Heartbeet Barn Raising

A truly remarkable and important community building experience.

 On Tuesday, July 8th, which was a brilliant picturesque summer morning, everyone in the Heartbeet community gathered to help collectively “raise” a wall for our new barn addition.  The barn wall and addition is harvested timber of rough-cut spruce and fir from the Heartbeet property that was milled on site and completed with the beauty and magnificence of the traditional handcrafted timber framing of a local craftsman/builder and friend, Michael Waring.

 A barn raising was a collective community action, which was particularly common in the 18th and 19th century in rural North America.  A barn was and still is a necessary structure for any farmer, for storage of hay and for the keeping of animals.  Yet a barn is a large and costly structure and a barn raising addressed the need by having members of the community to assist in the building of neighbor’s barns.

Before...
Before…
and after!
and after!

The barn raising at Heartbeet was a collective effort of the entire community that connected us to the North American ancestral farming traditions and provided an opportunity to recognize our collective community potential.  The barn raising was a confirmation of a truly remarkable and important community building experience. I am thankful to be a part of such an incredible Community.   Again, we welcome anyone and everyone who wish to open a new doorway to discovery: a place of honest work, friendship and understanding and an opportunity to cultivate a genuine love for the Heartbeet Barn…for many years to come!

by Eric Tidblom