10 reasons why you should volunteer on a farm 🌾

PLUS: 911 attack on Pentagon, Readyverse, Interesting Road update & many more...

Jan 06, 2024

hi 👋 Prado here

We are 4173+ interesting people reading these letters every week.

Every Friday, I publish one essay & 10 interesting things that help readers become healthy, wealthy, and wise 👇

How I lived on a farm for a week 👇

The last few months of 2023 were incredibly beautiful. Our team was hired to handle all the socials and event coverage of the India Blockchain Week Conference.

I wrapped up most of the business side of things by Christmas and was thinking about what I should do in the next 10 days I have in hand. Most of my colleagues were out of town, and clients were on holiday, too.

I asked a good friend of mine if she was in town. She said she’s volunteering on a farm right now.

It quickly hit me that I had volunteered on a farm a couple of years ago. It was one of the best experiences of my entire life.

Volunteered for a week in Sadhana Forest (Near Auroville, Pondicherry)

I wanted to do it again. The pressure of answering the question “how will I spend my New Year’s Eve?” was too much to handle.

Took an overnight bus to Adyanadka (50kms away from Mangalore)

Reached Varanashi Farms.

This time, I had come as a guest, but I was more than happy to volunteer.

I wanted to get my nails dirty. Work in the hot sun and earn my meal. I remember the feeling of hitting the bed at night after a long day of labour. It was incredible. I wanted to do it all.

The first day I went, the volunteers were working on arranging the Areca nuts for sun drying. I got straight to work.

Even though I was there as a guest, I was eager to volunteer.

I wanted to learn the roots of how agriculture works. Especially this one was organic farming.

A day before I was leaving, I learned how organic manure is made (Manure is soil fertilizers)

You get 25 buckets of Cocopeat (Dry Coconut husk) + 12 buckets of Chicken Poop + Sprinkle some black stuff on top (probably bacteria) + lots of water. Repeat that 7 times. Cover them for a few days.

After working for half a day, we all go have lunch and then take a nap.

Wake up, head to the lake, and chill with friends for the next couple of hours.

I learned how to do SUP (Stand Up Paddle Boarding)

After a long day of working, hanging out, and eating together, we go to sleep a bit early.

Why? Because there is no light. You have to use torches if you want to go anywhere. So you don’t go anywhere after around 8PM.

Plus after a long day, you just want to hit the bed. Every day, I went to bed at around 9PM, 30-60mins of reading Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and sleep.

I wake up to the sun at around 6.30-7AM with 8+ hours of sleep. What a life.

I have absolutely no regrets. I often left my phone & watch on charge and go away for hours. The modern world would call me a maniac.

“Go to places with no network and internet”

Here’s why you should volunteer or live on a farm:

Break your routine.
You no longer have a schedule to follow. The forest will make a schedule for you.
Make new friends. Especially internationals.
You often meet some incredible people in places like this. Selfless, Street smart, backpackers, global citizens, etc.

There is always something new to learn.

Learn farming.
We all eat food, but most of us have no idea where it comes from. What does it take to grow them? What is Permaculture? What’s organic and what’s not? etc.

You never know what might come in handy.

Maybe one day, you’ll get a farm of your own.

This is like every founder’s dream. Make enough money so that you can go live on a farm.
Go away from the internet.
We are spending too much time on the internet. Consistently consuming information and not giving enough resting period. Especially living a city life.
You walk a lot.
Your past doesn't matter.
It doesn’t matter how many followers you have on Twitter or IG.
It doesn’t matter how much money you have.
It doesn’t matter if you are a founder or a college student.
It doesn’t matter what you wear.
It doesn’t matter what your religion or belief is.

A place where there is minimal to no judgment. We are all there to give back to earth. Regain our sanity and breathe some fresh air.
New adventures = New memories.
I learned SUP, ate at local restaurants, and learned to skateboard in the middle of a road. Made some great friends. Shoutout to Sanjana & Partha 🙌
No expectations.
You have no idea what your next few hours gonna look like.
I woke up on a Saturday morning and thought, what farm work will I do today? but the folks said we are going to a nearby river; why don’t you tag along? I was always ready.
Experiencing local cuisine 🙌
Detox from your good and bad habits.
If you binge-watch reels a lot, go to a farm.
If you are spending too much on a gym membership, go to a farm.
If your screen time is above average, go to a farm.

There are many hidden reasons why you should live or volunteer on a farm.

One of my goals is to have a farm and grow everything we eat on that farm. Manifesting it.

More details:

I’ve personally volunteered at Varanashi Farms and Sadhana Forest near Auroville. Both are worth going to.

I’ve also been to Yash Farms in Bangalore. Worth visiting 🙌
Check out WWOOF India (Working Weekends On Organic Farms) They have an extensive list of farms across India.
It usually costs around ₹600 ($7) - ₹1000 ($12) per day. Even though you are volunteering, the food is usually bought. Some farms subsidize and won’t charge you if you are staying for longer periods.
The farm may not be for everyone. Sometimes, things may not be as clean as your houses or offices are. Mosquitoes are everywhere. You’ll have to adjust and sacrifice a few things here and there. Let me know if you want a list of things you should have. I’ll create one and send it to you.
Go for a minimum of 7 days; the maximum is on you.

If you go volunteer or live on a farm, let me know ❤️

May the forest be with you 🙏

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10 things from InterestingRoad.com 🙌

1. This thread by Balaji Srinivasan led me down a rabbit hole on the list of airline accidents in the US - Read this

P.S.: TIL that during the 911 attack, the terrorists had hijacked not 2 but 4 planes. The 2 planes that I knew of had hit the WTCs, but the other two I had no idea about.

On one of the planes the passengers and crew were able to regain access but unfortunately crashed onto a field (This plane was intended to hit the white house)

The other plane crashed into the west side of Pentagon 👀

How the Pentagon's Design Saved Lives on September 11 | HISTORY

2. Tenet for Dummies PPT lmao (Thread)

Some guy made a PPT explaining Tenet to his dates. I think this is a good joke.

(This thing resurfaced after the Peleton coach of Christopher Nolan said that she will never get that 2 hours back watching Tenet 😂 )

3. The author of Ready Player One is creating a metaverse 👀 (read more) It’ll be called Readyverse

4. What’s a fact that could save your life? (Reddit) interesting answers 🙌

5. Interesting Human of the Week:- New Zealand's youngest ever MP starts her first parliament speech by performing haka (Watch it here) Absolute goosebumps

6. Question of the week:- You write a book - what sentence would leave the reader staring at the wall for hours? Love this question.

7. Picture of the week:- I had spent my New Year’ eve near a river with the fire burning the whole night. I threw in a dead would and it sparkled. Ended up capturing it on my phone.

It looks like the Joker is having a laugh 👀

8. Current read: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 🙌

9. Meme of the week:-

10. Quotes of the week:

Lawyers hope you get sued, doctors hope you get sick, cops hope you're criminal, mechanics hope you have car trouble, but only a thief wishes prosperity for you.
(Tweet this quote)
"Once the rain is over, the umbrella becomes a burden for everyone"
(Tweet this quote)
"The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics." – Thomas Sowell
(Tweet this quote)

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