Who wouldn’t want to drop everything and become a farmer? Spending the day working outdoors, in the dirt, under the sun, and out of an anemic cubicle? Long hours? No problem. Fresh air? Yes, please. Growing food with your own two hands? Sign me up.

Let’s get one thing straight—farming is hard work. It’s hours and hours spent hauling, crouching, digging, planting, and pulling. It is unpredictable. Did you just plant your crops and now there’s no rain, and when it finally rained, did insects swarm and turn your lettuce into lace? Or, did you reach into the hen box to find not an egg, but a snake? I’ve seen my father worry about making ends meet and struggle through winters