Flower Hill Farm Retreat 

         CELEBRATING TWENTY  YEARS!!  2001 – 2021 . . .

. . .  for those longing to be close to nature.  A unique retreat surrounded by organic gardens, fields, and forest. Birds and butterflies abound in our wildlife sanctuary! Nature nurtures. Give yourself and those you love a special way of life . . .  for awhile. We are more than just a getaway, however, and welcome artists, writers and others interested in learning from and connecting more deeply with nature to visit for our guided retreats. 

 

Mission and Vision 

We are continuing on with gratitude towards the next twenty years by welcoming visitors for private getaways, retreats, reunions or just a lovely quiet place to stay, while visiting the area. In honor of our 20th Anniversary, Flower Hill Farm Retreat is also expanding into sharing the retreat and land in a more holistic way. A way forward that “deepens intimacy with the living Earth through land-based education, herbalism courses, creative writing workshops, and nature writing residencies. By offering sacred space for quiet contemplation, we welcome those wanting to be close to nature. We nurture emerging and established writers whose work develops nature literacy and inspires us to fall in love with our wild and wondrous world.”* 

We are reserving the Upstairs part of our retreat as a long term Artist/Writer-in-Residence space. We are thrilled to welcome *Vanessa Chakour as our first Artist/Writer-in-Resident and hope she remains with us for many years to come. 

When it is safe to gather in groups Vanessa and others will offer courses in holistic herbalism, mycology, permaculture, soil remediation, and wildlife awareness. We will host a ‘writer-in-residence’ once a month who will offer workshops for aspiring writers of all kinds. All of our workshops will be intimate with eight guests at the most.

In the meantime, we are offering solo self-catered retreats for everyone seeking a getaway surrounded by nature. The Writer’s Studio, is a private, quiet, large, open room with stunning views of the hills, landscape and sky. You are invited to come and stay alone for a week or more for peaceful solitude. Vanessa is also offering curated or loosely guided retreats that may include holistic herbalism, therapeutic movement, meditation and healing ritual.  

There is a one-week minimum stay and the option to stay longer depending on availability.

Who We Are

 

Carol Duke

Flower Hill Farm Retreat Founder 

 

“For the last thirty-eight years, my life has truly been formed by the dirt on this hillside. It is hard to absorb, to fully determine if I am creating the garden or if the garden is creating me and the way my life has unfolded. The land is my muse, my guiding light giving me a sense of place and purpose, of connectedness to a deeply cultivated part of my being ever entwining with the intricacies and marvels of the natural world surrounding me. It is my passion, my duty and life work to be a wise and caring steward and dear friend to the many trees and plants living here. Some I planted and have grown old alongside and others are century old sages I continue to seek counsel and succor. I carried these friendships and responsibilities a decade before I was blessed to buy the farm. I continue to work from a place of awe, love and reciprocity. The land is ever giving and inspiring.” Carol speaking about Flower Hill Farm Retreat.

Carol Duke is an artist and farmer, who, when not working on her twenty-one acre hillside, can be found raising butterflies, writing, painting or out in the gardens, fields and forest photographing nature and wildlife. Her greatest joy in working with the land has been to see how her farm has become home to a diverse community of wildlife.

This website holds over fifty-six pages of photographs featuring Flower Hill Farm’s wildlife, gardens, sky and landscapes. There is a page of Carol’s paintings and a little shop offering notecards illustrated with Carol’s photographs of the flora and fauna of Flower Hill Farm.

Carol’s writing can be found on her Blog and Focusing on Wildlife. She is working on a book about raising butterflies and gardening for wildlife here at Flower Hill Farm Retreat. The working title is A Bestiary — Tales from a Wildlife Garden. 

 

Carol is excited to welcome Vanessa Chakour to Flower Hill Farm Retreat and feels her beautiful spirit, wisdom and healing nature is a wonderful addition to this little paradise.

 

 

Vanessa Chakour

 

A visual artist, herbalist, holistic arts educator, former pro-boxer, and environmental activist, Vanessa Chakour’s work is a dynamic blend of her vast personal experiences over the last two decades. Her unique approach is rooted in the belief that healing happens through reclaiming an intuitive connection to ourselves, the natural world, and our own “inner-wild.” She is the founder of Sacred Warrior whose mission is to deepen relationships with ourselves and the environment.

Vanessa inspires personal relationships with the plants and animals around us and curates embodied experiences in her workshops, herbal apprenticeships, and rewilding retreats. She works in partnership with wildlife organizations such as the Wolf Conservation Center in New York, The Jaguar Rescue Center in Costa Rica, and Alladale Wilderness Reserve in the Scottish Highlands.

A fierce defender and advocate of the land, Vanessa embodies the practices she teaches. She has spearheaded land-based education programs to inspire ecological awareness and land stewardship. As an inspirational speaker, she has spoken at the United Nations, Brown University, and the Muhammad Ali Center. Her work has been featured in Aligned Magazine, Ravenous Zine, Culture Trip, and more. She leads ongoing courses and workshops in NYC and throughout the Northeast and runs Rewilding Retreats in New York, Costa Rica, and in Scotland.

Her upcoming book, Awakening Artemis: Deepening Intimacy with The Living Earth and Reclaiming Our Wild Nature, will be published in Winter 2021 with Viking in the US, Penguin in the UK, and Ullstein Press in Germany.

 

Flower Hill Farm has become a favorite retreat for hundreds of guests from around the world.