I want to be a farmer.

I want to be a farmer when I grow up. My vision is not to toil on the land to sell a product that is highly undervalued due to the current injection of fossil fuels into agriculture. No, I want to have a homestead, a subsistence farm. Really, a small piece of land where I have a large veg patch, some chickens and/or goats, some woods for fire and for my goats to eat in. I want to have days filled with milking and canning and harvesting and making cheese and jam and bread. I want the sound of birds and water running and dew on my toes on cool summer mornings. I want a farm dog. A collie, or two, who stays on the porch or in the barn, who watches over the farm like a little soldier always at arms. I want some turkeys too, and some geese and ducks for delicious and gigantic eggs. Oh, and some scraggly farm kitten, grey tabbies, who are always having babies and always finding and killing all the rodents and bugs that pester us.

I want a wood burning stove that sits in the middle of my house and becomes a meeting place for all those with cold toes. I want to chop down our wood, and feel it burn to warm us. I want to always have some water warming on it- and have tea which transfers the life of the tree inside me to warm me from the inside. I want to witness the transfer of life and energy. From wood to fire to tea. From seed to plant to stew. From duck to egg to omelet.

I want to feel the seasons change. To eat according to what nature provides. Nature has a way of providing food that is perfectly satisfying in season. The rich sweetness of pumpkins and squash in fall, the soft, light berries of summer, the thick and meaty potatoes and carrots and kale of winter, the fresh new herbs of spring.

This is the first time in human history when the majority of farmers entering agriculture were *not* raised on farms themselves. I'm a little bit scared, but ready for the challenge.