What's Happening at Turtle Rock Farm

IIn Partnership with GreenConnections
a 501c3 Not-For-Profit Corporation

Connecting with creation so that creation can heal us
and we can allow creation to heal.

Snow Falling at Turtle Rock Farm

"There's a reason why your heart skips when you look at a blossoming cherry tree or the way a pinkish boulder on a hillside complements nearby rust-colored dockweed. God created a planet with enough beauty and whimsy to make you suck in your breath a hundred times a day if, as a Buddhist would put it, you're looking mindfully.

"And if you go outside and putter in your yard, vegetable patch or community garden for a day, pinching this and transplanting that, you'll take a deep breath and let the scents of mown grass or sweet peas fill your lungs; and as you exhale, you might smile your joy at being on God's planet."

-- Kristen Johnson Ingram, Beyond Words

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Retreating in Winter

Participants in the Unplug, Unwind Retreat and the Simpler Living Retreat
take winter hikes, reflect in the warmth of the fire, make mandalas and share meals.
Ann at Doe Creek monitoring site; Mr. Darcy blessing a guest
Ann and Tom Temple at Hermitage site; The Hens' winter gifts
Snow and birds (Canada Geese in the background) at the Pond House; Farmhouse in the snow

The weather has been perfect for winter retreating - both voluntary and imposed. For several days in January, we had fog until mid-day; in fact, the warmish weather got even warmer one day last week when the thermometer reached 65 degrees. And the very next, temperatures plummeted and a storm blew in dumping ice and snow. As we write, we are covered in beautiful snow from that storm, which shut down most of the state of Oklahoma for a couple of days. The sun shines now, though temperatures will prevent much melting for another day or two. Keeping the animals hayed, watered and fed occupies some of our snow-bound day, but walking in the fluffy white, watching the birds eat the seed we put out for them and standing in the white night, just taking in the deep quiet, make for gifted days.

Fortunately, the scheduled retreats were not on snowy or icy days and we welcomed retreatants here to Unplug and Unwind and consider Simpler Living. We also welcomed neighbors for our first Sabbath Supper of 2010, took a hike in an ancient cedar forest on Keystone Lake, met for our monthly Simpler Living book discussion, welcomed a guest on retreat for a few days, were able to do our monthly creek monitoring between the freezing days (though that water was still cold!) and continued working on plans for our Strawbale Hermitage construction and workshop.

We've finished with the Simpler Living, Compassionate Life book discussion and will begin in February discussing The Transition Handbook. Ann is busy building a rabbit hutch to put on top of the Red Wiggler Worm habitat, to help enrich their composting process. The hens have increased their egg production from one, to two and now four eggs a day - for which we are grateful. And soon, spring's garden seeds will be planted in the greenhouse.

Our scheduled events in February include the Shepherd's Retreat for United Methodist clergy and lay leadership, half-a-day composting and raised bed gardening workshops, the Top Ten Pain Releasers seminar, and the Living in the Moment Retreat. See details below. Pat will be presenting workshops in Enid, Stillwater and Oklahoma City on Simpler Living and Sabbath-Keeping and, at Camp Egan near Tahlequah, participating in a youth retreat to help them connect with creation.

As we work with Tom Temple to design our hermitage, we are learning a lot about the complex decisions that go into building green. We hope our hermitage will not only be beautiful and cozy, but that it will model sustainable design. We look forward to sharing what we're learning at the workshop in June when we all come together to set strawbale walls and get our hands in the mud! (By the way, we're planning some fun events during the evenings that week.)

Who knows what the weather will be like in February. It's Oklahoma: it could be spring-like! Come see us.

In Peace and Beauty,
Ann & Pat

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Thank You Volunteers!

Clayton Mowing

Want to be a Turtle Rock Farm Volunteer?
Have we got a deal for you!

a 24-hour stay (on us)
for 4 hours of labor (yours)

As we grow and expand our offerings and our facility, we couldn't get along without the wonderful people who volunteer at Turtle Rock Farm. They have become a cherished part of our community.
If you're interested in helping out, let us know. We'll work together and you can have some retreat time, a good night's rest and some community time around a table set with home-cooked fresh food.

Note: This offer does not pertain to our programmed workshops and retreats.

Call us at 580.725.3411 or email annmcferron@hotmail.com; 580.917.6011 or email pathoerth@hotmail.com

A QUICK LOOK
AT RETREAT DATES

February 1-2
Shepherd's Retreat

February 6
Gardening: Build Your Own Raised Bed and/or Turnable Composter

February 22
Transition Handbook Book Discussion

February 20
Top Ten Pain Releasers

February 27
Living in the Moment

March 6
Gardening: Build Your Own Raised Bed and/or Turnable Composter

March 13
Earth Dinner: Cooking as if Earth Depended on it

March 27
Military Women Retreat

COMING JUNE 6-12
Straw Bale Construction Workshop
Check it out here:
www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com

Keep Up with Us Daily

on our Blog

Read about our Beekeeping, Creek Monitoring, Porch Sitting, Observations on the Prairie...

Find out what we're reading, what the Alpacas are doing...

There's a Sabbath Meditation each Sunday, a little prose and lots of photos...

www.turtlerockfarm.wordpress.com

Upcoming

Retreats and Workshops

Gardening: Build a Raised Bed Garden

and/or a Turnable Composter

February 6

We've combined two workshops into one. You can come for a full day and build both a four-foot-by-four-foot raised bed and a turnable composter, or come half a day and build one or the other. With a growing awareness of the value to our health and the health of the planet, more and more people are growing some of their own food. In addition to going home with tools to garden and compost, you'll get information about growing vegetables and composting. We'll show you our gardens and composting projects.