Winter was mild, and short. Spring has come, with some blossoming a month ahead of "normal." The "normal" frost date is still five weeks away, so we're holding our breath that a cold snap doesn't take the fruit. We are feeling the Earth's warming. While early spring feels wonderful and looks lovely, there is the awareness among many we speak with that another mild winter and this way-early spring is a sign of global warming and, indeed, climate change. We greet spring with a mix of joy and sadness. Our work presses us and we are glad to hear Emerson's words, as in the quote above: "Up again, old heart!--it seems to say--there is victory yet for all justice."

Work in country and city have been exciting this winter.
At CommonWealth Urban Farm in Oklahoma City, Thunder basketball player Kyle Singler gave the farm community a warm and encouraging (and helpful) sign of support for growing food with his $10,000 donation. Watch the CommonWealth website for the hoop house workshop later this month. The hoop house will allow for year-round growing of lettuces. Lia, Sara and volunteers have grown lettuce, greens and root vegetables all winter and sold to local restaurants, where customers have enjoyed locally grown, organic, nutritious, delicious food (carrots grown in CommonWealth's composted soil are the best in the world!) The hoop house will expand the garden's productivity, keeping tender plants warmer on some of those chilly winter days. Kyle is from Portland, Oregon, where friends are urban farmers and he told the CommonWealth community that he wanted his contribution to the community to support urban farming. His gift and presence have been delightful.
At Turtle Rock Farm Retreat Center we have welcomed friends and guests for retreats and visits. No worries this year about ice and snow. We have been lunching on the patio! We welcomed the United Methodist Church's Deaconess, Home Missioner Service Committee, with participants from several cities on the East Coast. It was wonderful for Pat, who is a UM Deaconess, to welcome dear friends, who spent several days at TRF as they worked and got to know her ministry better. Each day of their visit, some of their time was spent outdoors, exploring and meditating in nature. Some were also able to tour CommonWealth Urban Farm.
The "Shepherds" came on their quarterly retreat; the Mindfulness Retreat day was especially fruitful and the newest retreat-Earth Mandala, led by Beverly Evans-was a very happy and meaningful day. Every time, and in so many ways, we are made aware of the profound need for humanity to connect to their roots: the natural world of which they are a part.
Away from the farm, Pat has been preaching, participating in the public education presentations about climate change that are sponsored by the Oklahoma United Methodist Environmental Coalition and in The Human Community Network's work to bring individuals and groups together to figure out how to make just and sustainable systemic change in Oklahoma. If you want to know more about these programs, or how to bring them to your community, please feel free to email her at pathoerth@gmail.com or call her at 580.917.6011.

 

 

 

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.