If you are reading this you probably know that Jake and I have decided to quit our jobs, move out of Salt Lake City, and learn how to farm. If you are wondering how we came to this decision check out Jake's blog (eachnewyear.wordpress.com), if you are wondering why we came to this decision keep reading, and if you don't care then you should probably check out a different blog...
After reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" a few years back we came to the official decision to be vegetarians. It wasn't that we blindly accepted every word Michael Pollen wrote, but because his words reinforced the unease we felt for our current food system and it opened the door to researching more. Ever since then we have read books, watched documentaries, and discussed our reasons for not eating meat (specifically factory farmed, hormone and antibiotic infused meat). But it is time to do more. We have spend plenty of time talking about our values when it comes to sustainability and supporting local businesses. We buy local and organic when we can, but the time has come where that is not enough. It is time to really be a part of the solution, beyond supporting local farmers and abstaining from factory farm meat. It is time to be a local farmer.
What do we know about gardening and farming? Well, pretty much nothing. Other than a community garden plot that we had a few years ago and the very little that we helped out in Jake's mom's garden we are pretty clueless when it comes to getting our hands dirty. That is why we chose WWOOF'ing as one of our options for our new year dice roll. WWOOF'ing should be able to give us a great opportunity to get in with real farmers and gardeners who know what they're doing. We spent almost an entire afternoon looking over WWOOF farms that allow pets so that we can take our two dogs and possibly our cat with us. So far we have heard back from about half, most of which aren't ok with 2 big dogs but we have found one in Wyoming that are fine with both of our dogs and our cat. As of this point in time it sounds like we'll be heading up to Leiter, Wyoming in April to spend the season with the Mitzel's on their 400+ acre ranch to learn organic gardening and farming. We don't yet know what we are going to do when the season ends. Will we come back to Salt Lake and get office work again? Will we continue WWOOF'ing around the country (with or without our pets)? Will we end up homeless and destitute? Ummm...hopefully not. But we do know that it is time to get out there and live, to start living our lives aligned with our values...and to stop working away in an office every day while the sun and dirt and fresh air awaits.
No comments:
Post a Comment