Tending the Garden: a 6-night eco-gardening retreat

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In the garden of everyday experience, we uncover unexpected treasures. Ingenuous, living from what we are, we move from a self-centred toward a reality-centred life—and open to wonder.
                                - Charlotte Joko Beck in her book Nothing Special:Living Zen

Come join with us to tend our inner and outer gardens - the inner garden of our minds through meditation and silence, and the outer garden of The Barn to prepare the soil and plant the seeds for the growing season.

The basic Barn retreat schedule will be followed, including three periods of formal meditation per day and three dharma talks over the week, with longer gardening sessions and deeper instructions about ecological-based gardening by our gardener Luci Edwards.

We will water seeds of mindfulness, compassion and community throughout the week and there will be longer periods of silence.

Read on for more details on this retreat and click the Leaders, Schedules and Venue & Directions tabs above for further information.

We say, "Pulling out the weeds we give nourishment to the plant". We pull the weeds and bury them near the plant to give it nourishment. So even though you have some difficulty in your practice, even though you have some waves while you are sitting, those waves themselves will help you. So you should not be bothered by your mind. You should rather be grateful for the weeds, because eventually they will enrich your practice. If you have some experience of how the weeds in your mind change into mental nourishment, your practice will make remarkable progress. You will feel the progress. You will feel how they change into self-nourishment."

- Shunryu Suzuki 

This retreat is for you if you:

• enjoy gardening and are physically fit to garden 2.5 hours per day (there are a variety of gardening tasks, many not demanding)
• want to go deeper into dharma
• are prepared to live and work in community, preparing meals together and working in the gardens
• are aged 18 and above

There are periods of silence (including 36 hours of silence) on this retreat.

Our programme of Barn retreats can be viewed and booked here

Daily meditations

There are approximately three 40-minute meditation periods each day, and it's important that you commit to them to deepen your practice and connect to the community here.

Working on the land

It is important that you are willing to participate in working on the land as part of your mindfulness practice and that you can commit to all the scheduled activities during the week.

What you’ll experience on this retreat

During this retreat you’ll:

• experience guided meditations and periods of silence and quiet contemplation
• be living in community with like-minded people, sharing experiences and tasks, including the making of meals and taking care of the house
• have a single-occupancy room and your own space in which to rejuvenate, with free time to deeply rest and reconnect with yourself
• have access to 24-hour hot teas, coffee & infusions in the kitchen
• be able to explore the beautiful Sharpham Estate, set within a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty close to nature, amid breath-taking scenery on the banks of the River Dart

Mindfulness in nature at Sharpham

When you experience Sharpham's inspiring and nourishing environment, we hope you'll connect spiritually with the natural world, so you’ll:

• become aware of how we are all part of nature - not artificially separate from it
• pay attention to and appreciate the natural world surrounding us
• explore nature through your senses and your natural creativity
• Tread more lightly on our finite planet, developing a respect and reverence for all living things

Click here to read our ethos and principles

What you need to know

If you decide to stay with us, we’ll send you a list of what you need to bring for this retreat in your Welcome Letter that we send out after you've booked.

You can also find out more about staying with us on our Frequently Asked Questions page, including

• accessibility information
• why we encourage you to come on your own and not with partners or friends
• what the difference is between our retreats

See our Barn Covid-19 measures here

Food & your dietary needs

We have a fully stocked organic and vegetarian kitchen. The main meal is at lunch time.

We can accommodate gluten-free and/or vegan dietary needs. However, our kitchen is not gluten, dairy nor nut-free. We do not provide gluten-free bread, but you are welcome to bring your own.

Due to the nature of the kitchens at the Barn with food being prepared by participants and no dedicated chef, we are not able to accommodate guests who have anaphylaxis. If you have anaphylaxis we recommend you book on to one of our other retreat venues - Sharpham House, The Coach House or our Woodland Retreats.

Please make sure you include dietary restrictions and any food allergies on your Booking Form. We may need to communicate further with you about specifics. The booking form is sent as a link once you have booked and paid for a retreat.

Our water is provided from our own spring, UV treated and filtered.

Your physical and mental health

This retreat is suitable for you if you have some meditation experience, or you are seeking to renew or reconnect with your practice.

Although meditation and mindfulness can be helpful in managing stress, depression and anxiety our retreats might not be suitable if you are experiencing major depression or other clinically diagnosed psychiatric illness such as bipolar disorder, psychosis or current self-harming. Click here for more information and for our booking process

If you have a medical condition that requires you to have a room close to a toilet, please contact The Barn team on the number below and we'll try to help.
 

To have time and space in a stunning setting, amidst like minded people with generous and supportive coordinators - what's not to like?