Am I a Farmer yet?

As I sat in the doctor's waiting room last week, filling out paperwork I got to the last line.

Occupation?

I quickly scribbled down, 'Farmer'

Minutes later as the doctor reviewed my file, he looked up and curiously asked, 'you're a farmer? But you don't look like a farmer.'

More often than not this is the response I get when I tell people what I do for a living.

Perhaps it's my hot-pink manicure, or my love affair with sky-high heels, or maybe even that while off the farm it's easier to picture me with my signature Starbucks in my hand, than the poop-scooping shovel that's normally there.

I am a farmer. But, it's questions like this that sometimes cause me to question if I feel like a farmer yet.

When I first came to Jay and asked if he would help show me how to raise my own chicken I was the furthest thing from a farmer.

And, as I started out, I often wondered when I would truly feel like a farmer. Would it be the first time I was able to spot a potential health issue in one of my animals? Would it finally click when I took my first pigs to market? What about when I had my first babies born on the farm?

Well, I've officially survived my first year of full-time farming and I'm happy to say that I've been able to cross those and many more firsts off my list.

I still occasionally get called the dreaded 'H'-word... you know, a hobby farmer. And, while the big commercial guys may not consider me a real farmer, I'm farming exactly the way that feels right to me -- Sustainably and ethically. And, that's good enough for me.

I am a farmer.

And, I finally feel like one too!

Kendall ~ The chick behind Central Park Farms