Garden Volunteer Retreat
With Iquwah Bezuyen and Aaron 'Water' Piepszny
July 11 - 14, 2024
We need help from people like you! The work is quite rewarding, knowing that a wide range of people, plants, and animals will benefit from focusing resources towards the purposeful end of carbon footprint reduction, diversity, and sustenance. This is a terrific opportunity to experience Menla for very little money and in a way few people get. Join Menla’s experienced horticulturists Iquwah Bezuyen and Aaron Piepszny for a weekend out in the sun, woods, and gardens experiencing the healing dimensions of the land, while getting great exercise working and enjoying the company of others. With trowels, shovels, picks, and our hands, you’ll be surprised how much we can accomplish in just one weekend!
Volunteers for this retreat must be able to lift 30lbs and be in good enough physical condition to be out hiking on the trails for much of the day. Work includes hand weeding garden beds, raking and gathering leaves, removing invasive Japanese barberry. (apprx. 9am-4pm each full day, and 9:15 am-12:30 pm on the final day, followed by lunch buffet). This retreat is not for those looking for a relaxation experience, this is a work-focused event.
Schedule
Thursday, July 11
- 3 – 8 pm Check-In
- 6 – 7 pm Dinner
- 7 pm Evening for Relaxation
Friday, July 12
- 8 – 9 am Breakfast
- 9 am – 12 pm Garden/ Forest Work
- 12:30 – 1:30 pm Lunch
- 1:30 – 4:30 pm Garden/ Forest Work
- 4:30 – 6 pm Complimentary Steam/Sauna Session
- 6 – 7 pm Dinner
- 7:30 pm Bonfire
Saturday, July 13
- 8 – 9 am Breakfast
- 9:15 am – 12 pm Garden/ Forest Work
- 12:30 – 1:30 pm Lunch
- 1:30 – 4:30 pm Garden/ Forest Work
- 6 – 7 pm Dinner
- 7:30 pm Bonfire
Sunday, July 14
- 7 – 9 am Check-out of Rooms
- 8 – 9 am Breakfast & Check-Out
- 9:15 am – 12:30 pm Garden/ Forest Work
- 12:30 – 1:30 pm Lunch & Departure
* Please note that the schedule is subject to change at any time
About the Leaders
Iquwah Bezuyen
Iquwah Bezuyen is a naturalist, herbalist, Master Gardener, long time community builder, and equal housing activist. She’s been caring for plants and animals her whole life. Iquwah has been running greenhouses for over 20 years. She was an outdoor education and farm specialist at Camp Oh-Neh-tah in Windham NY, where she maintained and planted a […]
Learn more about Iquwah BezuyenAaron 'Water' Piepszny
Aaron Piepszny teaches Chi Gung, Buddhism, and somatic embodiment studies online as well as at Menla Mountain retreat where he is the head of horticulture. He received his Permaculture Design Certificate in 2016 at the Paititi institute in Peru. Aaron has studied, supported, and enacted a wide variety of integrative food production methods with locals […]
Learn more about Aaron 'Water' PiepsznyCategories : Menla Retreat (all retreats), Menla THUS