new trail, through pastures.

Four year plan

I have created a four year plan.
Within four years, I intend to have a degree in Sustainable Agriculture, and will begin farming within 5.
For the next two years, I will study at Simon's Rock, where I was recently accepted.
While I am at Simon's Rock,I will find a way to be involved with local farms.
Following this, it is my intention to switch to a program where I can get my bachelors in Sustainable Agriculture.
Throughout the next four years, I'll be updating this blog.
This blog will undergo a change.
It started out as the musings of a frustrated teen in the city.
It will eventually turn into a true farm blog, in which daily happenings on my farm will be reported.
I will be changing the title of my blog, to the name of my future farm.

The web address will remain the same, but this blog will be renamed Drouault Farm.
The pronunciation is dru-oh.

My Rationale.

So, why do I want to be a farmer?

This is a question I've asked myself on many occasions.
Clearly it's not a common career choice among members of my generation.
I am not choosing this career path because I have visions of wealth.
I am becoming a farmer because I want to interact with the earth, and with the animals, and I want to produce food.

End of the blog.

I have decided that I don't want to be a farmer anymore.
I want to be someone with an office job in a large metropolitan area.
I want to have a job that isn't affected by weather conditions. I want to have a job where I won't have to do manual labor. I have decided that I shouldn't aspire to do physical work, but instead, I should just rest on my laurels.

Happy April Fools!