Family Farm Life

Family Farm Life

We will take a small family farm and create a culturally rich way of life while maintaining environmentally responsible organic agriculture. The farm house should be traditional with appropriate country style decor with modern conveniences. The family will wear traditional country style clothes and drive classic cars and trucks. They will constantly work toward being self sufficient and running everything on natural energy sources with zero pollution. The roles of men and women and the values by which they live are of ultimate importance. The men will work in the fields and handle the heavy labor. The women will do the housework and some gardening and tending animals.
Their farm will be versatile by being able to switch between traditional methods like the Amish, to more contemporary methods. They will sometimes plow with horses and use a horse and buggy, while at other times they will work the fields with a tractor. During the year, they will can vegetables, put up preserves, make sorghum molasses, bale hay and host events like, barn dances, casual garden parties, BBQs, bonfires, an ice cream social, a band concert, holiday celebrations, antique and crafts fair, charity fundraisers and sports competitions. At the end of the day, the family will entertain themselves, they will sit out on the porch and tell stories and play music or play parlor games inside, often they will invite the neighbors over.
The family assumes a responsibility as social leaders, therefore, they will be expected to be role models and mentor other people. They will have guests, including whole families, who will live with the family for a time and learn their ways. Since some of the guests will bring their own values and beliefs, there will be some social conflicts that will have to be worked out. This is how we build our social organization, through direct interaction and learning, we teach our ways and spread our values through inter-personal networks, and send people back to their homes to influence others and bring them into the network while maintaining close connections. The family will concentrate on the artistry of living as they seek to find the right balance between traditional agriculture in harmony with nature and living in a complex contemporary larger society. The farm will also welcome other visitors who will bring their own unique experiences to the farm; a mysterious drifter will show up, Amerindians who claim the farm is an ancient burial ground, speculators looking for oil, con men, traveling entertainers and other interesting characters.
At first, the farm is just a simple farm raising crops using modern machines, but the discovery of an old journal tells of the secrets of perpetual prosperity in harmony with nature. When everyone works together in the right way and performs their responsibilities properly, they find clues to the various elements of the secret located in different places around the farm. Some clues tell them to read the natural signs that lead them to the discoveries, other clues require that they solve riddles, and do mathematical calculations on a certain time and date that lines up solar shadows with landmarks. They discover plans for amazing inventions and locate hidden components, that when constructed, build wondrous machines. Once the final secret is revealed, the farm will be able to perpetually provide self-sufficiency for the family and others without consuming external resources or polluting the environment. They will discover the true miracle of nature.

by Dean Sullivan