Lodging, Food &

Daily StructurE

Lodging

Spirit Hollow and Pompanuck Farm are partnering to offer you cozy accommodations surrounded by wilderness. Located in the Taconic Mountain Range on the Vermont/New York State border (unceded Mahican land), you will live at Pompanuck and learn at Spirit Hollow.

There are a little over 6 miles between our two centers, and we provide a shuttle between the two in the morning and the evening.

Pompanuck Farm, an eco-retreat center is situated on 78 acres of field, forest and streams, near Cambridge, NY, is surrounded by 2800 acres of state forest.  Known for its cordwood and straw-bail buildings, wood-fired sauna and solar-fed pond, organic gardens and bakery, you’ll be living in community in a beautiful place, hosted by Lisa and Scott Carrino.

Spirit Hollow is at the end of the road on 100 forested acres and enveloped by thousands of acres of National Forest Land on the slopes of Grass Mountain in Shaftsbury Hollow, VT. Our daily sessions will be held in one of our two yurts and out on the sacred land. The Medicine Wheel Garden, Oracle Brook and our fire circles offer ample space for gathering, solitude and ceremony. Our resident-director, Tracey Forest, lives with her family and animals in the geodesic dome on-site. Along with organic vegetable and medicinal gardens, Spirit Hollow has begun the process of building a food forest, to leave a food legacy for those yet-to-come.

The nearest airport is Albany International Airport (a little over an hour away). The closest towns for shopping are Cambridge, NY and Bennington, VT.

Pompanuck

The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse is the center of community life. Most participants will stay in a bedroom here (2 per room), with a few others sharing a yurt. In addition, two guides will be staying in the guest house a stone’s throw away. There are two full bathrooms to share.

The Roundhouse Kitchen

The Roundhouse boasts a wonderful restaurant quality kitchen where you will enjoy ample space for cooking, gathering, eating, crafting, and spreading out. Together, you will plan, shop, and cook community suppers and prepare your own breakfasts and lunches.

Great Room

Upstairs in the Roundhouse is a sun-soaked Great Room, which is a flexible use space for gathering, movement, hanging out, reading, playing music. . There is a full balcony running around the exterior of this room, accessed by French doors, looking out over our gardens.

Spirit HolloW

Spiral Labyrinth and veg garden

Walk the labyrinth with a question, harvest organic veggies and herbs from the gardens for meals, wander the endless forest and brooks, or nap in the shade during down time.

The Brook Yurt

Heated by a woodstove, the Brook Yurt is our cozy meeting space, where we gather daily to do our indoor learning. Located right next to Oracle Brook, a perennial stream, the yurt is chock full of art supplies, oracle cards, books and cushions.

Fire Circle and Oracle Brook

One of our three fire circles is on the edge of the brook — a gathering space for council, ceremony, and wild communion. Hike from here into the vast forest with countless brooks, glades and hidden hollows to explore. Hike a bit longer, and you'll find yourself ascending Grass Mountain, our local peak.

Food

Food is an important part of our community life. In the first week, we spend time reviewing culinary basics to make sure everyone is ready for shared cooking responsibilities for the semester.

Every morning, all participants will prepare their own breakfasts, eaten at the Roundhouse, and make their own lunches to bring with them for the day at Spirit Hollow.

Together, participants will be responsible for cooking daily suppers for the community (usually in pairs, once per week). There will be weekly planning meetings to determine days and responsibilities.

The Round House will be stocked with basics, and every week, we will plan our suppers, shop and and prepare simple, nourishing, and delicious meals. Since this is the fall semester, harvesting from the gardens and canning produce will be part of our learning.

We will be harvesting from Pompanuck’s and Spirit Hollow’s gardens, cooking with fresh produce, eggs, vegetables and herbs.
Together we will learn to accommodate for vegetarian, gluten-free, nut-free, or other dietary restrictions.

Food is included in your tuition.

