We're excited about this!
Straw Bale Construction Workshop
6-12 June 2010
A week-long workshop during which participants will learn how to build a building with stuccoed straw bale walls. Led by Tom Temple, a sustainable designer and builder, and MudstrawLove's
Mollie Curry and Steve Kemble, of Ashville, N.C., this workshop will include classroom
instruction as well as hands-on experience. During this week, we will
stack the bales and apply the first coat of mud on a small hermitage at
Turtle Rock Farm.
We will be using clay found on the farm, as well as straw bales from last year's wheat harvest.
For those who want a shorter workshop, Molly and Steve will lead a Straw-Bale Introduction class from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, 6 June, which week-long participants will also join. Fee for the Sunday afternoon workshop only is $25.
Not only educational about natural building methods, this workshop will
help build community - and be a whole lot of fun! Participants will be
lodged at one of the houses at Turtle Rock Farm or may camp out. Meals
will be provided by Turtle Rock Farm staff and shared by the community.
Fee for the week of instruction, lodging and meals is $425. Couples, $375 each. Instruction, meals and camping, $375. Deposit to hold your space is $150. Spaces for this retreat will be limited. For more
information, give us a call, at 580.725.3411 or 580.917.6011. To register, go to our website, www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com.
Spaces are filling. Register soon!
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Could it be -- spring on its way? As I write, the door stands open and sun and warm air pour in. We are trusting the signs of spring - Robins are back, Crocuses are blooming, early grasses greening on the prairie - while remembering that last year's last hard freeze was in April. Today too, Ann and a volunteer moved the hens out of their winter pen at the barn and into their movable pen in the garden. They seem happy to be scratching and pecking there again. Potatoes and early-vegetable seeds go in the soil tomorrow. And in the next few weeks, seedlings will be planted.
Guests to Turtle Rock Farm have come to make turnable composters and tomorrow a group will be here to make raised beds - the first of our gardening workshops for this season.
Actually, February's brief snowfalls didn't interfere with our retreats at all. The Shepherd's Retreat, Top Ten Pain Releasers workshop and the Living in the Moment retreat all fell on fair-weather days. Pat also helped lead a retreat in northeastern Oklahoma, where 150 junior and senior high students took the Cosmic Walk and learned how to meditate in and with nature. With the help of Kim Shaw, from Blue Thumb, (and her chest-high waders!) we scrubbed the edges of Doe Creek, where we monitor monthly, to collect insects for the semi-annual bug survey. Just this week, 30 children from Tulsa's Mayo Demonstration School came to Turtle Rock Farm to learn about gardening and the prairie. At one point, some of them laid right down in the tall grass and took a sun bath! All of them loved the freedom of roaming - and running in - and making discoveries about - the prairie. You can read our blog posting about their trip (and the youth retreat earlier in the month) at www.turtlerockfarm.wordpress.com
We're looking forward to greeting March guests for the gardening workshop, Transitions Book Discussion, Earth Dinner and for our first Military Women retreat. Off the farm, Ann will be making a presentation to a Rotary Club and Pat will be doing two workshops about Creation and Food.
The final planning for our first straw bale building is finishing up. A month from now, the foundation will be poured. Some have already registered for the June workshop. It looks like it's going to be a rich experience: multi-generational, multi-cultural. We're planning for some fun evening activities as well. But we're really excited to learn all Steve and Mollie are going to teach us about building with natural materials. If you're interested, let us know soon; spaces are limited.
This is the beginning of our third year as a retreat center here on the farm. We are grateful for all who have come here - and returned again - for our scheduled retreats and workshops, to share the work load, to visit and learn about sustainable living, and those who've come for respite and healing here on the beautiful prairie. It seems to us that more and more of us are realizing the intrinsic value of the natural world and that we need to change the way we live on the planet. We are very glad to be a part of that growing community.
In Peace and Beauty, Pat & Ann
P.S. For those who've been asking, the Green Connections Prairie Dinner and Concert is scheduled for October 9. Save the date!
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Thank You Volunteers!Paul helping move the hens
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 [email protected]; 580.917.6011 or email [email protected]
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A QUICK LOOK AT RETREAT DATES
March 6 Gardening: Build Your Own Raised Bed and/or Turnable Composter
March 13 Earth Dinner: Cooking as if Earth Depended on it
March 15 Transitions Book Discussion
March 27 Military Women Retreat
April 3 Gardening: Build Your Own Raised Bed and/or Turnable Composter
April 10 Sabbath-Keeping Retreat
April 19-20 Shepherd's Retreat
April 19 Transitions Book Discussion
April 30-May 2 Yoga and Raw Foods Retreat
Save the Date: Green Connections Prairie Dinner and Concert: Oct. 9!
COMING JUNE 6-12 Straw Bale Construction Workshop Check it out here: www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com
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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, what we're learning about living sustainably...
There's a Sabbath Meditation each Sunday, a little prose and lots of photos...
www.turtlerockfarm.wordpress.com |
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Upcoming
Retreats and Workshops
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Gardening: Build a Raised Bed Garden
and/or a Turnable Composter March 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.
