Events & Programs
We are happy to host you for a sustainability tour/visit. School groups, church groups, garden clubs, individuals, etc. are all welcome. Host your staff meeting here and include a pizza lunch or snack of homemade bread & jam. OR just come to hang out, walk the trails and BE. Please call/email to set a time. The labyrinth & trails are self-guided, just call / email to let us know you're coming.
TO SIGN UP: Some classes/activities are limited. PLEASE sign up by contacting us via email, phone (need: your name, phone, email & class/activity), or thru the website (be SURE to indicate class you're signing up for). Schedule subject to change, confirm before coming. Any fees may be paid via cash or check when you come to the class. (we're keeping it simple with no corporate fees on payments and such).
ABOUT FEES: Most classes/activities are offered on a "SLIDING FEE SCALE" of $5 - $50. YOU determine based on your resources (some classes do have a "supplies" fee which are noted in addition to class fee.)
StoryWalk Along Forrest Ridge Trail
Self-Guided & Open most days
The StoryWalk is along the Forrest Ridge Trail for adventurers to join reading One Dog Canoe by Mary Casanova (Minnesota author)
Play Nature Bingo while also out walking & exploring. (Bingo cards in the tote in Gazebo Welcome Center. Return cards to tote when done playing)
Labyrinth & Trails
The Labyrinth in the woods and trails around the grounds are available for walking / meditating. Trails are no longer than one mile. We are also near trails into the Foothills State Forest. Be sure to dress properly, trails may be wet and/or have fallen brush/trees across paths in the Foothills.
* Forrest Ridge Trail (StoryWalk trail)
* Meadow Creek Trail * Twin Creek Trail
* Balsam Pond Trail * Labyrinth
Daycare groups, home-school groups, families, school groups, library groups and all ages are welcome to participate. Want a special activity experience? Let us know and we can set that up as a teacher-guided experience.
Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition and the Kellogg Hubbard Library.
Feel free to come snowshoe the trails in the winter months.
Morel Mushroom Foraging & Pizza
Friday, May 15, 1-5pm
Guide: Melissa Olson
Mushroom Foraging continues to be popular in the northwoods and Melissa only hunts for those prized Morels in mid-May. She's a Master Naturalist trained via University of MN Extension and loves the outdoors. She'll share some of the basics of wild foraging, responsible harvesting, and how to prepare Morels for eating. We'll end the session with mushroom pizza either with harvested morels or a mix of mushrooms from Strictly Mushrooms grown in Pine River.
Melissa will guide you on the trails into the neighboring Foothills State Forest in an area when we have found Morels in the past.
Dress for hiking in the woods including tick protection and bring a water bottle and bag or basket for your harvest should you be fortunate enough to locate some morels, no guarantee. Whether you find Morels or not, being in the woods in a small group is always a fun time.
SLIDING FEE: $5-35
Singing from the Heart
Sunday, Apr. 12, 1-2:30pm
It's been measured that singing indeed lifts one's spirit and group singing does so multi-fold. Singing in a group has a way of drawing people together regardless of whether one sings with a gifted voice or sings fully from the heart off key. Singing affects us in positive ways and we'll give it a try.
This gathering is intended to be fun, peace focused, joyful, healing, nature honoring, respectful, community building, etc. There's no real "leader" at this point, so bring music you wish to share. Barb will get us started with a handful of somewhat familiar songs from "Rise Up Singing" songbook that embrace peace, joy, healing, celebration. Think "This Land is Your Land", "Morning Has Broken", "Garden Song (Inch by Inch)", etc. If you have the songbook, bring it with you. We'll have lyrics printed for some of the selections.
All voices are welcome. Open to harmonizing as we learn together. Instruments are welcome too. TOGETHER we'll figure it out and have some fun. We'll continue gathering as there's interest.
Call 218-587-3808 or email to let us know you're coming or interested for future gatherings.
Earth Day
Wednesday, April 22 6-8pm
Learn to save tree seeds, forage native shrubs and saplings to create your own landscape
Guide: Jim Etzel of Earth is Our Home Environmental Services (Hackensack)
Earth Day began April 22, 1970 — a date deliberately chosen by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson and young activist Denis Hayes to fall between Spring Break and Final Exams, maximizing student participation in what began as a national environmental teach-in. That single day drew 20 million Americans into the streets and sparked the modern environmental movement.
2026’s theme "Our Power, Our Planet" reflects a fundamental truth: environmental progress doesn’t depend on any single administration or election. It’s sustained by daily actions of communities, educators, workers, and families protecting where they live and work.
Jim Etzel of Earth is Our Home Environmental Solutions in Hackensack will join us to share about foraging native shrubs, tree saplings and tree seed saving to landscape your home and surrounding grounds to propagate native species.
Jim's background is in Biology and Teaching. He received his Bachelor's degree in Biology from Bemidji State University in 2002. His vision is to educate people on soils, ecological forest management, gardening, and water management. "I want to bring to light the damages that are being done to the natural world and then create solutions to remedy the problems."
