The Farm (intentional community)

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Hello everyone! How is the fall going in your parts, we had -6c this morning and a biting wind. WE are in the central interior of Beautiful British Columbia(anyone else from aroung here?) Anyway to my question. Has anyone heard of the community The Farm? Mother Earth News had a article on them they were totally self suffient, grew everything stored everything, I mean everything. THen I read about it in a book called "A Walk Across America" very good book by the way. He stayed there for awhile and said it was not a great place the people lived for the main guy who ran everything and of course he had it the best. Anyway I was just curious what ever happened to them. Does anyone know?

-- megan milliken (millikenfarm@altavista.com), October 01, 2000

Answers

I had only vaguely heard of "The Farm" (didn't read that book you mentioned), but I think I found their website. Check it out and see if it's the one you mean. It's been around since the early 1970's, so it probably is. It's located in Tennesee.

The Farm

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), October 02, 2000.


My cousin stayed 3 years at The Farm much to the dismay of my uncle. I also have read the book --"A Walk Across America" and it is a fantastic book. I fear the authors view of The Farm may be tainted with bad memories because of the death of his partner there. I visited my cousin there in 1978. The following ar all remember about it.

Itis overseen by a Gueru (sp) of eastern philosophy named Steven. I found him wierd but my view of Buddism is tainted also. The United States government acknowledges that the best midwifes in the world are trained at The Farm. The Farm won a multi million dollar lawsuit against the government when the U.S. Army conducted "mock" helicopter raids on them in the late 70's. You had to sign an agreement to offer all your worldly goods to The Farm as you joined them(my cousin gave them a 1967 Mercedes Benz). At the time of my visit the Farm looked and seemed like a haven for hippies lost in space but as I said my view was tainted also. The website in the above post is correct. Hope this helps.

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), October 02, 2000.


The Farm still exists. It is outside Summertown, TN. I had several trips there carrying a friend who wanted her baby born in the midwife center at The Clinic. (There is also The Store.) It started out as a true commune where all of your needs were met. They have about 1,000 acres and in its hayday had about 1,000 people living there. Like a communes they eventually found out the realities and now have a structured community. They are down to only a couple of hundred people. The midwife center is a prime source of income, plus they make and sell tufu, which surprised me since I didn't see any livestock on the place. My friend was giving the baby to an adoptive couple and they came to one check-up. The husband and I wundered around and ended up in the residential area. We were politely told to leave that area. You cannot get on The Farm without going through The Checkpoint at the entrance. All of the kids there are taught at, what else, The School. I was told they don't even have petty crimes there. I rather got the impression outside of using them as income, the people at The Farm didn't interact much with others, preferring their own close-knit community. I would not want to live there.

One of the above posts mentions Peter Jenkins losing his partner there. It was actually his dog. He was helping bring in a load of hay when the dog was run over by the hay wagon. Peter and Barbara, who he met in New Orleans while staying at a theology college and who completed the walk with him. They have since divorced and I believe Jenkins still lives somewhere in TN.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), October 02, 2000.


That was me, Ken who called his dog his partner. I considered them partners because they trained together and did most of the journey together. I think the dog slipped under the wheels of the water wagon. It has been some years since I read the book.

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), October 02, 2000.

Ken, I don't understand the connection between making tofu and the fact that there was no livestock. (Am I gonna be sorry I asked?) Cathy in NY

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), October 02, 2000.


Kathy:

You're right. Tufu is from soybeans. Still, I saw no crops being grown either so they must buy their soybeans from somewhere. Organic?

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), October 02, 2000.


I recently found at a garage sale their cookbook "The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook" (1975) and it is now a favorite. Lots of simple recipes.

-- Sandy (smd2@netzero.net), October 03, 2000.

Steven Gaskin-he is the same guy who was running for president a while back. His wife is Ina Mae-midwife extrordinaire....she knows her stuff!

-- Sarah (heartsong85@juno.com), October 04, 2000.

The other book written about that place is called spiritual midwifery by Ina-may Gaskin. It is all the birthing stories from their farm. Someone told me (and he is a "hippie") that there are two farms in Tenn right near each other. One is the midwife place and the other is more of a "regular" comune for "hippies" or rainbow-ites.

-- evelyn Bergdoll (evandjim@klink.net), October 04, 2000.

"Spiritual Midwifery" also includes some information on the early years of the group who founded The Farm. Really never says why TN was chosen, nor how the group paid for it. If there is a second communal farm in that area I haven't heard about it.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), October 05, 2000.


The guy assigned to work with me at the plant told me about The Farm. He and his parents were there when he was a teenager. He said it was a typical hippie commune. His father explained to him that the cheap land prices and cooperative county officials had a lot to do with TN being the location.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), October 08, 2000.

I went to the live on The Farm in 1978, with my eight month old son, as a single mother. The Farm was not a bad place, just not for me. I felt like single mothers were taken advantage of in that they were expected to do a lot of child care and house work for everyone else. I would rather work 9-5 and provide good day care for my own child than take care of a half dozen other children that belonged to someone else. When I was there they raised their own food and were particular about it, so I would be surprised if they bought their soybeans from someone else, but things change.

The men were definitely treated better than the women, and Stephen and Ina and the other midwives had it much better than anyone else.

I lived in the children's room in the first house I was in with four or five children under five, then I moved to an old school bus with only one other person plus my son.

I was there for about two months and couldn't get out of there fast enough and the first thing I did was buy a ham and cheese sandwich. I ate soybeans morning, noon and night. It was a good thing the houses were not well insulated because between the gas and BO. . .

I don't remember actually having to sign anything to give them my worldly possessions, they just asked what I had. I left with alot less than when I got there, but stashed a few dollars aside in case it didn't work out. Even though it didn't work out for me I have never been sorry that I had the experience.

From time to time I've thought about visiting.

Blessings

-- Judy Murray (jmurray@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu), October 09, 2000.


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