When Jason Craig was a young boy, he spent as much time as he could in the woods across the street from his house. Describing himself then as feral, Craig experienced a typical American upbringing in suburbia, though raised by divorced parents. While most boys his age played basketball, Craig fell in love with the natural world, spending his childhood adventuring in secluded, wooded acreage where he found meaning and purpose.
Today, in rural Polk County, North Carolina, he and his wife homeschool their children on a working farm. The economics of staying close to the land instead of working away from home means spending the majority of each day being physically productive: growing vegetables and raising pigs, chickens, and dairy cows. His enthusiasm for making the most out of a contemporary agrarian lifestyle has caught the interest of others—specifically, young men and their fathers. Craig hosts retreats and workshops at his homestead, St. Joseph’s Farm, because he believes gritty farm work and physical labor are invaluable experiences.
Long before Craig owned a homestead, he ran youth mentoring programs. He found that young men weren’t being taught how to successfully labor on a farm or use tools. Concerned that society was raising boys who had no real experience with physical work, Craig developed specialized retreats at St. Joseph’s Farm for young men to gain knowledge, training, and skills that were once natural in a normal, healthy, working traditional society. “I really appreciated their plight in our society,” he said.
He believes it is healthy to know how to do things and to live in the world of men. During retreat weekends, fathers and sons find meaning and purpose and bond together. “We split wood and build a fire. We shoot moving targets like skeet in the meantime. After we cook [a] pig in an above ground smoker, we eat the pig, and it becomes a lifelong memory to strengthen the bonds. It’s super crude and beautiful.”
At St. Joseph’s Farm, college-aged men spend their spring breaks mending fences, doing farm chores, and learning homesteading-related skills that they will never forget. According to Craig, young men deeply desire to learn how to do manly things together and be competent at them. That includes knowing how to fix things in their own house. “Whether you know how to wire an outlet or frame a wall, that experience usually gives you confidence. It builds a relationship with who you learn it from. Knowing how to do this is valuable and you can carry that tradition on.” It’s also critical that they participate in the activities together, especially with male family members. “Show them, teach them, and do it with them. Affirm them.”
This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
