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.
ABOUT FEES: We practice an economy of “reciprocity”, giving in accordance to what you receive (i.e., labor, money, goods needed, etc.), for a balance; it is not “required”. We trust that participants will honor a different way of doing economy. (some classes do have a "supplies" fee which is noted.)
StoryWalk Along Forrest Ridge Trail
Self-Guided & Open most days
The StoryWalk is along the Forrest Ridge Trailfor adventurers to join reading, Sheep Take a Hike by Nancy Shaw. The story stations also have fun movements to do along with the sheep as they adventure through the woods. NEXT UP: Crinkleroot's Guilde to Walking in Wild Places by Jim Arnosky.
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.
EARTHSHIP CHICKEN COOP w/ Passive Solar
CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES
Aug - Sept (NOT Thursday mornings)
weather permitting (if in doubt, call 218-587-3808)
Dung plastering and structural portion of the building
You are invited to join us to learn and help with the creation of this unique heirloom chicken home. Lunch will be provided. Always great fun working together for Balsam Moon Preserve! Please sign up for days you wish to join us (helps with planning and preparations).
The chickens are coming! The chickens are coming!
Balsam Moon has been wanting chickens to add to the life here and they need a home base so the summer building project this year is an Earthship Style Chicken Coop complete with passive solar heating for winter comfort. It'll be next to the Deep Winter Greenhouse along the tree line.
Doug has designed this coop w/ alternative materials and techniques, doing the project as sustainably and cost effectively as possible given the needs.
PHASE 1: prepping the site & digging down 3' (NOW- early June). We welcome help with this too. DONE
PHASE 2: creating the tire walls- placing, filling with dirt and tamping, and stacking. June 22-July 7 DONE
PHASE 3: applying mesh and dung plaster to seal the tire walls inside and out, making a plaster floor base and building additional structure for the triple-pane glazing, entry door and metal roofing. INSIDE WORK CONTINUES w/2nd coat of plastering on walls & floor application to be done.
PHASE 4: apply glazing application for solar heat in winter. Wiring, nesting boxes, doors for chicken run & night-time warmth all complete as of 8/25/24.
Foraging Mushrooms
September 7, Saturday, 1-5pm WAIT LIST
w/ Tanya Villano - local forager
This class is becoming ever more popular as the fascination and value of mushrooms continues to grow. We'll learn respectful practices, and head out to forage what is in season finding edibles and non-edibles and beginning to learn the difference. The Sept. class will include a mushroom pizza from the outdoor barrel oven.
Tanya has been foraging & studying mushrooms for years and has lead numerous classes at BMP. She's generous in sharing her knowledge & skills and guiding us into the woods, seeking treasures of nature in all its beauty.
Harvest Fest & Potluck
September 14, Saturday 2-7pm
NEW this year is a Harvest Celebration. Let us pause to celebrate the goodness that comes from the land and labors of growers and harvesters and processors that bring our tables laden with nutrition we need to grow. POTLUCK MEAL FAMILY STYLE outside. Bring a dish to share & recipes too!
ACTIVITIES
2-2:30 Tour/Walk-around
2:30-3:30 threshing oats & dry beans
2:30-4:00 Hand Mill acorn flour & make Buttermilk Acorn Biscuits AND make Wild Rice Dinner Rolls all for the shared meal
3:45-5:00 Cider Pressing apples for the meal
5:00-6:00 Setting the Table for the meal
5:45/6pm HARVEST MEAL CELEBRATION
SEED SHARGING STATION
Bring your saved seeds to share and take home some other seeds for planting in 2025. Envelopes & marking pens provided
KIDS' ACTIVITIES
3-5pm Cooperative Scavenger Hunt to create a Fall Display for Balsam Moon (think scarecrow, pumpkin people? who knows what creations will come)
Croquet lawn game
Acorn gathering for drying & roasting to make acorn flour this Winter.
Flower Vases for the Meal Table
Walk the flower gardens with dahlias in full bloom & view some beautiful quilts made over the years by Barb's mother.
Let us CELEBRATE together and make merry!
email (BalsamMoon3148@gmail.com) or call (218-587-3808)
TRANSFORMATION GAME
DATES TBD
10am-4pm each day (lunch included)
Facilitated by Barb Mann
Maximum of 4 participants/players (sign up for yourself, or as a group of 2-4)
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.
