…I’d want to head up to Heartland Farm in Pawnee Rock, Kansas. A farm from the past, a farm for the future. A place of rest. Peace. Kindness for all living beings.

Recently I visited this Dominican sisters retreat center/working farm. I was greeted by the Sisters, Jane, Mary Ellen and Imelda, and Adela, the WOOFER farm intern, and official alpaca whisperer.

Strong women all of them. Including the alpacas, chickens, dogs, bees and other assorted critters.

The 80 acre property is an idyllic home to many creatures, human to bees. It has been owned by the Dominican sisters and was founded over 30 years ago. I stayed in a lovely Midwestern style wood frame farmhouse. It is open to all who want to come and retreat from the world and find a place of healing, solace, community and sustainability. I pulled up a chair to their dinner table and a home cooked meal full of garden veggies.

Oneness with the earth heals…Heartland Farm is committed to a strong Care of Earth ethic. This is expressed through choices both personal and communal which respect the health of the planet.  The farmstead includes a guesthouse for individuals or small groups, homes for resident community, gift shop and space for our alpacas and chickens. A straw bale arts studio includes a pottery and fiber arts space…

and a more remote straw bale hermitage offers off the grid solitude.

 

Packages offered include therapeutic massage, guided retreats, labyrinth walks, spiritual direction for retreatants—or just a fun place for family and friends to come and be nourished and reconnected on this healthy, well loved piece of land.

If you are planning a trip through the Kansas heartland, plan on stopping here. Incredibly reasonable and full of spirit.

I hope it won’t be long until I can return myself…