LOGO

Summer 2017


Pelicans at Turtle Rock Farm 
March 2017 


 "I believe that the more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction." 
 

--Rachel Carson 
 
 

TOGETHER.
IN THESE TIMES.

"In These Times" is our theme this year.













Leading families on an Earth Day nature walk at Myriad Gardens in Oklahoma City. What a delight...curious, eager children and their wise, engaged parents!












 

Enjoying the glorious showing of poppies on our block, Turtle Rock Farm In Town, in the CommonWealth Urban Farm community. 

 
 
Quiet time for reflection in the front yard pollinator garden and at lunch together during the Aging/Saging Retreat.







 

Saturday is a wonderful day in the CommonWealth Urban Farm community. Veggie Club members come for their weekly veggie and Slow Flowers pick-up; volunteers help in the garden and with composting; and two Saturdays a month people gather to learn from our great teachers in Garden School.




     
 

We welcomed women from the First United Methodist Church of Woodward to Turtle Rock Farm on the prairie for a nature walk and a tour of the strawbale hermitage.

 


Participants in the Living Within retreat enjoyed soul collage, writing, reflection and exploring nature in an urban setting where they each observed many wondrous things "hidden in plain sight." Thanks to Jeannie Martin, who came from Boston to lead the retreat.






     

Summer and Fall... 

We will welcome retreat guests to the Strawbale Hermitage, as they come for lovely quiet stays on the prairie.
Email Ann for your reservation: [email protected] 
 



Ann is getting ready for what looks to be a bumper pecan harvest.
In Town, Pat is preparing for retreats and a special project to be offered this fall. (We'll keep you posted!) Mark Davies and Pat are going to facilitate three of the fall retreats. Sign up for one, two, or all three! See the list below.

AND-our favorite celebration of the year is September 30. It will be the ninth year the Green Connections' Prairie Dinner and Concert is held alongside Doe Creek and in the Big Round-Top Barn at Turtle Rock Farm.

Chefs Kam and Barb of Kam's Kookery will cater another fabulous local foods dinner.



This year, we are delighted to welcome back Ann Zimmerman, our favorite prairie singer-songwriter. It will be her third concert at the dinner. We discovered her years ago at her Sunday morning concert at The Land Institute's annual Prairie Festival and are thrilled to bring her back to the Oklahoma prairie!



SO. Mark your calendars...come at 3 p.m. to hang out on the farm and visit with lovely people. We'll gather at the creek at 4:30 to begin the feast. After supper, we'll stroll up the country road to the barn where Ann will serenade us with her sweet music.

Make your reservations here . It's going to be another magical time together!

 
 
 


CALENDAR OF FALL RETREATS

Resilience Through Community-based Economies...In Times Like These 
September 16

 
In times like these, billions of us have to accept our responsibility to life on Earth and change our lives in significant ways to offset as much as possible the damage done to our life together on the planet. We can choose to face this inevitability not through the eyes of loss but through the eyes of opportunity. Building new, innovative local economies will take sacrifice, empathy and loving kindness for all life. But this good human work holds the potential of bringing a rediscovery of true human community in our world as we form communities of resistance and resilience and regeneration.
In this workshop, we will see exciting and encouraging examples of regenerative economies for communities around the world and explore what may be possible in Oklahoma. Mark Davies and Pat Hoerth will lead.

Mark Davies is the Wimberly Professor of Social and Ecological Ethics and Director of the World House Institute for Social and Ecological Responsibility at Oklahoma City University. Mark has published in the areas of Boston personalism, process philosophy and ethics, and ecological ethics. Dr. Davies serves on the United Methodist University Senate. He and his wife Kristin live in Edmond, OK, and they have two daughters.
His love of nature was cultivated in childhood hikes in the Wichita Mountains near Lawton, OK, home and summer visits to the Olympic mountains where grandparents lived in retirement.

