☀️ 🌱Why go on a gardening retreat🌱☀️
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🌿 Gardening friends, 🌷May is here! Can you feel Jack Frost skulking away into his summer hidey hole? We're not out of the window for freezing temperatures just yet but I can feel the warmer days coming deep in my bones. In the garden, my brassicas are settling into the garden nicely and beets and carrots are peeking above the soil surface, ready to make beautiful bright root crops for us to feed on into the fall. In my house, tomatoes and peppers are awaiting the long days of late May and I just sowed three flats of strawflower, scabiosa, and globe amaranth--perfect everlasting flowers for my favorite garden craft activity--garlic braids. 💚 As a gardener and mama, I work HARD. Admittedly, it's taken me many years (OK, fine....decades) to learn the value of taking time out for myself. As a long time yoga and meditation practitioner, I was introduced to the concept of retreat many moons ago. Taking a weekend to be with people who love the same thing you do, in a place where your mind, body, and spirit can rest and play, not having to worry about meals or plans, is something everyone needs. There is much good to do in this world but as the saying goes, you can't pour from an empty cup. 🐞 As such, my invitation to you is to care for yourself so you can care for the world by coming to the Garden Rhythm Summer Retreat, August 14-16th in Ithaca, NY. Come be in the garden with me. Let me teach you my best gardening tricks and feed you delicious organic food. We'll get crafty using those everlasting flowers I have germinating for our garlic braibs, and be in Nature together! Join me for..... 🌱 The Garden Rhythm Summer Retreat 🌱August 14-16th, 2026 Ecovillage at Ithaca, Ithaca, NY Join me for the inaugural Garden Rhythm Summer Retreat August 14-16th, 2026 in Ithaca, NY. We’ll be staying on the beautiful 176 acres of forests, farms, and gardens at Ithaca Ecovillage. The retreat includes: 🌻Ecological Gardening Mini-WorkshopsEach day we'll dive into some hands-on learning in the garden--with mini -workshops on companion planting, cover crops, and building the ultimate weed-proof sheet mulch. 🧄 Garden craftsThere will be three crafty workshops to choose from: garlic braiding, making a gourd nightlight with the playful and fun folks at Gourdlandia, or herbal salve making 🧘🏽♀️ Morning mindfulnessOptional morning bird walks and meditation. 🌲 Free time to relax in NatureSwim in the pond, hike the trails, bask in the summer sun, collect a bouquet of flowers, nap in a hammock, frolick where your heart takes you. 🥗Homegrown organic mealsDelicious, fresh, and organic meals, snacks, and teas from our gardens and nearby local farms including dinner on Friday, breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday, and breakfast and lunch on Sunday. All special diets can be accommodated. 💐Gifts from my gardensSeeds, teas, and more as gifts from me for you to take home.
❤️ We’ll build a joyful and fun gardening community around homegrown meals and evening campfires🔥. There will be free time for exploring the trails, swimming in the pond, or relaxing in a hammock.😴 ⛺️ Camping at Ecovillage is available or stay at one of the many beautiful accommodations in and around Ithaca. 🌼 Early bird pricing of $575 ends May 31st Space is limited so hold your spot soon! ✨If you read this email and resonated with the need for more rest and play and gardening, then YOU belong in the 2026 Garden Rhythm Summer Retreat. Will you join me?
Happy gardening! Jennie 🌱💚 |
Garden Rhythm
🌿 Dear gardening friends, Happy solstice! Summer is here and the garden is growing like gangbusters which is so welcome after that slow start to Spring. 🌷 Despite the long, sun-drenched days I have felt myself pulled inward. My mind, body, and spirit has been craving quiet amidst the songs of birds 🎶 and the ebullience of children freed from the confines of the school day. For those that know me, quiet is likely not a word you would use to describe me. But my body is wise and knows I need a...
🌿 Dear gardening friends, Last week I wrote about embodied knowing — that quiet, bone-deep trust you build through seasons of paying attention in the garden. A lot of you wrote back. 💚 Thank you for that — truly. A few of you also had questions about the retreat, so I want to make sure to answer all of those. But first — a little garden wisdom. One of my favorite practices in ecological gardening is companion planting: the practice of growing plants together that help each other thrive....
Hey there fellow gardener! 🌻 Imagine walking into your garden and instinctively knowing which seeds need sowing, what companions to plant, and which weeds are for eating. You feel rooted, grounded, and excited while doing it all in an efficient and effective, regenerative way. Embody the rhythms of Nature and bring more joy and ease to gardening. 🌷 Three years ago, I launched my long-time dream of creating Garden Rhythm– an ecological gardening education program that brings more JOY to...