Welcome to The Farm, an intentional community in Summertown, Tennessee, founded on principles of nonviolence and respect for the Earth.
Sharpen your pencils and take notes: Here we see the Eco-village Training Center, where sustainability is the subject, taught by founder Albert Bates.
There are a multitude of imaginative permaculture and building techniques taught here: reusing greywater for phosphate loving plants, how to deal with sewage sustainably, re-using old satellite dishes to make living roofs, techniques for warming winter greenhouses, chicken coops built of stray, sand and clay from the land, solar showers, and more. They created a mushroom plantation, inoculating old logs with shiitake mushroom spawn for a steady supply of this gourmet, edible crop with healing properties.
"We are teaching natural building for the Indefinite Future. You don't have to be indebted to the bank to have a nice place to live- but you may need to scale back your expectations." says Albert Bates. "It's about creating elegance at a smaller scale"
--Bibi Farber
This video about is produced by Dharma Dog Pictures