They came from far and wide, from Portland to Vermont, Hawaii to Florida, Texas and the Midwest, Manhattan and L. A. But the real flavor that made this Congress special was the representatives from the south and when I say south, I mean Mexico, Belize, Columbia, Peru, Venezuela, Trinidad, Cuba and Argentina. They came with culture, music, videos, new vision, and a lot of great energy.

Last week The Farm School participated in the Bio-Regional Congress in many ways. The congress was a convergence of people looking to better their life’s through the way they interact with nature. It was also a space for all who came to share what has been going on in their various projects. The school offered nature based education to all the children of the congress. Most of the High School students attended the congress during and after school hours. Also the Congress used classrooms as a space for holding open-space workshops. This was a beautiful sharing of knowledge. With more than five countries represented at the
Congress, this really was an international event. – Noah Kindfield, Farm High School Continue reading this post…

Many people have requested that we host a Farm Experience type weekend during the summer. You are invited to come celebrating summer’s pleasures in the little piece of paradise we call home. We’ll spend the week swimming, hiking, listening to and playing music, enjoying really great food and each others company.

I’ve designed the week to give you maximum rest and relaxation, with a full complement of adult and kid activities, something for everyone.

Come for all 5 days or just the weekend!
Register Online at www.farmcatalog.com

For more information and to see our current schedule of activities, visit www.sustainableliferetreats.com

There may be a slowdown in the U.S., but you wouldn’t know it by the amount of construction going on here on The Farm. Right now there are 4 new homes under construction and in various stages of completion.

Two are utilizing a relatively new form of construction that combines insulating foam and concrete, creating a tornado-proof structure with walls that have an R-value in the walls of R-22! Two of the new homes use spray soy foam insulation, also renowned for its great insulating properties and heating and cooling efficiency.

The Farm is also about the begin construction on a new duplex, rental housing for incoming and prospective members.

Our May Organic Garden Workshop was a great success and coincided with the launch of the new Community Garden project. The Farm Community now has over 30 gardens, with 10 different groups working together in the garden coop. The project is the new happening social scene in the community, with people gathering most mornings and evenings during this busy planting season to share energy, touch the earth and to compare crops and gardening styles. Check out http://www.ourorganicgarden.com for more pictures and our 2010 dates.

People often write with questions about the Community. Here are a few that came in today:

What is The Farm’s race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status?

Our main population have roots in the white middle class. Our early founding principle of a vow of poverty did not resonate with many other ethnic groups seeking greater prosperity and access to the American Dream. Over the years there have been numerous families and individuals representing people of color, but there are none here currently.

Although we no longer are bound to a vow of poverty, the local area has limited economic opportunity. Our general incomes for an individual family range from low (under $20K per year) to basic middle class($35K to $100K).

Could someone let me know a concern or two that the community has?

Our population is still dominated by the founding members. About 1/3 are under 40, which includes 2nd and 3rd generation members. The concern: Will there be a sufficient population of younger people to carry on the vision? How will the vision change? Will the core principles of nonviolence and community participation be transferred from generation to generation?

Who are the community leaders and is there any governmental authority?

Leaders are in the moment and are represented by people who have an established track record of making good decisions.

We work toward consensus in small groups and use democracy on larger community issues. The board of directors and membership committees are our two elected decision making bodies.

Saturday turned out to be a cold and rainy day in Nashville.  Virtually all of the performers were rained out and we did not have a picnic, though we did enjoy some hot pasta and fresh fruit provided by Food Not Bombs. (www.foodnotbombs.net) At the peak of the action we had about 50 folks standing in the rain along Broadway proclaiming their support of peaceful action and non-violent communication.  It was refreshing to be part of an action that was simply for Peace rather than against war or some other negative concept.  It was inspirational to see all the Farm School youth (both Solar and Satellite) who attended this event.  As one of the speakers noted, these young folks who braved the elements to stand up for their beliefs are our best hope for a peaceful future! You can read comments below from some of the Farm School students who attended the rally.  The next non-violent action for peace that The Farm School plans to attend is the “Abolish Nukes Now!” event in Oak Ridge, TN.  For more info check out: www.stopthebombs.org

~ Michael

On March, 14, some friends and I went to Centennial Park for a peace action. There were only about 50 people, because it was pouring rain and it was freezing cold. I think that it was worthwhile to go, because I think that when people drive by and see that there are people standing on the sidewalk freezing just to tell them that peace is the way to go, some of the people in the cars really start to think.

~ Karuna Kindfield

We went to Centennial Park in Nashville on Saturday for a rally and held signs next to the road so people in their cars could see us. Then we went to a stage because there were a few speakers that talked about things like Free Tibet. I thought it was important to go because if you don’t go to things like this that how can you change anything? I would recommend going next year because the more people that go the more chance there is that we can make a difference and teach people how to be more peaceful with each other. This year there weren’t very many people because of the rain but hopefully there will be a lot more people next year.

~ Christina Davis

We went to the Peace Rally at Centennial Park in Nashville at the band shell. We went to a street with a lot of cars passing by and a lot of them ‘honked for peace.’ After a little bit we went back to the band shell and three people talked. I am glad that I went to the rally, but it’s not really fun to be cold and wet.

