Sharpham Gardens at The Barn

Tending The Garden - a Barn gardening retreat

Summary

7 Reviews
6 nights - Annually
Any meditation experience
Single
Short periods of silence
Max. Spaces: 11

Overview

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.

How we garden at The Barn

Luci shares about her own background in gardening, how we care for the land and grow food for future retreatants and the benefits of getting your hands in the earth when you come on retreat with us.

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

What you'll experience on this retreat:

  • be living in community with like-minded people, sharing experiences and tasks, including cooking and eating together and helping in our gardens
  • experience guided meditations and periods of silence and quiet contemplation
  • periods of silence and quiet contemplation
  • community sharing
  • mindful movement
  • finding connection with nature
  • 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
Retreats on the mindful gardening retreat at The Barn at The Sharpham Trust

What you'll 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
View our FAQs

Schedule

This retreat has a tighter schedule and less free time than our standard 6-night retreats, although there are still opportunities for individual reflection and group meditation.

If you're coming to stay with us on retreat, it is important to make a commitment to arrive in time for the first group meeting and to attend all the days.

This ensures you experience the retreat programme from start to finish and helps your group of participants to gel.

It is important that you are willing to participate in working on the land as part of your mindfulness practice (we can easily find suitable tasks for people with health difficulties) and that you can commit to all the scheduled activities during the week. This includes three 40 minute formal meditation periods each day.


Silence

All our retreats include periods of silence as a way of deepening into mindful awareness.

If you are new to spending time in silence in the company of other people, it can feel awkward to begin with. But we encourage you to explore the silent periods with a spirit of openness and curiosity - people usually find it to be a positive experience. 

Note that we hold silence overnight from 8.40pm to 9.15am in the morning, and all day Wednesday.


Sunday

Afternoon
2.00pm to 4.00pm – Your arrival
4.30pm – Welcome talk, introductions and tour
5.30pm - Guided meditation
6.30pm – Light evening meal. Then settling in
8.30pm – Meditation, followed by silence until 8.40am the next day

Monday to Friday:

Mornings Afternoons
6.10am – Wake up 12.20pm – Meditation (some guided)
6.30am – Movement & meditation 1.00pm – Lunch
7.10am –  Household tasks 2.00pm – Personal time
7.40am – Breakfast 5.00pm – Teaching
8.40am – Morning sharing & meeting 6.30pm – Light supper, prepared individually or in groups
9.30am – Gardening 8.00pm – Meditation (some guided)
  8.40pm - Barn moves into silence until 8.40am the next day

Saturday:  

As above until 7.40am. Silence ends at breakfast. After that, there is time to clear your room and depart between 9.00am and 10.00am.

Reviews

Beautiful location, inspirational facilitation by leaders on the retreat theme and heart warming community building within group.

Benefits included deeper recognition & appreciation of all the wisdom acquired during life journey and sense of increased resilience and positivity about being an 'elder'. Especially enjoyed daily Qi Gong exercises, supportive presence of co-ordinator & Felice Rhiannon's sessions.

Came away with increased energy, new tools to draw on to enable me to live my senior years in accordance with my values, pursue activities which bring me joy and contentment & face life's challenges.

retreat participant

The Barn is the most wonderful place, they hold you with Care and Love when it’s most needed, Lindsay & Armel guided me through Meditation practice with kind patience for a anxious novice.
When l needed the community and help to heal my heart and mind in a safe queer space or for anyone who feels the pull towards some retreat healing, the Barn Team and the natural beauty of the Barn location is truly unbeatable. The Cats held me with their warmth and the nature held us all together for the whole time together. Deepest Thanks & Love to everyone l had the privilege to spend this time with. Simon x

Simon Holman
June 2023

Truly a special place. The location and surroundings are both outstandingly beautiful. The daily routine of the retreat is a gentle combination of movement, gardening, good meals, easy chores, opportunities for a variety of group meditation practices, and time for personal practice. All this would have been more than delightful enough. However, in addition, the coordinators create the conditions for all in a retreat group to "hold space" for and with each other. This was surprising to me, and very impressive. Keep going. What you're doing is great!

Heather Stark
March 2023
See all Reviews

People in a ring outside The Barn Retreat at Sharpham

The Barn Retreat Centre

Our popular meditation retreat venue in the Buddhist tradition is where up to 11 people join together living in community for weekly retreats, including a variety of themed retreats - scroll on to see them all.

You'll be staying within a friendly atmosphere of fellowship, sitting together in daily meditations and mindfully tending our organic vegetable gardens.

You'll have your own single room, you'll get to eat produce from what's grown on the land here and you'll also get time to explore the wonder of the beautiful and contemplation-inspiring Sharpham Estate.

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Leaders

Barn Coordinators
Barn Coordinators Read more +
Luci Edwards, gardener at The Barn retreat centre at Sharpham
Luciana Edwards - Barn Gardener Read more +

Costs

Participants at The Barn can select which rate they pay according to need:

Supported Rate £425

The Sharpham Trust is committed to ensuring that retreats at The Barn are accessible to all - regardless of income. The Trust therefore offers a heavily subsidised Supported Rate for those unable to pay the Standard or Benefactor Rate.

Standard Rate £475

Paying the Standard Rate means you will be contributing towards our running costs, supporting the work of The Barn and helping retreatants of lower incomes to access our retreats.

Benefactor Rate £565

If you are able to pay the Benefactor Rate, that means that you'll be supporting others who cannot afford to benefit from a Barn retreat on The Sharpham Estate. Your choice to pay this rate will help us with the running costs of The Barn, enabling us to continue our charitable work connecting people to nature and fostering mindfulness and wellbeing, as well as caring for the land, wildlife and wider estate.

DANA

Dana is the Pali word for generosity or donation. The volunteer coordinators are receiving only a small payment for expenses whilst living at The Barn and are generously giving their energy and understanding to us all. If you are able donations are welcome.

There will be a maximum of 11 participants on this retreat.

All rooms are single occupancy, giving you your own space in which to relax.

Book easily and securely online or by phoning 01803 732542

Terms & Conditions

Please click here to see our booking and cancellations policy

Room Types

Click here for more information on our types of bedrooms and facilities.

All rooms are comfortable single rooms, with a shared bathroom. All rooms are randomly allocated, unless you have medical needs relating to your room allocation. If you have such a need, let us know on your booking form before the retreat begins. 

Bursaries

Limited 50% bursaries offering reduced-price retreats are available for those experiencing financial hardship. Please contact the Programme Administrator at least 4 weeks in advance if you wish to apply.

Our bursary fund relies on donations. If you’d like to help another to go on retreat here through our bursary scheme, you can give online quickly and easily by clicking here

Thanks to the generosity of the Hollick Family Foundation we are able to offer up to two 75% bursaries for 18-25 years olds experiencing financial hardship on this retreat. To find out more and apply please contact [email protected]

Hollick Family Foundation logo

Available dates

2025 25 May

The Barn: Tending the Garden - an eco-gardening retreat (6 nights)

With Luciana Edwards & Barn Coordinators