Full: Sky and The Big Pond, Turtle Rock Farm, June 2015



"We now face problems that are global in scale, and so we need wise policies at the national and international level. But solutions even of global problems must begin with changes in the vision and practice of individuals. We arrived at our current predicament as a result of billions of individual choices. We can turn our civilization around and head in a new direction by making new choices, person by person, household by household, neighborhood by neighborhood, business by church by school. Beginning right now, each of us can choose to lead a materially simpler life, to conserve rather than consume, to own fewer things and give away what we don't need; we can undertake fewer activities, and those we do undertake we can pursue with more care and delight. We can move around less, and pay closer attention to our home ground. We can draw more of our food and other necessities from local sources...we can revel in nature and community...we can seek what is enduring...we can delve down to the wellsprings of life.

"No life is perfect, but every life can become nobler, finer, saner. Just because we can't live without doing harm doesn't mean we can't do less harm. The world's crisis is an opportunity--to reorient our lives away from material consumption and toward inner richness, to heal ourselves as well as the planet."

-- Scott Russell Sanders
A Conservationist Manifesto  

2015 - A Year of Engagement
Taking time to connect with our natural home, be in awe and inspired to have the courage to live sustainably, so that all can thrive.

May Rains, then an Explosion of Growth in June


 
The Phoebes'...
new family on the farmhouse front porch.
 
 Hermitage guests Alyi and Laurel
collect prairie flowers...

and get to know the alpacas.

 
Mulberries were abundant this year...   
and hens have started hatching chicks.
 
Sharon, on retreat at the hermitage, gives the alpacas their mid-day shower. 
Family and friends enjoy boating on the Big Pond,
finally full after years of drought.

 
The Sewell family joined us at our CommonWealth Urban Farm site in Oklahoma City to explore "A Sense of Place."
We spent the afternoon exploring the Deep Fork Creek watershed, at several urban sites.
 
We gave tours of the farm, food forest, composting operation and community garden in the CommonWealth community.  
Sara and Lia harvesting for Wednesday deliveries and Saturday's farm stand.
 
Shepherds returned for their quarterly retreat: Worship... 
...silent reflection...
 
 
...and gathering at table.
 
Jeanne Finley, leading her second Nature Sketching Workshop at TRF. This time, emphasis on shading... 
using watercolor pencils...
 
drawing flowers, leaves and trees. 
What a great way to get to know nature!
 
Closer to Earth Youth, from the CommonWealth Urban Farm community, visit the alpaca. 
Mr. Darcy getting to know Isaiah.
What a Glorious June!     

 

 

With May rains, plant growth has exploded! By mid-month plants had reached double their normal growth at the height of the summer. What a difference water makes!  

 

While there were hot days, we've enjoyed cool night air wafting through open windows and moving softly through the trees when we stood under clear starry skies watching a bright moon move away from Venus and Jupiter as they appear closer and closer together.  

 

Guests at the strawbale hermitage have enjoyed the lush prairie grasses and flowers as they walk the labyrinth and the pastures. It's been hot enough during the day to give the alpacas a mid-day shower and our guests have enjoyed splashes of water themselves! We've held workshops and retreats both at Turtle Rock Farm and at our Oklahoma City site in the CommonWealth Urban Farm community. A cool front moved in just in time for our last workshop of the month last Saturday. What a glorious June!   

 

Summer comes full-on now. We're glad the Big Pond is full this year and look forward to swimming and kayaking with our friends and guests. The high tunnel garden is producing cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, squash. Eggplant is on its way. We look forward to honey harvest in September and pecan harvest in October.  

 

In fact, we could use some help. To help us get ready for fall gardening, pecan harvest and other events, we invite all who are friends and supporters of our work at Turtle Rock Farm to join us for Volunteer Day, Saturday, September 19. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., we'll have several projects to engage young and not-as-young. Food and beverage, community togetherness and great sustainable learning are all free! Let us know you're coming!

 

In July, we will welcome the Sierra Club for a leadership retreat. Pat will lead a Cooking for the Earth workshop at our place in Oklahoma City (participants will get to tour of the CommonWealth Urban Farm too!) Later in the month, workshop-goers have the opportunity to explore the prairie with their cameras. Information about our workshops, retreats and other educational events are listed below, and on our calendar at www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com.  

 

We hope to see you this beautiful summer season!

 

 

 

 

Beauty, Peace, Wonder, 

Ann and Pat

 



































Workshops
and Retreats

Turtle Rock Farm in Town
Cooking to Save the Earth Workshop
July 11

At CommonWealth Urban Farm Community  
1000 NW 32nd Street, Oklahoma City


 

Decisions we make about food not only impact our health, but also the health of the planet. In this cooking workshop participants will learn how the way we grow food impacts global warming, 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 about cooking local, fresh food using methods that are simple and that create flavorful meals. Half the day will be spent in the kitchen! And, we'll tour the beautiful CommonWealth Urban Farm. The workshop ends with a supper we prepare together, and a reminder of the joy of eating together.

 

10 a.m. to 7 p.m. $85 fee includes lunch and dinner.