To register, go to our website - www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com- and click on Workshops and Retreats.
Earth Dinner: How to Cook as if Earth Depended On It
March 13
Decisions we make about food not only impact our health,
but also the health of the planet. On this retreat participants will
learn how food impacts climate change, why it matters what we eat and
what we can do about it: where to get food, what kind of food to get
and how to cook it. We'll learn cooking local fresh food using methods
that are simple and create healthy, flavor-filled meals. Half the day
will be spent in the kitchen. The retreat ends with a supper we prepare
together, and a reminder of the joy of eating together.
To register, go to our website - www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com- and click on Workshops and Retreats.
Military Women Retreat A Day in Nature for Women Who've Been Deployed March 27 - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Connect with each other and enjoy time in nature: walk the prairie, sit on the porch, kayak on the pond, explore the creeks, enjoy home-grown food, relax in the peaceful countryside. Lunch is included. There is no fee for this pilot event. To register: email [email protected] or [email protected] Or call 580.725.3411 or 580.917.6011
Gardening: Build a Raised Bed Garden and/or a Turnable Composter April 3
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. To register, go to our website - www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com- and click on Workshops and Retreats.
How to put Sabbath Rest - and Play - Back into Your
Twittered Life April 10
In
this busy, multi-tasking world, a day for rest and spiritual nurture,
a day for play, solitude or relaxed family time is difficult to
schedule. On this retreat, participants have the opportunity to
consider the idea of Sabbath-Keeping. We will look at the
possibilities for keeping sabbath, including what some people do on
their sabbath day, and then each participant or couple or family will
look at their lives and plan for ways to bring sabbath-keeping into
their particular lifestyle. To register, go to our website - www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com- and click on Workshops and Retreats.
Shepherds' Retreat for United Methodist Clergy and Laity April 19-20
Preparing for Eucharist Service
A 24-hour time apart for spiritual nourishment in community, for those in ministry in the United Methodist Church. Taken from the Five-Day Spiritual Academy, the format begins with Eucharist Monday evening, followed by readings, silence, group sharing and ending with Eucharist Tuesday afternoon. For information call Pat at 580.917.6011 or email her at: [email protected].
To register, email Rev. Susan Ross: [email protected]
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unique opportunities
for spiritual renewal
and sustainable learning (& living)
in 2010...
second monday is
get-away day
Every
Second Monday of the month is Get-Away Day at Turtle Rock Farm. Come
for an unprogrammed day of quiet, walking, writing, making art,
reading, napping, gardening; just being in the country. To schedule, call 580.917.6011 or email pathoerth@hotmail or go to www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com Transitions Handbook
monthly book discussion
March 15, April 19, May 17...
"Rob Hopkins has written the most thorough description so far of how we
get from the present chaos of cities and towns that are killing the
planet and the people in them, to viable new ecologically sustainable
urban and rural systems. This is more than a theoretical how-to manual;
it is based on his own team's ground-breaking work, engaging whole
communities in a transformative process that accepts the crucial need
to reverse course, and has succeeded in doing so. The book is a great
guide for how we must live in a future world where the limits of nature
are honoured, but so are the basic comforts and joys of communities
coming together in a great common cause. There is no more important
book than this one for any community seeking change toward ecological
sustainability."
-- Jerry Mander, founder/director of the International Forum on Globalization and author of In the Absence of the Sacred
We will meet 9:30 to 11 a.m. Cost is $15. Call or email if you're interested: [email protected]. 580.917.6011.
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Cedar Waxwings at Turtle Rock Farm
Comments from our guests...
"Wow! What a peaceful, lovely place. Thank you for your hospitality. Looking forward to future visits and more peace..."
-- Molly Helm
"'Unless
you find belonging in your solitude, your external longing will remain
needy and driven.' Thanks again for your hospitality in this Sacred
Space. Gracias! Blessings! Namaste!"
-- Mary Lou Bender
"Thank
you for such a wonderful experience here. We enjoyed our time of
getting away (and the food) and hope to come back soon. Thank you."
-- Bob and Kristen
"It's like 'coming home' to be here once more. Thank you for giving of yourselves and your space. It is holy ground."
-- Karrel Stevens
"Turtle Rock Farm is a restful and a peaceful retreat where you will be able to still your mind and refresh your spirit."
-- Chris Nanny
"This is a peaceful place to retreat." -- Jane Bond
"What a wonderful, relaxing, insightful day. I recommend highly to anyone. The farm is just beautiful. Nice to share the day with other women." -- Susan Jackson
"Wow. What a peaceful, lovely place. Thank you for your hospitality. Looking forward to future visits and more peace..." -- Molly Helm
"My body was nourished by good food and fresh air. My spirit was renewed by the peace and hospitality that fill this place. Thank you, Ann and Pat, for your ministry to us two-legged creatures and the rest of creation! I'll be spreading the word - the gospel - about Turtle Rock Farm."