Earth Craft Structure

WEEKLY SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

Shuttle leaves from Pompanuck to Spirit Hollow by 9am daily and returns between 5:30 - 6:00 pm

Monday – Thursday at Spirit Hollow  9:30 am –  6:00 pm in session with lots of time on the land and working together as a group

EVENINGS

→Every Evening rotating participants cook group suppers at Pompanuck (with some suppers at Spirit Hollow)
Monday Evening Weekly Grocery shopping (rotating who does the shopping each week) and Down time

Two evening sessions per week

Tuesday Evenings—ceremony, circle, ecstatic dance, cultivating earth-centric language”- the art of old storytelling.

Wednesday Evenings—Down time

Thursday Evenings—film or music night or teachings from two of the participants (Participants teaching something/sharing something they are good at)

Fridays: work on Project of Interest:

--Permaculture food forest at SH

--Projects at Pompanuck

--Trail creation/maintenance at SH or Pompanuck

–Small building project (carpentry skills)

--Organic gardening skills (including harvesting and canning) at SH or Pompanuck

--Herbal studies and making medicines


WEEKENDS

Saturdays –some total down days, possible excursions, or half-day workshops (here are possibilities):

Two-three guest presenters for 2-3 hour workshops

  • One-Two day “wild meditation” retreat

  • Two- day camping excursion into the wilderness

  • Half day spirit/earth-centered craft project – hand drum making

  • One-day group hike, orienteering between Spirit Hollow and Pompanuck

Sunday is down time, laundry, house check ins and meal planning for the week


Friday or Sunday evening TBD—Kitchen skills training which culminates in a group meal, and we have a council with the whole community.

Once a week cooking/independent living skills (sample):

Knife skills

Cookie class

Pizza Making from scratch

Finding resources

Cooking for groups with different food needs/limitations

Mushroom foraging and cooking

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SAMPLE DAILY SCHEDULE (Monday-Thursday)

Morning session, 9:30 - 1pm

    Morning movement and mindfulness practices (yoga, Tai Ji, free movement, meditation)

Check in council (encouragement of dream work)

    Teachings and experiential activities

    Wanders in the forest

LUNCHTIME and Personal Time 1.5 hours

Afternoon session, 2:30 – 6:00pm

    Crafting and creating

    Experiential activities

    Solo time on the land

Closing of the day with gratitudes and celebrations. What worked? What didn't? What are we excited about pursuing further or want to change going forward?

Shuttle back to Pompanuck, cook dinner, downtime

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FRIDAYS: Personal Project/Field Trip Day
At least one day of the week (Friday) is usually reserved for students to explore a project of personal interest whether that be carpentry, herbalism, a deeper dive into the world of meditation or homestead culinary skills such as canning. We will also make various excursions to ecological projects and sites of interest throughout our region.


More About Weekends
Weekends offer time to rest and digest and meet practical needs such as laundry, cleaning or food shopping for the week, and tend to community dynamics through our weekly house meeting. Ample unstructured time allows each individual to explore what truly refills their cup - whether that be journaling in solitude, venturing out into the nearby mountains or deepening connection with peers. At times, we will engage in group outings such as summiting our local Grass Mountain or partial-day workshops such as hand-drum crafting with a guest artisan.

Embracing Change
At EarthCraft, students discover what lights their fire, and our guide team adapts accordingly, shifting to focus on areas of interest while still offering the bones of our holistic core curriculum. Our experiential projects are not conceptual but on-the-ground realities, which further shape the path as we walk it. During a heavy Fall rain, we watch the flow of water to understand exactly where we need to dig our swales and ditches to irrigate without over flooding our crops. Maybe a ripple in our community highlights the need to deepen our communication and conflict resolution skills. Perhaps we mark a rite of passage with an all-night fire vigil or are called to seek signs of our deeper purpose through a multi-day wilderness fast.

Given this many-limbed organically adapting "curriculum," it is guaranteed that we there will be days and weeks that diverge from this outline. We look forward to discovering alongside you what shape our journey will take.