You've probably read a lot of stories about people who have thrown over good jobs to become humble farmers. Sometimes people quit great jobs and become gentleman farmers at mid-life and that is amazing enough, but what about doing that at a much younger age with nothing?

Can someone become a farmer in this economy with no bankroll, no credit line, not a lot of experience and no clear path?

That' s the challenge 25-year-old Lucy O'Dea has been struggling with. She grew up on regular a suburban street in the Wine Country and went off to U.C. Santa Cruz where she studied Linguistics and Romance Languages. She felt the study of communication lent itself to her strength in helping people connect.

But even back in college, she was having dirty thoughts; she was thinking about farming.

"If you look at my journals, I'm in awe of growing food. How amazing it is to grow, harvest, and eat. I was excited about it. So, I tried to open myself up to farming," she recalls of her post-college years.

In the past three years, she has learned to till the land, plant seeds, weed, grow organic and nutritious food, sell it at roadside stands, and start all over again.

Her first farming experience occurred on a three-month trip to Brazil where she worked in the kitchen on an eco-village. She also worked on a cacao farm there. I'm old enough to say the "kids" call this "woofing" referring to the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms group, which facilitates matching international farming and learning experiences with the people who seek them. It s viewed by many as a way to see the world on the cheap, while learning new things and networking with like-minded people.

"I went to Brazil to see the roots of agriculture. I had no idea the real labor involved in making a candy bar! It was hard and awesome and eye opening," O'Dea recalled. "There was a beautiful library where I stayed filled with books that other farmers had left behind. Big influence."

Back in the U.S., after a short stint working for a nature-focused non-profit, she got wind of a farming job near her home with True Grass Farms in Valley Ford, where they raise cattle.

"I was working for a group of young farmers that were very eco-mindset. Rotational grazing and all grass fed. The cattle helped us restore grasslands and we sold the beef at farmers markets," O'Dea said.

She also helped manage a five-acre blueberry patch, selling the fruit at a roadside stand over the summer.

"My anti-oxidant summer! What I learned: People don't pay enough for blueberries, considering how difficult they are to harvest," said O'Dea with a laugh.

Although simply a hired summer hand, she experienced terrific pride selling roadside in Valley Ford.

"And I found that people are willing to pay more when you re selling something that was grown three miles away."

The life of a farmer who doesn't own a farm yet is an itinerant life, so O'Dea bought herself a wreck of a trailer. Her 1969 Blazer had the kitchen and bath gutted out. She's rebuilding it.

She recently moved it from the cattle farm to Wild Blue Farm in Tomales where they grow vegetables, fruit and flowers.

She quickly observed that this particular farm was a union of the married owners love. It had to be.

"It was just a little five acre farm, but farming is the biggest gamble on earth. Farming really attracts hard-working people. Dutiful people. That's why it survives," she said.

O'Dea tended, cared for, and harvested the summer and early autumn crops. The work was backbreaking.

"I worked with a friend, a young friend, whose back was killing her. That got me thinking about how farmers are so hard on their bodies," said O'Dea.

But farms shut down for the winter, leaving O'Dea with time on her hands. She is hatching a plan to use the time to delve deeper into focusing yoga practices to heal chronic pain for the people who grow food.

O'Dea knows there is a yoga teacher in St. Helena who specializes in classes for construction workers. So why can' t she focus on yoga for farmers?

"Farmers inspire me. They don' t realize that their bodies are their greatest tool. Their body is their landscape. They should love their bodies like their land."

And whether Lucy becomes a full-time farmer or not, she has toiled to grow a farmer s heart; teaching so many others along the way to see the true value of the food on their plates.