Middle Way Garden
An agroecology land arts project and sacred place for growing, connecting, and healing.
An agroecology land arts project and sacred place for growing, connecting, and healing.
“Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.”
In the Spring of 2021, the Arbor Institute began the cultivation of Middle Way Garden; a new agroecology and land arts program alongside Left Hand Creek north of Boulder. The Garden fosters the tenets of interdependency, diversity, and connection through the practice of social permaculture.
We offer a sacred space to grow, to contemplate, to explore, and to heal. We honor the wisdom and balance of life — recognizing the soil, the sun, the water, and the air as our relatives. By helping the land to regenerate, we are healing ourselves as well.
Middle Way Garden is a resource for the whole community. The agroecology garden grows food for underserved local communities. There are sheltered places for contemplation, communication and healing. Much of the garden is being developed to be accessible to our elder and disabled communities so that they may participate in the joy of growing and allow us to honor and learn from them in this beautiful natural setting. Over time, land art and sculpture will be organically integrated throughout the site.
How does the sun move and relate with the trees?
How do the trees move and relate with the sun?What does the soil need?
And where will the water flow?We will tend and care for the land with love.
How does the sun move and relate with the trees?
How do the trees move and relate with the sun?What does the soil need?
And where will the water flow?We will tend and care for the land with love.
Middle Way Garden is on traditional, ancestral, unceded land of the Hinono’ei (Arapaho) and Cheyenne People. We will invite local tribal members to join in the creation of the garden. We honor our Indigenous ancestors and their ways and will let their wisdom guide us.
About the Garden
Middle Way Garden is an agroecology project and sacred space for the community to grow, to contemplate, to explore and to heal.
The Garden offers:
- A food resource for underserved communities
- A place for ritual and ceremony
- A teaching garden
- An opportunity to volunteer and connect with the spirit of the land
- An intermingling of agriculture and the arts
- A refuge from the digital world
2021 : Created permaculture hugelkultur beds, planted cover crops and the three sisters (beans, squash and corn) and fruit trees.
2022 : First harvest! Thanks to the efforts of our growing team, we cultivated and harvested food throughout the season that was then donated to Community Food Share and other families in need.
We are seeking volunteers interested in being part of creating Middle Way Garden – many different opportunities are available.
Contact us to express your interest and we will be in touch!
MIDDLE WAY TEAM
Arbor Founding Director | David Levitt
Arbor Co-Director | Jane Saltzman
Garden Design
Nick DiDomenico | Drylands Agroecology Research
Landscape Architect
MDLA Mathew Davis Landscape Architect
