All Things Must Pass

Maine’s gorgeous fall weather is upon us, and time continues its onward march. Now we close up Forest Farm for the season. We spent yesterday taking down the last of the trellises and removing old plants. We piled them high in the compost heap, which will comprise a lasting testament to our work at Forest Farm and add a little contribution to the garden’s future growth. When we arrived at Forest Farm in May, the entire garden contained buckwheat as a cover crop, with one exception: garlic. The garlic predated our arrival since it was put in the previous fall. We spent yesterday planting garlic, which will greet the next year’s stewards as it greeted us. Our season as the resident stewards of The Good Life Center at Forest Farm has come to a conclusion. We leave transformed by our stint as the resident stewards of the Nearing Place.

Helen and Scott Nearing built a special homestead, and caring for it has been an honor and privilege. They were so good at growing and building. Their homestead stands strong infused with their eternal earthly glow. We are proud to join a long line of caretakers that Helen and Scott entrusted to keep their legacy alive. Today, the Good Life Center sits atop Penobscot Bay, a beacon to all who value simple and sane living in an increasingly complex and insane world. The Nearings pursued an experiment in alternative living to see if it was possible to remove themselves as much as possible from market capitalism and instead rely on their own hard work to provide for themselves. They succeeded. They showed us, as well as generations of citizens, that we can and should live according to our own principles, rather than abide by the dominant power structures that maintain the status quo. Forest Farm reminds us all that sustainable, vegetarian living is a possible and necessary form of activism. Forest Farm is such a happy and powerful place to wander through, to get lost in, to visit, and to care for, because it breathes new energy into tired lives. Visitors leave Forest Farm uplifted with hope. We have met amazing, hard working, and dedicated people that treasure the passion, zeal, and beliefs that Helen and Scott brought to their life work. Thank you to all of the visitors that shared their time with us! Our work at Forest Farm has inspired us and pushed us further on our path. We were nourished here. We grew here. What began as an experiment to live the life of a homesteader has galvanized into a desire to build our own energy-neutral homestead. We will utilize passive solar to maximize the heat gained from the sun, and install solar panels, which are becoming cheaper and cheaper as the technology advances. We will grow much of our own food, and try to avoid the supermarket as much as possible. We will live simply, how we want to live. We will live wilder and freer. We will live our “Good Life.”

We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to wise friends who helped us on our path. Thank you Helen and Scott. Thank you Warren and Nancy, farm managers, for the incredible and unforgettable experience. Thank you David and Annie, Bob and Doris, Kim, Carolyn, and Mary for enriching our lives with guidance and friendship at Forest Farm and beyond!

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Much love,

Sam and Claire (and Sabu the cat)


A farewell haiku:

Sun and rain washed face 

Hands worn of soil and flowers

Ever opening

Sam Adels

About Sam Adels

Sam and his wife Claire are the resident stewards of the Good Life Center, the homestead of Helen and Scott Nearing in Harborside, Maine. They are learning from the example that Helen and Scott set with their lives: living simply, gardening, and welcoming visitors to their homestead. They are transplants, and like a seedling, they are together putting down roots in order to grow.