Natural Building Apprenticeship at The Farm
After 4 months of hopeful hand-wringing, I recently received final confirmation that I have, definitely been accepted to the June Natural Building apprenticeship at The Farm in Summertown, TN! I have been completely fascinated with ecovillages, permaculture, organic and biodynamic farming, sustainability, and natural healing for a very long time now thanks to the Findhorn Foundation in Inverness, Scotland, www.findhorn.org. Findhorn is the original ecovillage, started by three friends on a rocky plot of ground while living in a camping trailer to grow food for themselves. 60 years later, it is a mecca for spiritualists and ecovillage training, so much so that the United Nations sends trainees there to be taught how sustain 3rd world villages using raw materials. Findhorn's story is truly fascinating and really worth looking up.
The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee has a similarly fascinating story, its roots beginning in 1968 with an English professor at San Francisco State College and his following of students. His Monday night class is an open meeting discussing how psychedelic experiences relate to world religions and is attended by thousands who come to listen from all over the country. In 1970, Gaskin goes on tour, speaking coast to coast about psychedelic spirituality and tripping out, along with a caravan of 60 wildly painted buses full of his students and followers. In 1971, they stop at Martin Farm in Summertown and purchase 1,000 acres of land a few miles south of Nashville and thus, The Farm is born. Living in community, several hundred hippies establish what 36 years later, is now a very cool place to visit, live, and learn from.
The natural building apprenticeship teaches students how to erect structures using only natural materials, sandbags, corncobs, clay, and so on. We will learn how to build houses, composting outhouses, solar showers, and greenhouses! I can't wait!! I'll be staying in the EcoHostel along with all the other apprentices.
I don't think I've ever slept in a room with 14 other people before, so this should be an interesting month.... but, that's what community is all about right? I am determined not to wimp out by requesting a private room. We will be eating vegan meals together sharing our educational experiences with one another, for there are permaculture, indoor gardening, and ecovillage apprentices as well as my fellow natural building apprentices.
I am really looking forward to June at The Farm. Naturally, I'll be writing all about it and taking lots of pictures. Did you know that in 1973 their US Supreme Court case won the right for residents of The Farm to legally use grass as a religious sacrament? Live the revolution!
Check out this slide show of The Farm by Vanity Fair:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/05/thefarm_slideshow200...
Stephen Gaskin
