Welcome to Faraway Farm, the Maine homestead of Max Alexander, Sarah Baldwin and our two boys, Harper and Whit.
We are writers, teachers and musicians who left behind allegedly exciting lives in New York and Hollywood for the simple pleasures of the countryside—and boy are we excited to be here! Now we make less money while growing our own blueberries, raising our own ducks and chickens, making our own wine and cider, spinning our own yarn, fishing before breakfast and eating dinner together every single night.
We also own computers and iPods, have DSL Internet service, take
modest ski vacations (winter is the only time of year we can get away from the farm) and cook lobsters on the grill (hey, it’s Maine).
Our experiment, if you can call it that, was to see if a normal American family (we have no trust funds) could live a reasonably comfortable, middle-class life down on the farm without commuting—neither a hardscrabble, hand-to-mouth existence, nor the leisurely life of country squires. We figured it would be a lot of hard work (on the farm and at the computer), with (hopefully) a lot of rewards that can’t be tallied in a bank statement.
So how did it work out? For the answer, you can buy our books on this site, but we’re happy to share insights and trade stories with anyone who’s interested, and that’s what this website is all about.
If you dream of a life in the country where you can get half a day’s work done while most people are still driving to work, this site is for you. If you already live in the country and are mad as hell about how hard it is to live in the country, this site is for you. If you want to learn and share tips on how to (or how not to) live off the land, homeschool your kids close to nature, or find an electric guitar teacher in the backwoods, you’ve come to the right place.
Copyright © 2004, 2005 Max Alexander and Sarah Baldwin
If you dream of a life in the country where you can get half a day’s work done while most people are still driving to work, this site is for you.