The vision for the farm has been a long time in the making. From my days as a child in the 1970's reading my mom's copies of Living on the Earth and Woodstock Handmade Houses, the dream of a sustainable, back to the land community has been growing.
I see New Bright Dawn Farm as a loosely structured place to create a chosen family, for artists and musicians to get away from the world and create, for women who need shelter and therapy, for shamans and dreamers to find peace. A place where the stress of the city can fall away, where the energy of the earth can nurture and restore our intuition and understanding. A place where you choose how you expand your personal growth, and take from it what you need.
The farm would be a working farm with permanent residents from June to October. In the winter, we could help generate farm income by offering vacation spots for skiing or peaceful winter getaways, on a sliding scale. Long term, we will apply for non-profit status as a retreat and counseling center. While live-in spots would be limited to 3-5 people at a time, (with many more spaces for camping) we could offer workshops, lectures, and short programs to the public during the summer in a variety of alternative education and personal growth programs with subjects ranging from yoga to mediation, psychology, sustainable farming and wildlife, spirituality, art, music, and much more. While the focus of the farm would be healing and transformation, the sustainable small farm aspect (that we're using for food!) will also be worked into the program as another facet of a whole life.
The farm is located in central Vermont, about 6 hours from NYC, 2 hours from Boston, and 2.5 hours from Montreal! We're in a community rich with the healing arts, and we look forward to integrating the wealth of local talent into one amazing project.
I plan to go back to school for the MA in Health Arts and Sciences - Bridging Nature, Culture and Healing Program at Goddard College, with studies done at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur. I feel that having this as part of the farm would be an amazing opportunity, really building whole health; mentally, physically, and spiritually for those who come to the farm. I would also like to have a cozy space on the farm for people to come for regular counseling sessions. The environment is so serene and beautiful, it is beneficial and uplifting just to be in. While I love creating and sewing and art, I do feel that what I do with my life path will have to be more based in community and humanity. I have worked with a number of community-based activist groups, such as Food Not Bombs and Habitat for Humanity. In my musical endeavors, I have both organized and played a number of benefit shows, including benefits for Bitch Magazine, Not In Our Name Project, Berkeley Liberation Radio, Bands Against Bush, and the October 22nd Coalition.
Ideally, the farm would have a small one room main house (20' x 24') with a foundation, insulation, solar electricity, a wood cookstove and heating stove, and a greywater septic. There would be 2 additional smaller insulated cabins with lofts (12' x 14') with woodstoves and (composting) outhouses. There will be a small clearing for camping, with an outdoor cooking area, and a homemade or manufactured yurt for additional housing and/or meeting space. The main house would eventually have a separate counseling space. There will be a small swimming hole. A well and a hand pump will be put in where the natural spring is. At least one acre will be for food, in addition to a greenhouse and smaller cooking and medicinal herb plots scattered on the land. There will be a handmade wood burning soaking tub, and a sweat lodge built in the traditional native Wigwam style.
Financially, this can and will be done on a tight budget, using recycled materials and wood from the land whenever possible. Labor wise, I'll need a lot of help!
Email New Bright Dawn Farm.
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