His business Earth is Our Home Environmental Solutions based in Hackensack is about helping people create healthy gardens, Natural Landscapes, and healthy forests without chemicals, minimal soil disturbance, and working with the natural world. Healthy soils, healthy food, healthy world
SLIDING FEE: $5-25
Cheesemaking 101 - 2nd class
Saturday, May 9
1-5pm
Instructor: Julia Carter from Happy Cow farm in Park Rapids
Julia has been making cheese for about 10 years and is happy to come to Balsam Moon to share her skills and knowledge about cheesemaking. She'll work with participants to make cow-feta cheese and everyone will take some home.
She'll review different cheeses, soft and hard, and the challenges each process holds.
Taste Treats on a homestead charcuterie board will be shared with a variety of cheeses.
This class is sure to delight and Julia noted that Happy Cow Farm does sell fresh milk off the farm should you wish to make more cheese at home (though I understand you can use non-homogenized milk purchased in grocery store).
A NOTE FROM JULIA:
Hello future cheese makers!! This is Julia and I'm excited to be visiting Balsam Moon Resort to teach YOU how to make cheese. We will be making and taking home your very own cow feta cheese. Made from our own A2/A2 Jersey milk cows. Join us for a day of fun homestead chat, a homestead charcuterie board and be sure to bring your questions about raw milk, cheese, farm life or whatever! See you soon! p.s. you can watch our PBS program to get a peek at our homestead before you come.
FEE: $60
(scholarship support available)
Need at least 6 to run the class.
Coming a distance? Need an overnight? Rent a room.
Morel Mushroom Foraging & Pizza
Friday, May 15, 1-5pm
Guide: Melissa Olson
Mushroom Foraging continues to be popular in the northwoods and Melissa only hunts for those prized Morels in mid-May. She's a Master Naturalist trained via University of MN Extension and loves the outdoors. She'll share some of the basics of wild foraging, responsible harvesting, and how to prepare Morels for eating. We'll end the session with mushroom pizza either with harvested morels or a mix of mushrooms from Strictly Mushrooms grown in Pine River.
Melissa will guide you on the trails into the neighboring Foothills State Forest in an area when we have found Morels in the past.
Dress for hiking in the woods including tick protection and bring a water bottle and bag or basket for your harvest should you be fortunate enough to locate some morels, no guarantee. Whether you find Morels or not, being in the woods in a small group is always a fun time.
SLIDING FEE: $5-35
Morel Mushroom Foraging & Pizza
Friday, May 15, 1-5pm
Guide: Melissa Olson
Mushroom Foraging continues to be popular in the northwoods and Melissa only hunts for those prized Morels in mid-May. She's a Master Naturalist trained via University of MN Extension and loves the outdoors. She'll share some of the basics of wild foraging, responsible harvesting, and how to prepare Morels for eating. We'll end the session with mushroom pizza either with harvested morels or a mix of mushrooms from Strictly Mushrooms grown in Pine River.
Melissa will guide you on the trails into the neighboring Foothills State Forest in an area when we have found Morels in the past.
Dress for hiking in the woods including tick protection and bring a water bottle and bag or basket for your harvest should you be fortunate enough to locate some morels, no guarantee. Whether you find Morels or not, being in the woods in a small group is always a fun time.
SLIDING FEE: $5-35
Tending Grief w/ Nature
Sunday, May 17
1-4pm
Guide: Tanya Hanson, Death Doula
Recognizing and holding space for the grief we carry is important in softening and healing. Nature is perfect in honoring all of this as it holds the cycles of life and death in ever changing circles.
Tanya will guide those gathered to acknowledge, name, and create nature altars/mandalas to hold one's grief. Grief is not always related to the loss of a loved one - you may hold grief from loss of a job, a relationship, a home, or other type of loss that was never acknowledged or named. We carry all kinds of grief and it helps greatly to take time to process and release, though rarely ever forgotten.
Wherever you are in your journey with grief, know you are welcome to take time to slow down, be in nature, and honor that which is a part of you.
BRING: a journal & pen, water bottle, dress in hiking attire.
We will gather in the screened pavilion attached to the pond side of the house. We will wander in nature a bit as well.
Tanya Hanson is a certified Death Doula, life coach, yoga instructor, and works with hospice. Tanya's work is deeply rooted in the belief that death is a natural part of life and should be honored with respect and love. She encourages individuals to have open and honest conversations about their end-of-life wishes, ensuring that their loved ones are prepared and supported during this difficult time.
SLIDING FEE: $5-25
Pizza Nights
Fridays: June 12, July 10, Aug 14
5-7pm
Tour begins at 4pm
These great get-togethers are a fun way to enjoy great food out in nature using a homemade wood-fired barrel oven. Slow it down, take a walk, eat around the campfire by the pond or in the timber frame pavilion screened from the bugs and enjoy each other's company - young and old.
WE PROVIDE: sourdough crust, sauce, cheese blend, simple beverages (water, lemonade, tea) (gluten free and/or dairy free options upon request)
YOU BRING: own pizza toppings and additional drinks if you like
INTERESTED IN A GUIDED TOUR? Join Doug at 4pm and he'll walk you around the grounds showing a variety of alternative building techniques, solar applications, deep winter greenhouse, the chickens (very friendly), gardens & more.
