The Latest Offer

My biggest fear about this whole undertaking is that we are wishing on a star; that we are hoping to get something for nothing.

Take the most recent contact I've gotten:

King County, Duvall

19 acres for long term lease. Land is within the Farmland Preservation Program. In pasture for last 10 years. River water available. Potential for organic certification. Organic cow manure for fertilizer available. Buildings include: 100’x100’, 30’x150’, and 30’x65’ sheds that could be converted to other uses. 2 bed/1bath single dwelling (700 sf) available. Lots of possibilities. Land owner willing to work with you.

All well and good, but once again sounds like somebody would have to come in with some serious startup.

Is it unreasonable to want to go enter a lifestyle so far removed from your own?

No, that's poor phrasing.

Is it unreasonable to say, "Hey, farming happens. People do it. We're people. We can farm."

Bear in mind, Lindsay and I are not asking for anything even kind of resembling ownership right off. We're not saying, "Give us a lease on spec and if it doesn't work out, then we'll just walk away from it." We're saying that we want to learn. We want to work on a farm. Don't people do that? Are we too old?

I'm thinking we might need more education. So we're looking into internships now. We found this wonderful site that has a list of programs around the country. I'm a big fan of the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute in Colorado. They're full until Spring, though.

We have written to Green Flamingo Organics and Paradise Farm, both in Florida. We're probably going to write to two or three a day until we start getting favorable responses.

The whole thing is, it looks like we're going to have to shit or get off the pot, though we don't have a pot and we're a little constipated.