This past weekend, we finally got a chance to visit the Living Energy Farm. Getting there was challenging, from finding the right address to walking the half-mile path from the end of the driveway to the main building.
When we first arrived, we found two young adults sitting in a warm living room with four kids running around and playing happily with toys. The two young people turned out to be visiting for a couple of weeks through a national tour of different intentional communities. Then we met Debbie Piesen and Alexis Zeigler, who showed us around the Farm and talked to us about our project.
On the tour, I was struck by the amount of powerful and simple technology that LEF members made from scratch. One example I particularly admired was the heating system, which collects hot air from the roof and blows it underneath the house using a solar powered pump.
While I was somewhat concerned by the possibility that the members of LEF might view a website as an unnecessary extension of the industrial world, Alexis seemed excited by the idea that our project might help outsiders better understand the mission of the Farm.