For those of you who don't know, Ragweed Day is the Farm's independence
day celebration. It began in `79 (or was it `80?) when a local DA with
political ambitions and his pot-spotting helicopter pilot decided that
we were growing a large field of marijuana (within sight of the county
road, would you believe?). They struck at midnight, with 35 carloads of
state troopers (there were 1500 of us living there at the time). The
helicopter came sailing out of the sky, landed in the field, and officers
leaped out and started pulling up ragweed and stuffing it into evidence
bags. They eventually figured out that they were weeding our watermelon
field, which sorely needed it. So, Ragweed Day became an annual celebration
of freedom, something of an old home weekend with Farm expatriots coming
from all over, a couple of days of music and parties and circles and
kicking up heels, etc.
I thought you'all might like to be reminded of this other major summertime
event in Tennessee.
Love and Peace,
Timothy from Austin, TX