To register, go to the Calendar on our website: www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com 

 

Seeing the Natural World Through a Camera Lens
A Photographing Nature Workshop
July 25

 

 

 

 

 

When we see something wonderful in nature, we often want to capture it. And there begins a creative process of trying to express through the photograph what it was we felt when we experienced this event in the natural world. At the same time, focusing that experience through a camera lens, we see more deeply, more intimately the very thing we are experiencing, paying attention to, absorbed in. Photography does more than capture a moment in nature, it helps us experience nature. Pat leads this workshop. We will spend much of the day taking photos and then viewing them and discussing how we make photography express what we see and feel in nature, and noticing what nature reveals to us. Bring your digital camera and your laptop, if possible, so you can download the photos you take.

 

9 a.m. to 3 p.m. $75 retreat fee includes lunch.


To register, go to the Calendar on our website: www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com 

 


Turtle Rock Farm in Town  
Deep Ecology, Deep Hope Retreat
August 15

At CommonWealth Urban Farm Community
1000 NW 32nd Street, Oklahoma City



 

Some days the state of the world can overwhelm us. Despite our intentions, our hopes, our work, we sometimes find that the environmental problems are mounting. Using experiential exercises developed over 40 years by Joanna Macy, an eco-philosopher, author and teacher of The Work That Reconnects helps us look deeply at the graces of life on the planet, face our feelings about the rapid worsening of the environment, begin to develop a vision that will carry us forward, and the practical steps we can take to bring about change so that all on the planet can thrive. It's an exploration into Deep Ecology and the Deep Hope we need to carry us forward. Pat will lead the group through the spiral that helps us develop a supportive community as well as gather strength, meaning and purpose for our lives at this critical time.

 

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. $75 fee includes lunch.

 
To register, go to the Calendar on our website: 
 



Advanced Beekeeping Workshop
August 22

 

 

 

 

You have bees, you have a hive; now you have questions: How do I know if I have a queen? How do I start a second hive? When do I need to feed them-and how do I do that? How do I protect against hive beetles or wax moths? Is there enough honey for me to harvest some? These questions and more will be answered in this workshop. Come with your own questions and join the discussion. Too, we will take a look at our bees.

 

9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. $75 workshop fee includes lunch. 

 

To register, go to the Calendar on our website: 
  

 
VOLUNTEER DAY AT TURTLE ROCK FARM 

9 A.M. TO 4 P.M.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19

 

 

 

 

 

COME HELP US!

 

BRING FRIENDS, FAMILY

 

Free food, beverages
Experience a sense of community-working-together
Hands-on work with our sustainability projects
(High Tunnel Gardening, Fall Gardening, Organic Pecan Growing....)

Call Ann at 580.725.3411 to let us know you're coming.    




Where in the World are We
on Changes in Weather, Climate?

A Public Education Program
Available for your group, class, organization

 

While the very words "climate change" may elicit a charged response-fear, disbelief, denial, passion-the reality that we see changes in nature all around us and all around the world, raise some personal questions that we often are afraid to talk about, that cause us to be overwhelmed about what we alone can do, or even paralyzed by fear about what is happening to the planet.

 

This presentation, developed by a team with the Oklahoma United Methodist Environmental Coalition, is a user-friendly, interactive approach to facing, expressing and acting on our love for our planet home, our concern for the changes happening and our desire to do something to help. An interfaith, ecumenical or secular program, it is available for civic groups, clubs, youth and college groups, churches, synagogues, mosques, families. If you are ready to talk about what to do to care with the planet, personally or as a community, we're available to facilitate a process that will help you do that-in an hour program, or longer. There is hope!  

 

To find out more and schedule a presentation, contact:
Pat Hoerth, Turtle Rock Farm. [email protected] or 580.917.6011

Nathaniel Batchelder, Oklahoma Peace House. 405.524.5577   

 

 

To Learn More about Turtle Rock Farm




MORE OPPORTUNITIES AT TURTLE ROCK FARM 



THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS
Leslie Harrison helping with the honey harvest.
And Elena Height, who helped in the high tunnel.


If you, your group or family is interested in helping out or providing a service learning project at Turtle Rock Farm, let us know. It takes a village!

Scholarships are available for youth to experience nature at Turtle Rock Farm, thanks to a generous grant from the Oklahoma Disciples of Christ Foundation.


Call -- 580.725.3411, 580.917.6011
Or email: [email protected]   [email protected]
Comments from our wonderful guests...
     
 

"The retreat at Turtle Rock was very peaceful and sacred. This retreat helped me to refuel and to center myself. The atmosphere is conducive to learning--gentle knowledge--very inclusive. Thank you." -- M.R.

"So happy to be the first resident of the new year. What a treat for me! I am praying that this retreat with our Young Adults is just the first of many visits to Turtle Rock. I'm so happy to know you're here and not far away. We are kindred spirits and I look forward to much celebration!!" -- Bill Crowell, Tulsa, Boston Avenue UMC

"This is our fourth stay at the hermitage and visit with you. Each time has been a time of renewal. This short visit is no exception. Our conversation, the simplicity of the hermitage, and the stark beauty of the farm and rolling hills blend together to help bring the peacefulness we need." -- Bill and Jeanne Finely, Silver Spring, Md. and Blacksburg, Va.

