March Garden Retreat

Enzu, 園頭, The monastery vegetable garden, or the gardener. A retreat this Spring.

The March Enzu (Gardening) Retreat, is from the 11th. to the 21st., with people coming and going as their schedule allows.

Focusing on the 77 Trees project and the gardens of the temple. The extra time we spent this spring on the garden and the orchard made a big difference in their bounty.

We’ll keep the same daily schedule used for Kosesshin.

Choka at 4:30am, samu at 8:30 and lunch at 12:30pm. After lunch a period of rest and study with an optional Chi-gong/Yoga class before supper at 4:30pm. Evening sitting from 5:30 to 8:30 with Kaichin afterward.

During the morning we’ll work in three areas; the Tenzo will work with one group preparing meals and undertaking small improvements in the kitchen and related storage areas. A second team will focus on the existing garden, the orchard and trees we’ve planted near our buildings. The trees will be pruned and mulched and the garden beds prepared for spring planting. A small number of new trees will be added to the orchard, both pears (3 trees) and blueberries (4 bushes) will be planted as a complement to our apple crop for compote in the fall and winter.

A third team will work on the 77 Trees project in two areas, we’ll clear brush around trees at the entrance to the temple. With this area free of brush we’ll be better able to plan a long-term landscaping of the entrance. The second area is around the columbarium, where we will began landscaping the area around the lane running down hill beyond the columbarium. In preparation for tree planting, there may be a site for a clearing where full-sun large trees can develop over a couple of centuries.

 [event now in the past,  no  longer taking signups. -ed]