Also connecting to my farm name, echinacea is an herb, and for one of the activities for our first class, I found myself in the herb garden on the farm. We were instructed to find a spot on the farm and take notice of our surroundings in the area we chose at this moment in time.
In class, we talked about our purpose in wanting to join the program, which is something that I'm still developing for myself. Why do I want to dig into this field (pun intended) of farming?
I'm currently feeling drawn to agriculture even though I have very little experience with it. And when I'm sensing a strong pull towards something, I almost always give into it, because I'd like to think that my intuition is less likely to lead me astray. I do fantasize about being able to grow my own food to sustain myself, so part of my purpose in doing this is to be more self-reliant and gain these specific survival skills. Food is a basic need and there's something special about the thought of growing my own food. Other things mentioned earlier and during class discussion that intrigued me include edible landscaping and learning more about food preservation and the canning process.
Even though I'm overwhelmed (in the best way), I feel like a whole new world of possibilities just opened up. Having a career in and making a living with something agriculture-related is something I could potentially figure out how to do, along with other pathways such as using these skills I'll be learning to serve the community or spread this knowledge out to others. I was also reminded in class of WWOOFing (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farming), which is something that I've kept as a possibility for me in the future, since it combines my passion for travel with farming.
Another reason that I'm doing this is to connect more deeply with the earth and the environment. There is sometimes a disconnect from where our food comes from.
The one word that I used after class when asked to describe how I'm feeling right now is "Immersion." I'm diving right into it all.
I'm challenging myself to continue this journaling process throughout the program, which runs until the end of September, so hopefully that will happen.