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.
ANNUAL HARVEST FEST
Saturday, September 12, 2-7pm
POTLUCK - meal at 5:30pm
It's time to celebrate the abundance of the harvest! Join in an afternoon of activities
2:15pm Tour of Grounds (cordwood construction, earthship construction, timber frame, solar applications, winter greenhouse, root cellar, gardens, labyrinth & more)
3pm - scythe harvest oats & threshing demo
- Hand mill acorn flour from roasted acorns
4pm - Press Cider for the meal (mix of apples)
LIVE MUSIC w/ Devil Dodger (Matthew Weiss of Minneapolis, & Doug's son)
5pm - Prepare the table (family style dining outside)
5:30pm POTLUCK MEAL - Celebrate the Harvest!
ON-GOING: kids' Nature BINGO, croquet, walk the Story Walk "One Dog Canoe" by Mary Casanova, walk other trails (less than a mile each), walk the Labyrinth in the Woods, sit around the campfire, visit, enjoy the day.
BRING a dish to share from your garden harvest or farm market harvest and celebrate the abundance!
SEED SAVING
Saturday, Sept. 26
Part 1: 10am-noon (presentation)
Part 2: 1-3pm (hands on- take seeds home)
INSTRUCTOR: Barbara Kaufman
Join this session to learn how to save your favorite produce garden seeds for using next year and into the future. Barbara has been taught by Seed Savers of Iowa learning some of the tips and tricks of successful seed saving for good germination the next year.
Part 1 will focus on presentation with background and base foundation for successful seed saving.
Part 2 will be "hands on" saving some seeds to take home
You may attend one or both sessions. For both sessions bring a sack lunch for the break. Bring a small bottle or two with lids for some seed processing.
SLIDING FEE: $5-15/SESSION OR $5 - $25 for both sessions
TRANSFORMATION GAME
CALL TO SCHEDULE DATES for your group
TWO DAYS, 10am-4pm each day
(lunch & snacks included)
Facilitated by Barb Mann
Maximum of 4 participants/players
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.
FEE: $50-100
Coming a distance? Need an overnight? There are options.
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)