在美国当了半年的“农民”，学农六年的女博士石嫣，才真正地爱上了土地。过去的一年，她在农村承包了20亩菜地，推行她自美国学来的社区支持农业(CSA)——城里人预支菜钱，菜农在专门的土地上生产绿色蔬菜提供给城里人。

远离土地的学农女生，以前，石嫣是绝对不会“晕楼”的，她从小就在城市里长大，早就习惯了各种高高的“水泥盒子”。去美国之前，她甚至早早就定下了要去国际大都市纽约看“水泥森林”的计划。

石嫣本科读了四年的“农林经济”，两年研究生的方向是“农村发展”。2008年研究生毕业后，她被保送就读博士。同年4月，当知道学校有一个公派去美国当半年农民的名额时，她当时想也没想，就报名申请。在中国，一位学農林经济专业的人不了解農作物生長，这似乎非常正常——學農未必一定要知道怎么種粮，因為農學有很多方面，不了解也不影響我們搞科研。

2002年高中毕业的时候，石嫣这个文静瘦弱的女孩选择了河北农业大学，要去学農。这还得从石嫣的爷爷说起，其爷爷喜欢给她讲家族故事。祖辈怎么去農村收購糧食，比如和農民打交道、糧食又是怎么種出來……這讓文靜的小石嫣内心充滿了一絲好奇。但大學裡學習四年的農林經濟專業，小 石 嫣並沒有多少機會到農村，只能從書本上對比對「實際」情況感到困惑。

讀硕士期間，石嫣開始做农业课题研究跟隨老师下鄉搞調研。那時候，每個月都有一周下鄉搞調研，每天也確實是在與농民打交道。但她總覺得自己只是 농村 的過客。她不知道怎麼種植出來，這些都是她的夢想，但現實中卻無法達成。

被美國的地球改变

當她抵達美國明尼蘇達州EARTHRISE FARM時，那是一片光秃秃的大地。她怀疑這樣一片空白的大地能夠種植出什麼。除了她，还有另外兩名实习生，再加上農場经理夫妇，一共五人，要完成一年16英亩地的耕种和收获。而且，這一切都要手動完成，没有化肥，也没有使用能耗大的机械，只有一个小型拖拉机助力他們工作。

那段時間裡，他們遭遇了一次風暴，大風雨把樹龄五十多年的大樹都刮倒了，而在地里的植物也東倒西歪受到了嚴重破壞。在这样的情况下，他们每个人都像自己的孩子遭遇不幸般难过。当晚，有个地球安息日庆典，让他们聚集起来细听土地的声音，与之相处寻找解决问题之策。而这些，都让她们对于如何更好地保护这块可贵的地球产生深刻认识与感悟。

回到北京後，她決定將CSA模式搬到北京，并且成功創立了一個名為「小毛驴」的試驗基地，在那里she started a CSA project with 20 mu of land, which was named "Little Donkey". Although she had the experience of working in the US, she still worried about whether this model could work in China. But to her surprise, within a month, over 50 households signed up for her project.

The customers were divided into two groups: those who would participate in the farm work and those who would not. The former paid around $1000 and participated in the farm work once a week; while the latter paid between $2000 and $2500 for their vegetables. Despite being traditional and labor-intensive, Stone's CSA project attracted many customers from all over Beijing.

On one occasion, they discovered an abandoned pesticide packaging bag on their plot of land. This shocked Stone deeply, as it highlighted a potential risk to their customers' health. She took immediate action to investigate how this happened and ensure that it wouldn't happen again.

Stone also created a weekly newsletter called "Little Donkey Citizen Farm Report" where she apologized to her customers for any inconvenience caused by such incidents. Through these efforts, Stone demonstrated her commitment to providing healthy food while protecting both people's health and the environment.

In conclusion, through her experiences in America and back home in China, Stone has become passionate about sustainable agriculture practices that prioritize soil health and community engagement. Her story serves as an inspiration for others seeking innovative ways to promote eco-friendly farming methods that benefit both farmers and consumers alike