"This hermitage is a gracious space-as is the whole farm. I leave grateful for everything-deer and wasps, damp 'possum and faithful dog; greedy goats and trumpeting guineas; laid-back alpacas and boisterous roosters. Sun, then storms; mild breezes and sleet. Happy fishing and beautiful lettuce and greens. Surprise wine and a week's worth of soup.
"This place is much like home without the distractions and anxieties. I take from here the resolve to make home more like this week. Thank you Ann and Pat for providing this space, this beauty, this time of rest. May it continue to bless more and more people as you continue your Great Work of caring for Earth and all her inhabitants." -- Jane Balenger, OP, Heartland Farm, Pawnee Rock, KS

"'O God What a Morning' Deer grazing in the north field, a hawk soaring in the west, no doubt looking for breakfast, a full moon setting in a clear sky, and then a bit later-sunrise. What a show. Thanks God." -- Mary Lou B.

"What a wonderful weekend. I needed to get away from the big city life to think, pray, read, meditate. I found the right place for it. This place is good for my soul. I will most certainly return here. Warm blessings." -- Garrick Voth, Oklahoma City

"Strawbale Hermitage must have been a long time dream which called for much hard work as it came to life. Thank you for your great effort. It is a most peace-filled, comfortable and charming place. I am grateful for these three days surrounded by the sounds of nature and covered over by a dome of blue with lazy clouds. God has blessed me here. May God bless you also. Thank you." -- Susan D.

"We enjoyed the pond and watching the stars and I liked catching grasshoppers, kayaking, listening to the sounds of nature." Mason, Maranda, Bryce and Sherri 
 
"Thank you. I have had a balancing and purifying experience; hoping to take some of it back with me. As Persing said-the zen you find on the mountaintop is the same zen down below. I appreciate the opportunity to live in this special place for awhile." -- J. 

"Thank you so much or making me feel like family during my 2-week WWOOFing stay! I'm so glad I got to know you and learn from all the great projects y'all have going. I've met some incredible people and activists while here, which is a huge inspiration." -- Hannah

"Quiet, restful, beautiful sunset...I could go on and on. thank you for sharing this wonderful retreat with us! The beekeeping seminar was fun and educational too. Wish we could have stayed longer. Good friends, good food, good fellowship-what more could one ask for? Can't wait to come back!" -- Nancy and Steve

"Awoke to a thin covering of snow and brisk cold north wind-the changing of the seasons. Thank you. Thank you for this place of respite, renewal, encouragement!." -M.L.B.

"First glimmers of light
The hoot of an owl
The words of my teacher
This house made of earth
Many things made by loving hands
I am encouraged
To put my hands to work
And to know the work as good,
As enough for today.
Small steps are still steps.

Hearing the owl in this moment-
Is a step, a connection.
Morning arrives and I am awake
The farm offers its gift
And I am here
To receive it
With a grateful hear." - Pat W.

"Thank you for this in-between time, time to sink into solitude -- accentuated by the drumbeats/heartbeats of our friends from the north who are here to practice saying no to violating the earth. I will leave with their music, and the soul-full music of this place, in my spirit..." Susan

"I like feeding the alpaca and playing in the sand." -- Cohen, age 6

"Thank you very much for showing us the farm and taking us on a hike. I really appreciate it." -- Eden, age 9

"This was a great place to stay. I'd give it a 10 out of 10. I learned a lot while having fun. Best Mor-Mor Camp ever!" -- Colton, age 11

"Thank you for giving us your time and energy. You have made an investment in us! We certainly did "praise God under the open skies" in the labyrinth, the fields, the creeks, in our unstructured play and with each other. Hallelujah!" -- Gala, age 67 (aka "Moder")

"Thank you for this in-between time, time to sink into grieving and solitude-accented by the drum beats/heart beats of our friends from the north who are here to practice saying no to violating the earth. I will leave with their music, and the soul-full music of this place, in my spirit..." -- Susan

Read More...

in support of

 
GC logo
 

 
Green Connections' Earth Day Festival 2013
 
Green Connections is a 501c3 Not-for-Profit corporation committed to helping people connect with Earth and learn to live more sustainably. We welcome the opportunity to bring their programming to Turtle Rock Farm.  

 

 

You may send tax deductible donations to Green Connections, 5900 CR 90, Red Rock, OK 74651. Or you can donate on the Green Connections website. Or, go to our website - www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com - and click on Green Connections, and use Paypal to send your donation.  




Meet our board members
:

Green Connections: Vicki Rose (treasurer), Elizabeth Box Price, Dorothy Gray, Pat Hoerth, Ann Denney, Mary Moloney, Shauna Struby (president,) Tom Temple   

 

Turtle Rock Farm Advisory Council: Barbara Hagan, Bruce Johnson, Corey Williams  

 

 


Transition OKC is a program of Green Connections. Find out more about its work on its website: goinglocalOKC.com


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5900 CR 90, Red Rock, OK 74651� 580.725.3411