I know what you’re thinking: I don’t look like a farmer—at least, not like your mental image of Jed Clampett from The Beverly Hillbillies. I get that a lot. And to be honest, I’m not your typical farmer.

I didn’t inherit the profession from my family, as you might assume. I grew up in suburban Michigan, and when I graduated from The College of Charleston in 2009 with a degree in business, the extent of my “farming” experience was helping my dad and grandfather in the yard, going cherry picking a few times, and growing some herbs.

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……… So I did some Googling, and that’s when I stumbled upon an apprenticeship program in Chatthoochie Hills, Georgia. It seemed perfect. The 25-acre farm is part of a community called Serenbe that really emphasizes preserving green space for its residents. It’s always run itself off of young farmers who are learning how to farm and want to continue in the profession when they leave; so I’d basically be paid to be trained for nine months………

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I remember being shocked at how much I loved farming because I wasn’t sure that would be the case going into it. But within three months, I knew that I wanted to continue farming—and I started thinking about how I could do that after my apprenticeship was up.

I ended up getting a job starting the vegetable-growing program at a farm in South Georgia, and then, when the farming managers I had worked for at Serenbe left, I came back to take over that job in early 2014.

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It’s not just a job that you do every day. It’s a culture, it’s a way of life. You have to embody farming—so it’s hard to find someone who’s not a farmer who understands and can embrace that.

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Article source: Womens Health Mag
Image source: same as above