Celebrating Earth at Turtle Rock Farm

Dinner at Doe Creek

Green Connections' First Annual Prairie Dinner and Concert was more than we ever imagined it to be. Again and again we are stunned by what happens when we take the time to spend time in the natural world: the natural world gifts us (on that particular evening, with a yellow and pink sky as the sun went out of view.)
Again and again we are stunned by what happens when friends gather at table and eat healthy food grown in ways that are good for Earth: we are nourished deeply.
Again and again we are stunned at how much fun we can have together doing the simple things, like taking a walk in the country or listening to music: our souls are healed.
New to us was the experience of joining people all around the globe making the same statement: "We are willing to do what needs to be done for a healthy planet." We realize our connectedness and the power of grass-roots movements.
And so it was that wonderful Saturday night in late October when we gathered alongside Doe Creek for local food, then walked up the road to the round-top barn for a rousing and moving concert.
Our gratitude to Kamala Gamble, Kyle Dillingham, Woods and Waters Wines, volunteers and Green Connection board members for helping create such a wonderful evening. And a special thank you to all those who came to the dinner. Proceeds from this event will go towards achieving our dream of a straw-bale-constructed retreat center. If you want to contribute towards that effort, see below. And we'll let you know when we'll be doing this again in 2010!

Autumn Transitioning

October was a month of transitioning here at Turtle Rock Farm. As we explained in last month's newsletter, our father died on September 29. And on October 6, our Alpaca guest, Cha Cha, who had come from Heartland Farm in Kansas, to stay for a few months to help Mr. Darcy and Biak Bay adapt to their new home, returned to Kansas. While they were here, Sr. Terry and Sr. Annette showed us how to trim hooves and give dewormer. We also cut out cockleburs from their fleece. Then we said goodbye to Cha Cha. Biak and Darcy ran to the edge of their pen as Cha Cha was transported off the farm; they stood there and cried and screamed. They have not been their normal, playful selves until this last week.

Though, despite the cool weather, there are still peppers, eggplant and tomatoes growing (slowly) in the garden, Ann harvested most of the final fruits of her summer's labors, including a bumper crop of sweet potatoes. Volunteers Clayton and Kate helped winterize the raised bed gardens and plant a cover crop of Austrian Winter Peas. (They also helped us clean up debris around Doe Creek.) We're enjoying salads and beets already from our fall garden in the raised beds and in the greenhouse. We are glad to be able to have some homegrown vegetables for our Earth Dinner workshop coming up on November 21. (See below for details.)

Even though the holiday season is approaching, there is plenty happening here. Individuals and groups have scheduled retreats, as well as a private yoga retreat and the United Methodist's Shepherd's Retreat for clergy.

Still, there are some open days for individual and group retreats at this coming-in time of year.

Off the farm, we'll have a booth at the Peace Festival in Oklahoma City on November 14. If you're in Oklahoma City that day, stop by and see us. Too, Ann will begin her training as a Master Gardener and Pat will be taking another class in the Oklahoma Master Naturalist program.

This week, we had contact with the youth director of a group of young people who came last summer from White Plains, NY, for a three-day retreat at Turtle Rock Farm. She sent us a podcast of the youth recently telling the congregation at their church about their trip to Oklahoma, where they also helped with a vacation bible school in Clinton. Their responses at the time and their reflections these months later, inspire us to keep on doing what we do and remind us one more time of the deep importance of being in nature. Spending time in nature was foreign and challenging for these young people, as they readily told their church community. But, despite the challenge they experienced of walking in the tall grasses of the prairie, they also tell how something happened to them as they picked vegetables to make their own pizzas, as they ventured outside in the dark, looked up and saw the amazing starlit sky, exclaiming: "You can see them!"

As we move into the holiday season, may we be reminded to stay in touch with the natural world that is our home. Wonderful surprises, and renewal, await.

In Beauty and Peace,
Pat & Ann