Kitchen garden, orchard, apothecary, flowers, shade, walking paths and a daily way of living close to nature.

The garden at Sanssouci Palatina is part of the hotel itself. Applying the principles of permaculture, not just in how we manage the land and the garden, but in how we manage ourselves, is done in a holistic way. We seek to be in tune with the seasons and rhythm around us, and daily life in this house reflects this.

It is a kitchen garden, an orchard, an apothecary, a place for flowers, a place to sit, a place to walk, a place to gather herbs, and one of the ways guests can live close to nature while they are here.

A retreat hotel should not stop at the walls of the building. The garden should be part of the daily experience, like the dining room, the bedrooms, the treatment rooms and the retreat spaces.

A guest can walk before breakfast, sit outside with tea, read under a tree, help gather fruit, smell herbs on the way to lunch, or simply have somewhere quiet to go between one part of the day and the next.

The garden also belongs to the kitchen.

Fruit, herbs, leaves, flowers and vegetables should find their way into the food. Some things will be cooked immediately. Some will be dried, preserved, fermented, infused or stored for later in the year. Food tastes different when it belongs to the place where it is served.

The apothecary belongs here too.

Herbs, flowers, oils, teas, bathing plants, scent, salves and small seasonal preparations all begin with what can be grown, gathered and used with care. The garden gives this work a real source.

The rooms should feel the garden as well. Flowers, branches, herbs, scent, colour, and the changing seasons can move through the house in small ways. A hotel feels more alive when the outside is allowed to enter.

There is also the simple matter of being in nature.

Many of us do not need a dramatic wilderness experience to feel better. We need somewhere to walk slowly. Somewhere to sit without being managed. Somewhere to look at trees, flowers, soil, insects, birds, rain, fruit, and light. Somewhere the body can remember that it is part of a living world.

The Garden & Land strand of the Journal will follow the garden as it develops: what we plant, what we harvest, what we cook, what we dry, what we preserve, what we bring into the rooms, and how the land becomes part of the hotel.

We are looking for gardeners, herbalists, food growers, flower growers, permaculture people, volunteers, landscape designers and plant-minded friends who want to help shape this part of the house.

To contribute, write to info@sanssoucicollection.com.