Farm Fresh June 2021: The Farm reopens! Drum Workshop Live Event! Art on The Farm

Farm Fresh News - June 2021

In this issue:

The Farm opens!
50 Years in Community!
Our first in-person event: a drum workshop
Art on The Farm
Highland Rim update

From a school bus to The Big Pickup!
Image: The Farm Archive Library

Dear Friends,

Lots of changes happening on The Farm! Be sure to check out the article in Communities Magazine honoring our 50th Anniversary here in Tennessee! I think you will find this issue of Farm Fresh interesting, informative and I hope it will inspire you to live your life to the fullest!

Peace,
Douglas

The Farm is currently open to visitors, based on the drop in the Covid 19 infections in Tennessee (fewer than 8 per 100,000 for seven (7) consecutive days). If the infection rate in Tennessee returns to a high level, we may find it necessary to close our community again.

Visiting:

The community is open for day visitors.
Overnight visits by reservation only. Most of our B&B accommodations remain closed.
For day or overnight visits, please contact us in advance by calling 931-964-3574 or email me at the Welcome Center vickie@thefarmcommunity.com
Overnight Guests must show proof of COVID vaccination or positive antibody test.
Those who do not provide proof of vaccination or antibodies must show proof of a negative antigen/PCR test within 3-5 days, and self-quarantine for 10 days prior to arrival.
Masks are required when visiting in the Welcome Center and The Farm Store.
When talking to someone you meet on The Farm, please wear a mask. Wear the mask properly, covering both the nose and mouth. You can also ask them if they want you to wear the mask.

Thank you for understanding. We look forward to a day when we can all be together without any restrictions or safety concerns.

Sincerely,

Vickie at The Farm Welcome Center

Celebrating 50 Years!

Sunday Meditation, 1970s
Image: The Farm Archive Library

This summer The Farm Community celebrates the 50th Anniversary of our presence here on the land in Tennessee. We had planned a huge celebration, but that was before COVID. This has been postponed, but in the meantime, check out this 50th Anniversary article about The Farm in the summer issue of Communities Magazine. You'll find a lot of pictures, and some shared memories.

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Art on The Farm

In previous issues, I have introduced you to my friend Bernice Davidson, an artist on The Farm who uses her work to to teach and build bridges of understanding. She and I have been collaborating over the years to bring more public art to the community, and in these last several months that has grown to include the outside wall of a food production facility here in the community, directly adjacent to The Farm Store.

In earlier issues, I showed you two of the peices installed here, The Meditators and Dogwood Magic. This newest piece by Bernice, shown above, is a depiction of Farm history, containing numerous representations of our lives back in the day. I hope you will be able to see this display in person when you visit the community.

Left: A family plants a tree at a location where the placenta of their child was placed in the ground.
It is said a person will always return someday to the place of their placenta.

Right: Based on an actual photo of the water pouring forth from our first water system in Guatemala.

The Western Highland Rim, the unique ecosystem of The Farm - Update

Above: My good friend Cynthia Rohrbach with Swan Trust was kind enough to point out that I did not present an entirely accurate descrition of the map I showed you in last month's newsletter. I want to give you the best information, so here is an update. The darker gold colored Western Highland Rim where The Farm is located extends down into Alabama (off the map) and then up on the right into the Eastern Highland Rim. The green area represents the Cumberland Plateau, but also an area called Sequatchie Valley and Great Valley of East Tennessee.

When I was growing up in Kentucky (and throughout my time here in Tennessee), all mountains in Tennessee were by us locals referred to as "The Smokies," thus the name of The Great Smokie Mountains National Park. However on maps, you'll find the far eastern ridge of these mountains referred to as the "Unaka Mountains" and on other maps as the "Blue Ridge." Again in my world, the Blue Ridge Mountains were in Virginia, extending down in to the eastern slopes of North Carolina. But I am no scientist, just a Kentucky/Tennessee country boy. ;-)

"The name unaka is rooted in the Cherokee term unega, meaning "white". Common lore is that 1 in 4 trees in the Unaka Range were American Chestnut trees prior to the great Chestnut Blight. Because the chestnut had long white blossoms, the Unaka Mountains turned white in color during the spring blossoming of the chestnut trees. They were called the White mountains by the local Cherokee." Wikipedia

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Peace,

Douglas

Douglas@thefarmcommunity.com