THE GOOD LIFE CENTER

Last June my wife Sue and I traveled to the last hand-built home of Helen and Scott Nearing, which is located at Forest Farm in Harborside (Brooksville), Maine on five acres of forested land overlooking Spirit Cove.

The Good Life Center's purpose is perpetuate the goals, philosophies, and lifeways of of the Nearings.

We found it inspirational to walk the grounds, tour the house and even sit in Scotts chair.

 Susie in the lupines overlooking Orr Cove.

Lichens on the roof of the yurt.

Reading a passage from The Good Life in the wooden yurts, a form of architecture that he adapted from Mongolian culture.

One of the Good Life Centers volunteers gave us a tour of the gardens and the the house.


The oak strips are so much nicer than the bent pvc pipes that I'm using for my low tunnels.

Agreed.

Wooden bowls, spoons and other kitchen utensils line the walls of the kitchen area.

 The living room, its book-lined walls interrupted only by a panoramic view of rugged Maine coastline.





Since part of the Nearings’ philosophy was to avoid the use of and dependence upon money, they ate primarily what they grew–vegetables flourished all year in their solar greenhouse. They also believed that the day should be divided into two main four-hour periods — one for ”bread labor” and the other for pursuing other meaningful activities such as playing the violin, reading, and writing. Alone and jointly they wrote 16 books on such diverse subjects as maple sugaring, homesteading, and political economics.