Right now I'm in the process of planning and preparing for a "help-exchange" stay on a farm.
One such farm is this goat farm in Tenessee. You can see the host, a woman in her 70s, actively carrying out the regular daily duties. I believe she is feeding a calf (baby cow) in this picture, rather than a goat.
I'm a farm-newb. Ok, I admit it.
My newb-ness is adding to whatever insecurity I have. There are always voices trying to get us to stop what we were destinated to do. While challenging, I choose to push through the resistance by not seeing it as resistance at all. It's just a test. Basically, the people or messages coming in which have an effect of making you doubt. They can go.
I'll tell you what I do have: Interest. Desire. Heart. Muscle. Faith.
I feel led by God to a wide open space. He is leading me according to his will. And, furthermore, his will is what is really best for me. Scientifically, it makes sense as well, if we should go this way.
I'm feeling my age at nearly 35, but I'm still half as old as the owners of this farm. Of course, I can lend some muscle into the equation. And I'm genuinely curious about farming, homesteading, going back to nature, and everything else related to it---
If you can't afford a farm, just work on somebody else's for free.
This is my logic essentially:
- Farms are expensive.
- I can't even nearly afford one.
- Rather than never live on a farm, I can live on one basically immediately.
- If I were the owner of the farm, I'd likely still work a full-time job in addition to working the land. This would be necessary to cover all ownership costs.
- So, if I'm working all the time anyway, what difference does it makes whose name the farm is in?
- Also, by adopting a volunteer approach out of the gate, I gain far more experience.
- Rather than study once and develop habits, this avails me many mentors and much practice.
- With this approach, there is zero risk of "losing it all." -- It's mostly all upside.
I thought I'd do a post like this explaining my plan before it comes together. This way, those who follow my posts can sort of follow the story as it unfolds. I already have explicit approval from this host that I can blog, take photos and video and even reveal the name of the farm itself. I'll hold off on doing that until everything is finalized.
What I can share is the name of the site where I'm finding these opportunities:
It's called helpx.net
The site's interface is a bit dated and there is a small yearly membership fee required so that you can send messages to potential hosts. That said, it is working for what it is intended to do.
Maybe you are a homesteader and could use a fellow Steemian on your team this season or next. Maybe you invite @WriteWords. You get free labor and I get a place to stay and food to eat. And, of course, we steem a bunch of great content out there in the meantime.
I'm looking at you 
What do you think of my plan? What about my reasoning? Don't give me blind validation. Please offer feedback, ideas, suggestions, and / or content requests. I'm hoping this fuels lots of peaceful, interesting content for us.
thanks for reading.
@WriteWords