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The Story of Mandala Gardens

Mandala Gardens is the manifestation of a decades long dream and was created by Greg Reid & Diana Tigerlily. In the early 1990s while in graduate school, even before their daughter Raynah was born, they shared a dream of creating a botanical wonderland, a space of beauty and sanctuary for all living beings to enjoy, with herbs, flowers, heirloom vegetables, and stone sculptures grown in circular designs called man dalas (“sacred circles” in Sanskrit).
In fall of 1998, they found four acres, flooded, piled with rusted junk, and boasting a house with a collapsing roof. All they could see was its potential. They hauled out the junk, hauled in manure, raised beds, and planted trees. Then, in summer of 2010, they had the opportunity and ability to purchase the adjoining three acres to their land and knew that they would be able to fully actualize their dream. These past few years, they’ve dramatically transformed the land and have created many beautiful settings with a pond, new gardens, greenhouses, a cordwood chicken house, a labyrinth, and a stone bridge, along with various art works by internationally known artists, including stone sculptor Thea Alvin’s original stone structures, “Infinity Arch” and “Moongate”; Carey Netherton’s metal sculpture, “Talisman”; Kendra Stenger’s 23-ft diameter ceramic mosaic “Circle of Ritual Wonder ment.”; Safaa Abd El Salam’s, (Egypt)) mosaic table top and benches; and an Amish-built 30ft, screened in, heated, Gazebo.
The vision they had been holding all these years has gradually become physically tangible, and is now visible for others to see. The building of Mandala Gardens continues to be an ongoing process and you are invited to visit and share in the tranquility and contentment of the gardens.
Thank you for visiting.

July 2024 in the Garden.

  Here at Mandala Gardens July is the equivalent to wading through liminal space. The summer heat is thick, the dragonflies are buzzing and the summer chores are getting wrapped up. No, let’s be honest, they’re somewhat being ignored. We all begin to meander, enjoying the garden a little more than usual and we are beginning to harvest the fruits of our labor. Our days are long and hazy, rest is near.

   This year in particular we were very intentional about how many little friends we placed in the ground. Our veggie garden is small and we planted much less in the flower beds than usual. Garden season 2024, for us, was all about growing our offerings and connecting with more souls. We kicked off some really neat gatherings! Music in the garden, a weekly gathering of familiar faces with live music, good food and handmade goods. Mandala Gardens Nature Group, a monthly gathering for our home-school friends rooted in community involvement and play. The Labor Day vendor fair featuring live music, good food and crafty vendors. Lastly, our end of the year hurrah, Art in the Garden! We teamed up with Union Street Arts, Monday Art Social and Project Human X to bring you a beautiful, interactive art festival with live art, live music, a cafe in the gazebo and a ceremonial burn of a huge mandala. We also started a second business, Lady in the Garden, crafting self care items such as bath soaks, infused oils, medicines, room sprays, candles, teas and more. Our goal is for you to take a little piece of our sacred work home with you, to bask in our magic just a wee bit longer.

  In between the mowing, weeding and watering I like to allow some summer lingering time at the end  of July. Ease of transition, a deep thought process about the work we do and how we can continue to do it is very important when your business is extracted from your heart and soul. Easing up on physical labor also allows for us to do what I think is most fun about our business.. connecting with our community. I personally prefer to spend my summer in solitude, with the plants and critters, that way when it’s time to connect with others I can put my whole heart into it. This is our season for attending local events, like SI Made Expo & hosting gatherings in the garden. There’s nothing like getting to mingle, connect and talk about what lights up your soul. For us, that’s our garden and what it means to the people that come here. It is deeply important and so heart warming to create a sacred space for people and to allow them to be fully immersed in the experience. As most of our regulars like to point out, it must be a labor of love. 

  Of course, we can’t enjoy the deep transition period without peeking into the future of possibilities. We’ve already started taking note of what was life giving in our garden this season and what was.. not so life giving. We’re still learning how to maintain what we’ve built and create space for more. Most importantly, though, is being able to look back on the relationships built here. It is a full spectrum of emotions to work, play and rest as a community of strangers who took a chance on each other. I think I speak for us all when I say 2024 has been a year of full transformation and we are eager to see what comes up next. 

 

                                                   Sent from the heart of the Moongate,

                                                   The Lady in the Garden

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