HighHope.eco
Freedom to Wander and Wonder
We are now taking any and all plain cardboard boxes! Help us out by bringing your cardboard boxes and in return you’ll receive a FREE hiking pass for the day!
Do your part to help us with weed control and water conservation in the garden by simply dropping off your cardboard and in return you’ll be treated to a day of peaceful, quiet, and soul feeding trails throughout the 900 acre ranch.
We’ll see you soon! (Call 817-776-2603 to arrange your drop off!)
Ya’ll, it’s been such a busy time agriculturally speaking. We’ll just start with the chickens.
First we had a Buff Orpington go broody- meaning she wanted to hatch some eggs! So we added a few eggs under her from a few of our different breeds and 21 days later, she hatched 7/10 eggs! And these chicks…. they are just so precious. We’re sharing plenty about them on our Instagram!
Around the time Mama was finishing up her days sitting on eggs, another hen decided to join in on the fun. So now we have Bell Bottoms (known alias’: Ziggy, David Bowie) sitting on some eggs, but not just any eggs…
That’s right, Rainbow eggs! Have you ever heard of such a thing? I stumbled upon these online and to buy some time I stuck a duck egg under Bell Bottoms (ducks take 28 days to hatch, whereas chickens take 21 days) and ordered a dozen hatching eggs from @riseandshinemothercluckers and they arrived just in time. We stuck as many as could fit under her and placed the rest in the incubator. They were timed so that 6 chicks and a duckling will hatch in a few days! It’s always a gamble when it comes to ordering hatching eggs online but we’re looking to diversify our breeds and have an edge at market!
Next up- Piggies!
No we didn’t buy pigs, we rented them. Why would anyone rent a pig you ask?
Because Justin Rhodes told us to, okay?
“Problem: Pigs tear up the ground. Solution: Pigs tear up the ground.”
Let’s let them till the garden for us, let the guests bring their food scraps for feeding, and we’ll get some experience to see if we want to raise pork or not.
We’ve been employing a similar tactic in the garden with chickens and the results speak for themselves.
It’s the same concept with the pigs- we fence them in an area and let them do what they do best- till, manure, be all cute and sassy.
It seems to be working! Time will tell how things grow in this area but we are thrilled to have the opportunity to experiment and try something new.
Join along for daily updates Here!
Join us! If you’ve been hankering for an opportunity to come out to the ranch and volunteer some of your time, this is the weekend to do it. We’ve got lots of activities planned, but not so many that you won’t have some time to yourself for quiet reflection in nature or hiking or enjoying friendly conversation or whatever it is you want to take advantage of while here!
Our main objective is to build the main garden gate on the Southern entrance of the Resilience Garden. We will be weaving some harvested cedar branches off the land and piecing them together to make a grand entrance! Here are a few examples of what we’re thinking:
Ok, that last one seems pretty ambitious but you get the general idea of what we’re getting at. The most important take away from this weekend is that a group of really amazing people will come together and create something totally unique that will be a defining point of the garden. We invite you to be a part of it with us!
Oh, and did I mention we’re going to be camping during the most glorious season of the year? Chilly at night, warming our hands and hearts by the fire, pleasant and crisp during the sunny autumn day? Peep the fiery red oak color change in the valley (comparable to Vermont at its peak…ok maybe not Vermont but the colors are stunning!) Yes, it does not get much better at High Hope, so join us and help make a difference this October.
“Art is the highest form of hope.” – Gerhard Richter
For those who have come to High Hope — we each have discovered how instrumental the way of Beauty has become in our lives– such experiences, within the expanse of Nature, has made a way into our Hearts.
“Art speaks where words are unable to explain.” – Unknown
Beauty and Heart are essentials for the human spirit. One is naturally taken “else where’s” – beyond one’s day-to-day attentions — to other places within. And that kind of inner travel continues to move within us, entrusting us to a greater belonging to the world at large.
“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” – Pablo Picasso
High Hope’s natural Beauty welcomes each visitor in Her many forms – high view trails that show forever landscapes, deep wooded ravines inviting to be explored, skies of extraordinary magnitude with bird life of many kinds, the marvel and miracle of a Monarch butterfly touching down for a rest on a narrow blade of native grass.
That kind of beauty gets our attention! We stop, even if just for a minute, by such marvel and wonder.
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” –Aristotle
Through those moments gifted with stillness and reflection, we learn to be encouraged to stop, again and again, for more.
And yes, there is more!
The lodging spaces of High Hope reflect human-created beauty. There is yet another world which beckons, awaiting each guests curiosity through photographs, sculpture and art. Each of High Hope’s guest houses have been blessed by exquisite beauty, created by many artists – some local, others from around the nation and world.
“Beauty is good for you! It makes you feel better!” –Alexander Creswell
See for yourself! Each season we are “inviting you in!” Come on a brief photo tour of each of the High Hope guest houses, through the Nature of Art.
We begin with Habari (“hello there” in Swahili) for “a world beyond here.”
“Beauty is everywhere a welcome guest.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Beauty has opened our Hearts. What we have come to learn, whether we are outside in nature, or inside nested: Art + Heart = Beauty!
And then we find we are forever inspired, guided into discovering the artist within us, and growing accustomed to such a Beauty Way, what we now consider the Art of Living… and for this, we are grateful.
“The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