PLEASE SIGN UP for pizza as space is limited. Call 218-587-3808 or email BalsamMoon3148@gmail.com. Indicate dietary needs. Arrive any time between 5-7pm as last pizza in by 7pm. Hang around and visit, walk trails & gardens, sit by the pond around the campfire and visit with friends old and new.
Cultivating Inner Calm
Tuesday, June 16
4:30-5:30pm
Guide: Bryn Lowrie, MS LP
We live in a world that places many demands on our attention. From family to work to friends, we are constantly pulled in many different directions. For many of us, this pushes our nervous system into a constant state of "on" and stress mode. Over time this takes a toll on our health and can cause illness, physical pain, mood changes, and an overall heaviness to life.
This session will help you reset your nervous system and reconnect with the steady, grounded calm that already lives within you. It is designed to give you a quiet, contemplative, and meaningful space to go within and gently guide your body, mind, heart, and soul back into balance.
session includes:
• Gentle movement
• Breathwork to regulate and restore
• Guided meditation
• Emotional Freedom Techniques- Tapping to rebalance energy
We'll meet in the screened pavilion facing the pond surrounded by the sounds of nature, gentle breezes, and fresh air.
Bring a water bottle. Register by emailing or calling (218-587-3808)
Bryn Lowrie, MS LP
Bryn specializes in healing that focuses on balancing all aspects of ourselves: mind, body, spirit, and emotions. She is a Licensed Psychologist who uses an integrative approach– combining her years of psychotherapy, intuition, and various healing techniques to find a combination that will work for you. Her passion is to help others to heal themselves. "Each of us has our own healing journey, and I am honored to be a part of yours."
SLIDING FEE: $5-25
Pay when you come via cash or check
TRANSFORMATION GAME
CALL TO SCHEDULE DATES for your group
Next Scheduled Dates: June 29 & 30, M & Tu
10am-4pm each day (lunch included)
Facilitated by Barb Mann
Maximum of 4 participants/players
SLIDING FEE: $50-100
Coming a distance? Need an overnight? There are options.
Examples of personal game focus:
* What steps can I take in my relationship(s) sot that I feel greater satisfaction and happiness?
* I desire to release those personality blocks that keep me from being joyful, creative and harmonious.
* I intend to gain a greater understanding and awareness, and move through my pattern of wanting to "fix" others.
* I intend to know and clear the obstacles that keep me from full and creative service to the planet.
The Transformation Game is a joyful way of understanding and transforming the way you play your life. It's about looking at your life and the kinds of experiences you create, seeing how you react to them, and how you can use these insights for your own growth. Through the Game you can become more aware of your personal strengths and learn important lessons that can deepen your understanding of how you operate on the Physical, Emotional, Mental, and Spiritual levels. By providing new perspectives on current life issues, the Game helps you clarify old beliefs and attitudes and transform reaction patterns. It triggers your creativity and lets you realize your full power and potential.
You play with a particular focus or intention (see examples at left) and this guides your entire experience.
This is not a competitive game. It is not therapy or counseling (those of you with those skills, be mindful in playing). The other players can be helpful in bringing different perspectives to light as you decipher information you receive in playing the game per your focus/intention, as you also serve in that capacity for the other players. It IS meant to be FUN! In the midst of that fun, there may be tears and resistance along with the laughter. It's not about judgment, or right/wrong, good/bad. It is an opportunity to reflect and learn about yourself as you live your life/dream.
Here's what past players are saying:
"I have been lucky enough to play the Transformation game twice and both times were life-changing experiences. The game has a light-hearted way of assisting the player to travel deep into their psyche and spirit to provide profound self truths and awareness." (Kris K 2019, 2021, 2025)
"Barb is an exceptional guide through the Transformation Game. The game itself brought awareness to patterns and engaged my thought process to expand what was possible in my everyday life."
(Tanya H, 2019)
"The Transformation Game deepened the trust I have in my inner knowing and gave me numerous tools to build, rebuild, reimagine my place in the world. It’s like a Google Earth for Your interior landscape – a tool that gives you a new perspective every time you use it. " (Jenny H, 2021)
"I am continuing to process and reflect on all of the many facets of the Transformation Game that I was recently so blessed to experience at your beautiful Balsam Moon home. Balsam Moon feels like sacred space. And the Transformation Game provided a sacred time for me to pause and to look inside myself. ... to listen to myself, to learn, be challenged, to release, and to move forward. I had no idea what I was in for! Your kindness and insight in directing the game (I think of it more as a journey) set the vibration of trust and acceptance. Reviewing the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual implications of one's goals/purpose is both uplifting and intense. Thank you for providing tissues, fabulous food, and your calm knowing!
The Transformation Game is difficult to describe to others as it is each participant's personal journey. However, for me, the true beauty of this experience was in the totally open and raw moments with myself and others at the table. When all masks are off we are truly not alone in our challenges or joys. I look forward to future visits to Balsam Moon (and your delicious gingersnap cookies)!
(Leslie C. 2022)