Another year.

It appears that another academic year begins in the morning.
Another year of purely theoretical learning, devoid of the practical.
I realize of course that theoretical learning is enough to be fulfilling for most people.
I, however, don't feel fulfilled just by "studying."
When WWOOFing in NC, i felt fulfilled, because I had done physical, tangible work. I could see the results of my work. The work wasn't in a document stored on a hard drive of a computer. The results manifested themselves in a pile of weeds. I could actually see and feel what I had accomplished. To me, that's learning, because I felt truly happy with what I had accomplished.
With typical collegiate learning, it's hard to reach the same sense of fulfillment, because there's really nothing to show for it, except a piece of paper, four years down the road.

Leaving North Carolina

My five day stint WWOOFing in North Carolina draws to a close tomorrow, when I will board a northbound plane. I have benefited greatly from my time here. I did a lot of fulfilling farm work, which I greatly enjoyed. In addition, I had some leisure time, which I spent fishing. This evening, I had an eighteen inch bass on my line, when it snapped, less then 6 inches out of my reach. 
In addition to the physical activities, we had great discussions about food and farming. 
Also, I found that amazing plot of land, and I'm currently in the process of talking with the owner, which is so exciting. 
It would truly be starting from scratch, as it's just land, with no buildings, and all the pastures ate overgrown. It would be a wonderful opportunity to start a farm. 
I greatly benefited from this time in NC, and I hope to return soon. 

Eureka. I have found it.

I feel that I have found a physical location for my aspirations and ideas. While wwoofing here in NC, I saw a "for sale" sign, just across the road. I took a brief look from the road. It looks like paradise. 
There's a pond, several wooded acres, and a fair bit of pasture. 
This area is so tranquil and serene. At night, the crickets are the biggest noisemakers.  The air is clean, the summer days are warm and the nights are cool. 
This 11 acre lot is where i'd like to turn my ideas and dreams into crops and food. I hope it's still available when I turn 18 in March
To quote James Taylor, "in my mind, I'm gone to Carolina."

Conscientious purchasing.

After camp, I'm going to be working on a farm in NC for a week. 
I'm greatly looking forward to doing farm work, and learning a lot. 
I just wish others would do the same. 
I know I've spoken at length about the lack of young farmers, but it's really irking me even more. 
I feel like I want to put signs up everywhere, asking people to care and to eat with a conscience. 
The mentality is always "someone else will grow it, all I must do is pick up a styrofoam wrapped package, and swipe my card."  
Most consumers buy without thinking. They look for key words on the labels. They don't seek out organic, they just look for the word "MILK."
Conscientious buying is only one part of the solution. 
In addition, as I've expressed, we need more farmers. In an article on the Huffington post, I read that, "for every one farmer and rancher under the age of 25, there are five who are 75 or older, according to Agriculture Department statistics." 
As these farmers continue to age, we need replacements. 
Oh well, as long as a gallon of chemically treated milk was available at the store, all is happy in American consumer land

Bad Experience

I'm currently in India, after having a terrible experience at an "organic farming ashram." I was expecting to be able to learn more about farming, and perhaps relax, but it was a place devoid of agricultural learning. It was also stressful, due to the rage of the leader of the program. In terms of learning, the only thing that took place was a two second interaction in which the leader said "we grow lentils and corn."
That's it.
There was no opportunity to learn, or to work, as he had paid farmworkers doing all tasks. This instance, however, doesn't make me shy away from agriculture. It makes me determined to find more opportunities to pursue farming, which I am working on.
I now just dismiss that program as a sham, and try to plan the rest of my summer, as I have two more months.

Familial criticism.

That was an irksome dinner. I was dining with my grandfather and discussing the summer program which I'll be attending at Sterling. He kept shrugging and rolling his eyes, as if to suggest that I was presenting a paper on neurology in Aramaic. I told him that agriculture is still something that I want to pursue. The look of discontent and disapproval was stunning. I made a comment about the stigmatization of agriculture, and how some don't view it as a respectable career. He told me that in comparison to science or psychology, he doesn't see farming as a respectable career. I am truly irked by such hateful behavior. I'm not asking him to start planting seeds, or pull up a three-legged stool and milk a cow. I'm simply asking for respect, which I guess is such a hard thing to ask for. Because, of course, we no longer have a need for farmers, ever since the iFood App was created for the iPhone. Or maybe if enough people play online farming games, all our food woes will be solved.

Accepted

Today, I received the news that I was accepted to the summer program at Sterling College. I'll be attending a five week program, in which I will study sustainable agriculture. In addition to learning about sustainable agriculture, I'll learn more about Sterling College, and this will help me get a better understanding of whether or not I'll matriculate to Sterling. Sterling College is a small, environmentally-focused college, in Vermont. Here's an excerpt from the website describing the program. "At the end of the summer, students will have: • Worked a full season with vegetable production, livestock, and draft horses • Managed a contract with the dining hall • Seeded, planted, weeded, harvested over 40 different types of crops • Handled sheep, chickens, turkeys, pigs, goats, cows, horses • Farmed and logged with draft horses • Operated a tractor cultivating fields • Created and executed a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) • Baked bread in a traditional wood-fired oven • Visited several VT farms learning from those farmers who have been doing it for a long time • Managed a Passive Solar Hoophouse to learn season extension and growing food year round in a cold climate • Learned the principles of root storage in traditional root cellars • Engaged in food preservation – canning, freezing, drying, etc • Employed the principles of permaculture through the management of an Edible Forest Garden." This sounds like the perfect summer program for me. I feel that this is a fantastic program, and one which I'll enjoy attending this summer. After doing this summer program, I'll make a decision regarding whether or not I'll attend Sterling full time, and if so, when I'd start. http://www.sterlingcollege.edu/summer-ag.html