Green Acres

I'm reading a great book, Real Food: What to Eat and Why, that I'll be talking more about next week. The author grew up on a farm and is a big proponent of eating local, organic, natural food - the kind our great, great grandparents ate.

Erin picked up the book the other day and started reading. "She sure makes farm living sound good. Do you think you could live on a farm?"

I thought about it for a few minutes. It sounds great - living in a peaceful setting, picking fresh vegetables for meals, being surrounded by animals. But it's also a lot of work. Farmers get up very early and work long, hard hours. I'm sure I'd love it for three days, and then be bored, tired, and pissed off.

It got me thinking, though, that despite Thom Hartmann's theory that the ADDers of prehistoric times must have been the hunters, farm life might actually work for certain adults with ADD.

Those adults who are hyperactive or idle high (and like to go, go, go) would probably really appreciate the opportunity to stay physically active with a purpose. Plus, seeing your hard work rewarded in the form of fruits and vegetables would be a big plus. And being able to think up new strategies to make the farm more efficient would be a nice motivator, too.

I'm really curious: are there any ADD farmers out there? And for everyone else, does the idea of life on a farm appeal to you, or does it make you want to kiss the concrete of a city sidewalk?

Comments

[CT]

Connundrum!

In college, , I lived on a farm, in the front half of the barn that had been converted to an apartment. Great combo! Farm livin' and the rigors of University life.

Don't necessarily want to be the farmer. But I would love to be the manager of their grain / dairy coop. It would be nice to have a "busier" job interacting with lots of people, and still get to live in the rural environs.

Key point: I'm one of those who thrives on lots of short, purposeful contacts with lots of people. School or a busy store can be fun! Dealing with 50 head of cattle as my primary daily contacts would likely drive me nuts.

[Jeffs ADD Mind]

I'm certainly not a farmer but, I discovered a few years ago, that I really enjoy growing my own vegetables. I even enjoy spending an hour or more in the hot sun weeding my little garden. The best thing is that it melds nicely with my A.D.D. I start doing it in the spring and by early September I stop doing it. I don't have to feel guilty that I am getting bored with it...after all...the growing season in New York is almost over anyway.

I also find that the abundance of vegetables means that I need to cook more (and I love cooking) and the surplus I give away to neighbors. So this type of gardening serves multiple A.D.D. needs.