permaculture

[venaurafarm <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

There is a great essay in the New Atlantis entitled: "Shop Class as
Soulcraft" by Matthew B. Crawford, well worth reading online; also
good advice for those interested in making a living
self-employed  in small-scale agriculture:

Shop Class as Soulcraft
Matthew B. Crawford
The New Atlantis » Shop Class as Soulcraft
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/shop-class-as-soulcraft

Editor’s Note: The original essay below, by New Atlantis contributing
editor Matthew B. Crawford, was published in 2006. Mr. Crawford has
expanded the essay into a bestselling book — Shop Class as Soulcraft:
An Inquiry into the Value of Work — published in 2009 by Penguin.

"So what advice should one give to a young person? By all means, go to
college. In fact, approach college in the spirit of craftsmanship,
going deep into liberal arts and sciences. In the summers, learn a
manual trade. You’re likely to be less damaged, and quite possibly
better paid, as an independent tradesman than as a cubicle-dwelling
tender of information systems. To heed such advice would require a
certain contrarian streak, as it entails rejecting a life course
mapped out by others as obligatory and inevitable."