Notes on Blogs and Free Farm Labor

It's 2011 and I'm reading comments to my Terrapin blog for the first time. Right off the bat I'd like to say; my blog was written in 2008, my experience was in 2008 and since then I've had no interaction with Terrapin farm or it's owner. Also, in 2008 my blog DID NOT show up as a top google hit. Though signs point to the reoccurring nature of my adventures on this farm, the intensity and severity could have been completely situational. I also NEVER thought or said she was a bad or evil person. I was simply sharing my experiences at the time (that's what a blog is after all) and reading it now I believe it to be emotionally driven but all the same true.

Since 2008 I have been farming non-stop. I take summers off (since it's so damn hot in Texas and the cool north calls me) to wwoof (world wide opportunities on organic farms wwoof.org). Since my failed apprenticeship in Montana I have worked and loved working on well over a dozen farms. Some of them I LOVED, some of them I saw traces of my past negative experience. It always came down to the labor management skills of the farm owners and the meshing or clashing of individual personalities. I would like to add that many of the places I worked required no more than 40hours of work per week and rarely over 30. I did have doubts after my experience in Montana, "am I not tough enough?" and "maybe this is just how farming is" were some of my common concerns. Those worries have been wiped clear. Farming does not have to be that way. I know that for a fact.

That being said, don't NOT go to a farm based on one blog. Just use this as a warning to more thoroughly investigate your choice and know that you too should be able to ask for references. After all, you ARE a volunteer. You help make them money. Also, have an escape plan, just in case.