A Day in The Life of a Farmer

I remember when I used to go back to BU to do career fairs and speak at meetings. PR students would always enthusiastically ask me, "What's a typical day like for you at a PR agency?"

And I would always enthusiastically answer, "Well, that's a tough question because no day is ever the same!"

But that's not really true. I pretty much just sat at a computer all day everyday sending emails. Sometimes writing press releases. Picking up the phone every now and then. Occasionally visiting a conference room or office.

That's about it.

If a student were to ask me what a typical day of work here is like, that would actually be a tough question. I came here to harvest olives with the farmers, which I've done my fair share of, but they also:

1. Harvest chestnuts (have you ever seen any right off the tree? They're like little balls of porcupines you have to pry apart with gloves that are way too big for you. Ouch.)

2. Make chestnut butter (also available with apple and rum)

3. Make all kinds of preserves (cherry, strawberry, citrus, tomato, apple, plum, mint, etc.)

4. Feed chickens

5. Move rocks and/or dirt (I did tons of this...ended up with bruises all over my hips. An important lesson: don't carry a rock like you would a baby)

6. Clear and build drainage channels

7. Transplant carrots

8. Forage for mushrooms

9. Pick flowers (including saffron!)

10. Eat fruit you randomly stumble across even though you're supposed to be doing farming chores (including persimmons, pomegranates, rosehips, pears, strawberries)

11. Bulldoze things and light fires

All of these I have either done or witnessed during my short stay here.

I honestly still can't say whether I'd prefer life in a cube or on a farm though. My hands and back are probably equally tired...just in different ways. There are still opportunities for creativity and strategic problem solving skills...again, in very different ways.

But it would be hard to give up the two-hour lunches. How could I go back to 15-minutes eating at my desk?