~ Kimberly Thomas

Going to the peace action was cool. It was really fun standing in the rain and having the people driving by honk in support (although I guess I don’t mind the rain as much as some people). It makes you realize how important peace is, that you and a bunch of other people will sacrifice their weekend and go and stand in the cold and rain just to raise awareness even a little bit. The talks that were afterward were neat too, but I’m mostly glad that I went to the Peace Day because of the action part.

~ Zachary Thomas

The peace rally in Nashville on Saturday, March 14th was a success. We did not achieve world peace, but the forty or so people that gathered at the entrance to Centennial Park on West End Ave brought a little bit of peace to everyone that saw us there on the street corner.

I went to this peace rally because it is important to let people know that the peacemakers are still here. Also we brought peace to that street corner. The most touching part of the rally was when we first got out on the street corner, Jake and I were giving everybody that drove by peace signs. This small child looked over at us and gave us a peace sign back, much to his mothers’ dismay. Fox news paints peace protesters in a bad light and now that kid knows that they are lying when they say peace protesters are bad people. He might even make the leap of thought to the fact that Fox news might be lying to him about other things too.

After holding signs on the street corner for about an hour and a half, we went back to the band shell for a very spirited sharing of causes. We heard from a Tibetan refugee for peace, a black Methodist preacher for peace, and an old hippie preacher for the separation of church and state. It was all in all a wonderful and very educative day.

So I’m very happy that I went to the peace rally because I feel like we really planted some seeds of thought in the minds of everyone who drove past us. It was all in all a wonderful and very educative day.

~ Noah Kindfield

The days are warming and many of us in the community are out in the garden, pulling winter weeds and getting our spring transplants like lettuce in the ground. It’s great to be in the fresh air engaged in my favorite form of exercise.

This year members of The Farm launch a new Community Garden Project, breaking ground on a plot that will be shared by several families. Most people prefer to have gardens near their homes, but the small cleared spaces we have made in the forest are receiving decreasing amounts of sunlight as the surrounding trees grow taller. The new garden space will also allow beginning and experienced gardeners the opportunity to work together, including participants in our garden apprentice program.

With the slowing of the economy and the rapid increase in food prices, I am personally making a greater effort to grow as much of the food that our

family uses as possible. Moving out to the fields along the Farm’s main road will allow us to expand the number of different crops we grow and give plants like sweet corn, watermelon and cantaloupe the room they need.

Along with my Gardening Workshop on May 15-17, this year apprentices at the Ecovillage Training Center will receive hands-on training and play an active role in the garden project throughout the summer. They’ll gain experience in organic weed and insect control, rotation planting, tips on how to put up food for winter and be able to experience the fruits of their labors!

The apprenticeship revolves around a weekly rotation visiting three to five farmers and gardeners, including permaculturalist and biodynamic growers.

Field trips to the surrounding community, farms, towns, and cities provide space to gather information and stories. Come sing, clown, dig, sew seed, harvest, design and transform!

Grow Your Garden Now! May 15 -17 - http://ourorganicgarden.com Douglas@villagemedia.com

Apprenticeships - http://www.thefarm.org/etc/appfaq.html

The last two months have been a serious lesson in transition and passage for those of us here in the community. Our dear friend and my housemate Stephen Skinner passed away from his battle with cancer. Our lives have been intertwined for over 30 years, going back to a small commune in Kentucky. Our two families have shared a home continuously for the last 23 years as a simple demonstration of living lighter on the earth. From a material side, although we have separate living rooms and kitchens, we have shared the cost on all maintenance and improvements, one electric meter, and one heating and cooling system. a washer and dryer, the yard, the garden, the internet, a satellite dish, and on and on and on.

But it is also about the spiritual relationship. We have helped raise each other kids since they were born, shared our commitment to this community and now are further are further bonded but in a different way through this shared loss, a man that is widely recognized as a pillar of our community.

You can read about our story on the memorial web site I established for Stephen and in the book “Voice, stories from The Farm.

www.stephenskinner.net

http://www.farmcatalog.com

On Stephen’s web site, you’ll also find a description of the service and the celebration of life that is typical of our community in these difficult times, but which was taken to a new level following traditions of the Nahua people of Mexico, where Stephen had been studying for the last several years.

Here is an interview posted at henandharvest.com on Jan 14th, 2009, conducted as part of the process of writing A Nation of Farmers, by Sharon Astyk and Aaron Newton, which is available for pre-order now and will be published in March of 2009 by New Society Publishers. An edited version of this interview appears in the book.

In the interview, Albert says,

I think the key theme that I’m harping on these days when I go out and talk or lecture or give permaculture courses or speak to groups of students is that what we need more of is resilience. That’s essentially the quality of defense in depth that allows a community to provide for most of its essential needs: food, energy, water, raw materials, from multiple sources, most of them local. So that in the event of large-scale system failures, collapse is averted because there’s smaller-scale, local community resilience, and that has the wherewithal to fend for itself.

Albert blogs at The Great Change. His Financial Collapse Survival Guide and Cookbook is now available in Kindle format from Amazon.com.