-- Peace to you,
Carol Waters
"Thank you so much for allowing us to have this beautiful weekend of peace and sharing it with us! Your homes are beautiful and what you do with them is even more so. I've had fun this weekend spending time and getting to know the cats, canoeing and kayaking, kissing the Alpacas and practicing yoga under the stars and in the sunshine of the pond! I've also enjoyed getting to know you two.
"...If it weren't for you both I'd be home sitting on my bed wishing my 'life situations' were different. I know to you it might just be another weekend with strange people, but I personally really appreciated it. What you all do for people is quite incredible! So full of service. 'When you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God.' I truly believe that and I think the things you all do are just amazing! Thank you so much!"
---With love, light and gratitude, Katie Elliott Women's Yoga Retreat
"Sunrise (Thanksgiving Day) - This place grants me thankfulness and gratitude at a whole new level. The Alpacas are sleeping in their pasture, next to each other, one facing east and the other, west. There is a bird here who sings long notes, like a flute - I heard him at sunset and sunrise. I believe that God guided me here in my time of need.
"Ann and Pat, what a concept! You have created a space for teaching us to know our planet and allow us to renew our spirit. 'Lord willing and the creek don't rise,' I shall return."
-- Mary Andrews
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"Retreat is neither whim nor luxury nor self-indulgence, but a rock-bottom staple of a healthy life. We need retreat as surely as we need oxygen or protein. While any given retreat may start out as a joyride - a few days away from spouse, kids or job; a chance to spread one's wings, loosen one's belt, kick up one's heels - it always winds up as a pilgrimage. We start to look for what really counts." -- Philip Zaleski, The Recollected Heart
How does one 'do' a Retreat?
A
"retreat" at Turtle Rock Farm is a chance to get away into the quiet
and beauty of the prairie. But not everyone is used to the quiet and
find the idea a bit intimidating, even if they know they long for it. A
retreat can be a time when you sleep, listen to music, read, walk,
visit, play musical instruments, do art, bask in silence, get a
therapeutic massage, sit in a rocking chair on the porch, visit with a
spiritual director, explore nature...alone, with friends, family.
It can be what you need and what you want it to be. We are happy to guide and assist, or give you solitude.
To reserve your individual, group, couple or family retreat: email or phone [email protected]; 580.917.6011 or [email protected]; 580.725.3411
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our partnership
with GreenConnections...
Photo by Candace Krebs
The First Annual Green Connections Dinner on the Prairie - October 2009
Green Connections is a 501c3 Not-for-Profit corporation committed to helping people connect with Earth, be healed in it and learn to live more sustainably. In addition to supporting the mission of Turtle Rock Farm, our dream is to build a retreat center and hermitages with sustainable building methods, including straw bale construction. We now have straw bales in the barn! And, thanks to those who came to our Dinner and Concert on the Prairie, as well as other supporters, we are on our way.
If you believe in the work of Green Connections, please consider gifting us with your supportive wishes and hopes, with your volunteer labor, and with your dollars. Even a small amount now and then would be appreciated. If you have questions, please call 580.725.3411 or 580.917.6011.
You may send tax deductible donations to Green Connections, 5900 CR 90, Red Rock, OK 74651. Or, go to our website - www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com - and click on Green Connections Partner, and use Paypal to send your donation. Or, click here:
Green Connection Board members meet the Alpaca Meet our board members: Green Connections: Beverly Alexander (treasurer), Elizabeth Box Price, Dorothy Gray, Pat Hoerth, Stephanie Jordan, Ann McFerron, Mary Moloney, Alan Ware (president.)
Turtle Rock Farm Advisory Council: Barbara Hagan, Bruce Johnson, Tom Temple, Corey Williams
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We Support the Buy Fresh Buy Local Movement Buying locally-grown food saves fossil fuel, supports our local growers and provides fresher and more nutritious food. What food you can't grow yourself, consider buying directly from a producer/farmer, a farmer's market or the Oklahoma Food Coop. To find out about becoming a member of the Oklahoma Food Coop, go to: www.oklahomafood.coop. Information about the work of the Oklahoma Chapter of Buy Fresh Buy Local (including food guides and reasons to buy local) is at: www.buyfreshbuylocalok.com
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Turtle Rock Farm LLC: A Center for Sustainability, Spirituality and Healing Mission Statement
Connecting with the Natural World
We believe that Earth - part of the Creator's good creation - has intrinsic value. We believe that human beings are interdependent with all of creation and that the Creator is calling humans to re-connect with creation, with Earth, and participate more consciously in the web of life. We want to provide opportunities for people to experience our connectedness with creation in three distinct ways: + organizing and leading retreats that afford people the experience of our
connection and interdependence with the web of life: all of creation, each other and the Divine. + promote healing - of Earth, creation and humans, through connecting with
Earth which, we believe, can heal us - as well as through the various modalities of holistic health care including Energy Kinesiology.
Learning to Live Sustainably
+ living sustainably and teaching and supporting others in their efforts to live sustainably. By sustainability, we mean honoring, bringing, enabling life rather than harming and disposing of life; learning practical things to do to sustain life on Earth. Because we believe this is done in community, we hope to promote community life.
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