The Farm went on to become the largest hippie commune in North America, peaking out at around 1500 people in 1980, before reducing to its current population of about 250. The Farm pioneered in soy-based vegetarian diet, midwifery and home birth, anti-nuclear activism and alternative energy, grass roots overseas relief and development work, and communal living. Around 4,000 people were official, signed-on members of the Farm at one time or another in its history, and there were over 100,000 overnight visitors to the community during its first ten years.

From ashram to village, from total commune to cooperative land trust, from first world to third world and back again, the Farm has definitely been through its changes. It has survived two pot busts (the second of which came up completely empty), several FBI investigations, epidemics of hepatitis and lice and many years of Republican presidencies, not to mention the departure of more than 80% of its residents. And yet, even though the Farm today is small compared to the way it used to be, it is still a thriving community with many businesses and projects designed to help the planet. Plenty, the Farm's non-profit relief and development organization, is still quite active and widely respected in development circles. Children who were born and raised on the Farm are now working, traveling or in college, and a few have started their own families. The Farm is part of a growing network of people and communities world-wide who are working to solve the same basic problems that the initiators of the community set out to solve 25 years ago.

This History of course only scratches the surface. There is much more to tell, and much of it will be told in future years. But it does review the community's entire history, explaining the values, belief system and mental and emotional approach to life that inspired its formation. It describes the major changes the community went through, mistakes that were made, and some of what we learned. It places the Farm in the changing context of America and the world from the late '60's right up to the mid '90's, finishing with quotes from the essays of two Farm-raised teenagers who now live elsewhere. One reviewer has called it a "delightful appetizer," guaranteed to make you want to know more.

A Short History of the Farm is self-published. Copies are available for $10 each, plus $2.50 postage and handling (international $5 for ground shipping). Make checks payable to and send to: Michael Traugot, 84 The Farm, Summertown, TN 38483.