Welcome to Youre Inn at the Ecovillage Training Center. How about a little guided tour of the house and grounds here on The Farm in rural Summertown, Tennessee?
Youre Inn is a renovated original Farm (commune) house; like many during its time it started as an army tent and was added to as needs and materials appeared. It's come a long way and still has quite a journey ahead! Painted a bright yellow with blue trim, our two-story inn sits atop a forested hill.
Lush vegetation surrounds us during the warm months, birds are everywhere; frogs croak from pond to pond; thunderstorms add occasional drama to the expansive sky. Two solar showers provide wonderful luxury on a hot summer day, or on a clear starry night. Since they're located on a slope above the organic garden (we had to go to a 12' deer fence this year), the showers' greywater waste keeps our veggies happy.
Water flows first into a swale, with a small, hyacinth- and frog-filled pond at each end; then slowly leaches into the garden soil. We made all three of our ponds of carpet scraps, and they are very successful little bodies of water, with more life per centimeter than you've likely seen in a while.
A pretty strawbale house stands nearby, plastered with an experimental mixture of local clay, sand, and lime.
Now in progress is an addition we hope to open soon, the Green Dragon Tavern, modeled after Tolkien's vision of the Hobbiton establishment. If you are here in good weather, maybe you can help us with the plastering.
Follow the trail down the hill, and you're at lovely Swan Creek. Soak your feet, then head back up towards the Inn grounds, where a geodesic dome, a 20-foot yurt, a Smoky Mountain shingled cabin, and one of the Farm's original caravan school buses contribute to the complex.
Campers' tents dot the grounds. Inside the Inn, three dormitories and three private bedrooms provide comfortable basic accommodations for 30.
A deck next to the kitchen garden (planted in a yin-yang pattern) offers a sunny sit at a picnic table. Head inside to our great big living room, an area for relaxing, hanging out, meeting, studying, reading...
The sunny kitchen is up a few steps. Guests are generally welcome to use the kitchen to cook up their own foods; meals are usually catered (by the Farm's world-class vegetarian chefs) for workshop participants and special occasions. Meals can also sometimes be arranged at the homes of various of the Farm's excellent cooks.
Step out onto the eastern deck, sit and enjoy.