Join The Crest at Willow-Witt Ranch on Sunday , October 26, from 1:00 to 4:00 PM at Willow-Witt Ranch for a peaceful afternoon of nature journaling in collaboration with Elisa Friedlander, LMFT, founder of Ink To Insight, LLC.

In this experiential workshop, we write in response to poetry and guided prompts, creatively designed to explore, honor, and deepen our relationships between nature and our inner worlds. 

Last week, when one of our 6-year-old Nature Day Camp attendees got home to Portland, she was outside, barefoot, and got stung on the foot by a bee — her first ever bee sting.  Her mom, trying to make the best of a difficult moment, said, “Welcome to the bee sting club” and little Cleo said (through tears) “I don’t want to be in the bee sting club…but I am glad there are so many pollinators out there.”

This precious moment so poignantly communicates what Nature Day Camp at The Crest at Willow-Witt Ranch is all about!  Cleo is very small and she was so shy on the first day — hiding behind her mom’s leg, sucking on a finger, just not sure what was going on. She rode on the bus for the first time without her mom. And she learned about turtles and pollinators and baby goats and other kids and healthy snacks from the garden. She blossomed and opened up as a fun, clever, participatory, eager child, fascinated with all the wonders of the farm, the forest, and the garden. She often calls on her mom to stop the car, so she can examine a native plant.

This year, as the late and deep snow began to melt, The Crest hosted Winter Trails — a wonderful opportunity to search for animal footprints in the snow.  Winter Trails was followed by the annual Turtle Trot and just a week later, The Crest Fest, featuring Eight Dollar Mountain, Mountain Top Sound, and Blueberry Blossoms, nourished by Carmen’s Tamales and the yummy Middle Eastern food from Sultan’s Delight.

Attendees at Reflections of Poetry Inspired by The Natural World Expressive Writing Workshop got to hang out in the Conservation Burial Ground and reflect on and write about the process. Moth Night, in July, in collaboration with Pollinator Project Rogue Valley, brought Ethan Robison of PPRV together with Dana Ross, of OSU, to put up backlit sheets in the forest at night, and identify 44 different species of moths at Willow-Witt Ranch! Dana Ross has surveyed 3 other sites along the Cascade Siskiyou Crest and has identified over 100 species of moths!

Black youth from the Black Alliance for Social Empowerment (BASE) enjoyed an overnight trip to The Crest Campground, as did a group of tribal youth from Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians (in collaboration with Vesper Meadow).
 
This fall’s OLLI course, Adventure Awaits at Willow-Witt Ranch, led by Mary Ann Perry, Suzanne Willow, and yours truly, is fully subscribed and will probably be offered again in the future, for those interested in learning more.

As we move into Fall Field Trip season, the wonderful privilege of cultivating connections between people and nature remains an ongoing adventure!

I hope to see you up at Willow-Witt Ranch or around town soon!

We are excited to welcome students from the area to The Crest for Fall Field Trips!

Classes will be touring the farm and meeting the animals, tasting the vegetables and  learning close-up about sustainable agriculture. Fall is a great time of year when the farm is in bloom and the young baby goats are maturing. We are also excited to cultivate a sense of place with students as they explore the forests and wetlands and learn more about the biodiversity of the mountain ecosystems.  Classes will also be learning about indigenous foods while they engage with a history of the land and people.

We love supporting teachers and students during our field trip season to participate in meaningful education that is rooted in a sense of place, nature awareness, cultivating connections and stewardship.

We are looking forward to all the new discoveries and teachable  moments the farm, forest and wetlands offer the students!