Happy Farms
The Happy Farm, which originated in Plum Village France, is an agroecology project which incorporates regenerative and organic practices. Our farms are located within our mindfulness practice centers and communities. Volunteers and retreatants experience first-hand the interconnection between earth, rain, sun, and seed with the hand and food of the farmer.
- Thich Nhat Hanh“You are a gardener, and you have in your hands the power to transform garbage into flowers, into fruit, into vegetables. You don’t throw anything away, because you are not afraid of garbage. Your hands are capable of transforming it into flowers, or lettuce, or cucumbers.”
The farms in Upper Hamlet, Lower Hamlet, and New Hamlet use a variety of regenerative and organic methods, which have inspired other monasteries such as Deer Park to build their own Happy Farms.
This short film directed by Josh Donaldson (ConsciousFilmCo) captures moments from the Happy Farm in Plum Village, France.
The Happy Farms actively promote mindfulness, community-building, and sustainability. Those working on the farms (the “Happy Farmers”) cultivate the land mindfully, and together with Plum Village monks and nuns, host retreats, experience weeks, guided tours, and workshops.
We are honored to be fulfilling Thich Nhat Hanh’s dream of establishing the farms, and turning the land into a beautiful sanctuary for farmers, retreatants, volunteers, and other local natural inhabitants. The Happy Farms offer nurturing environments in which to practice, heal, and reconnect with Mother Earth through mindful agriculture. They are a concrete expression of meditation engaged with action in the area of ethical and sustainable vegetable farming.
Looking for information on Deer Park’s Happy Farm? Click here.
Explore Online Courses
From time to time we offer multi-week courses related to mindfulness, the teachings and life of Thich Nhat Hanh, and a variety of similar subjects. Please see our schedule of upcoming courses.
Plum Village App
Take the Deer Park Monastery and Plum Village community with you wherever you go. The Plum Village app is designed to cultivate mindfulness, compassion, and joy through guided meditations, deep relaxations, practice poems, bells of mindfulness, and other practices — all through a mobile device.