A retreat leader and spiritual director, Pat Hoerth is co-founder and co-director of Turtle Rock Farm: A Center for Sustainability, Spirituality and Healing and a resident in the CommonWealth Urban Farm community in Oklahoma City. A United Methodist Deaconess, she is co-chair of the Oklahoma United Methodist Environmental Coalition and has served on the leadership team of the National Association of Deaconesses and Home Missioners. She teaches in the United Methodist Women's Mission u and authored the 2016 Children's Study on Climate Justice: God's Extravagant Garden.
Her love of nature was cultivated in childhood on her family farm, on the Oklahoma prairie, which is now called Turtle Rock Farm.
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Turtle Rock Farm in Town
1000 NW 32nd Street in the CommonWealth Urban Farm community, Oklahoma City 
Retreat fee is $75 and includes lunch.

To register and pay by Pay Pal, click here. Or send a check to Turtle Rock Farm, 5900 CR 90, Red Rock, OK 74651. Include name of retreat, your name address, phone, email address.
 
Developing Resilience Through our Eco-Anxiety...In Times Like These 
October 7
 
We can become paralyzed by the anxiety caused by frequent news of the impacts of global warming, climate change, extinction of species. How do we recognize our anxiety and use it as a catalyst for developing personal resilience and action for these times? Using the work of Joanna Macy and the work of 12-step programs, we will explore a way into and through our eco-grief toward a meaningful life in times like these. Spiritual Director Pat Hoerth will lead. 
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Turtle Rock Farm in Town
1000 NW 32nd Street in the CommonWealth Urban Farm community, Oklahoma City 
Retreat fee is $75 and includes lunch.

To register and pay by Pay Pal, click here. Or send a check to Turtle Rock Farm, 5900 CR 90, Red Rock, OK 74651. Include name of retreat, your name address, phone, email address.
 
 
Resilience Through Civic Engagement... 
In Times Like These
October 28
 
In times like these it is understandable why so many have given up on civic and political activity when it seems that the deck is stacked against the common good in favor of the wealthy and the powerful. Nevertheless, it is still true that the key to change is participation by the people at all levels of community-local, state, national and global.
In this workshop we will take a look at local and state situations in Oklahoma and nationally to explore the main barriers to vibrant and vital civic participation and how we might be inspired and committed to get involved in ways that connect our skills and passions for a flourishing life for all with what's needed in our communities and world. We just might surprise ourselves when we see what we the people are capable of doing when we get engaged in creative, committed, compassionate ways. Mark Davies and Pat Hoerth will lead.  
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Turtle Rock Farm in Town
1000 NW 32nd Street in the CommonWealth Urban Farm community, Oklahoma City 
Retreat fee is $75 and includes lunch.

To register and pay by Pay Pal, click here. Or send a check to Turtle Rock Farm, 5900 CR 90, Red Rock, OK 74651. Include name of retreat, your name address, phone, email address.
 
 
Resilience of the Human Spirit through Beloved Community...In Times Like These
November 18
 
In Times Like These-intensely divided around values-we experience isolation, confusion, overwhelmedness, loss and we long for beloved community. In this workshop, we will explore community: human, ecological cosmic. What makes for a beloved community? Where have we experienced it and where have we lost it? What happens to our human spirit without beloved community? And which comes first: the human spirit regenerated through community or community regenerated through human spirit?Using a variety of learning processes from a variety of sources, we will consider the human spirit, its needs and its capability to develop beloved community in these times. Mark Davies and Pat Hoerth will lead. (See bios above.)
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Turtle Rock Farm in Town
1000 NW 32nd Street in the CommonWealth Urban Farm community, Oklahoma City
Retreat fee is $75 and includes lunch.

To register and pay by Pay Pal, click here. Or send a check to Turtle Rock Farm, 5900 CR 90, Red Rock, OK 74651. Include name of retreat, your name address, phone, email address.
 
 

Turtle Rock Farm:
A Center for Sustainability, Spirituality and Healing

On the Prairie, north central Oklahoma 
In Town, at CommonWealth Urban Farms, Oklahoma City

our website: 
www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com

To schedule a retreat
or a stay in the Straw Bale Hermitage
contact us:
  
Farm Phone: 580.370.0764  
In Town Phone: 580.917.6011  
By email: [email protected]