What better way to celebrate the magic of Spring than spending a day in the woods, reconnecting to the natural world, finding wonder, awe and gratitude, for the many gifts she offers us?  Join skilled naturalist and guide Tes Reed as we explore the forest looking for the many signs of Spring as it bursts forth and transforms before out eyes.  So much is happening out there!  We will also build a fire using a primitive friction method and enjoy a community lunch around it sharing stories and our discoveries and a wild treat that we harvest and prepare.

Date:  Wednesday May 15, 2024, 10am-2pm (4 hours)

Location: 138 Calkins Cross Rd., New Marlborough, MA 01230

Ages: 12 and up

Cost: $65

Tes Reed has been taking kids and adults into the wild for 20 years.  She is a passionate naturalist, gifted wilderness educator, skilled and entertaining guide. Find out more about her at www.tesreed.com on Facebook @Find Your Wild and, Instagram @tesreedwild

Date: Wednesday May 15, 2024, 10am-2pm

Location: 138 Calkins Cross Rd., New Marlborough, MA 01230

Ages: 12 and up

Cost:  $65

Wild Earth Sisters 2023 Retreat 4 Sundays + a Saturday-Sunday overnight In New Marlborough, MA. Leave your cell phone and your to-do list behind, and step into a nourishing day in the life of the woods. We’ll circle around a community fire, then let the energy of the group and the gift of the wild guide us, with plenty of time for connection with other wild earth sisters and time for solitude, if that’s what you need. At day’s end no one wants to leave, it’s that exquisite!

The weekend autumn overnight extends our time together and allows us to explore the passing of day into night (and night into day), the changing sounds, the glowing embers of a well tended fire, the starry sky, lovingly prepared delicious food, and a deep night’s rest in a beloved forest. There’s no one to take care of, no work to be done, no email to answer.

As we retreat, we make friends with and deepen our relationships with the flora that surrounds us. We identify, gather, process, craft with, and eat or make medicine with wild plants – from acorns to nettles to evergreens and more. We explore primitive skills including fire-making, shelter building, primitive cooking, bird language, ephemeral art, and animal tracking. Time loses its pull as the power of our connection to the natural world keeps us present in the moment.

Wild Earth Sisters Retreat 2023

Sunday June 4, 10am-4pm

Sunday August 13, 10am-4pm

Saturday September 9, 1pm – Sunday September 10, 11am:

Overnight includes delicious snacks, dinner, and breakfast.
Retreat to the woods with a sisterhood of amazing women to explore our connections to the Earth, each other and ourselves.  This overnight retreat allows us time to truly sink in to the wild, to let go of our agendas, to leave our devices behind and rest.  You will be nourished with delicious food from my garden and the earth, try your hand at primitive skills, learn about the wondrous plant life that surrounds us, marvel at stories shared around the campfire, enjoy a starry night walk and rest deeply supported but the Earth and a powerful sisterhood.  You will leave the wild renewed, refreshed and with firm footing as you pursue your next dreams and ambitions. 

Sunday October 15, 10am-4pm

Sunday December 3, 10am-4pm

Wild Earth Sisters Retreat 2023 Tuition: $700 early pricing prior to May 1, 2023

$750 after May 1, 2023

Individual retreat day pricing: $150 per day, overnight $250 (if space permits)

TESTIMONIALS

“There's nothing more relaxing and nourishing than a day in the woods with Tes and the women who show up. I always get exactly what I need from the retreat--whether it's discovering a new favorite wild edible plant, or enjoying a magical meditation alone under a tree, or making a friend. Can't wait til next time!"

Boys In The Woods
Adventure, learning, self awareness and healing happens in the wild.  Get those boys into the woods! This program is geared to boys in grades four and five (ages 9-11). Together we will run wild and free, make fire and shelter, learn about the plant and animal life that calls the woods their home and learn how to use a field knife, ax and handsaw. We will play games that focus on our awareness.  Practice activities that get us out of our heads and into our bodies. We will nurture the Jedi Knight within, face team challenges, and learn to respect the land, each other, and ourselves. Your boy will spend a day in the woods learning how to pack and dress for all kinds of weather, be prepared for the unknown, communicate clearly and express what they are feeling. 

Learning to take care of oneself is vital in this stage of development.  

Tes Reed is a passionate naturalist, and wilderness educator, wildlife tracker and guide.  She has been taking children and adults into the woods for almost 20 years.  To find out more about Tes and what she does visit her website www.tesreed.com and contact her at tesreed01230@gmail.com.

Dates: Sunday October 29, 2023 and Sunday November 12, 2023

Time: 10am-4pm.  

Location:  138 Calkins Cross Rd., New Marlborough, MA 01230

Cost: $200 (must register for both days and pay prior to start of program)

Boys In The Woods

Adventure, learning, self awareness and healing happens in the wild.  Get those boys into the woods! This program is geared to boys in grades four and five (ages 9-11). Together we will run wild and free, make fire and shelter, learn about the plant and animal life that calls the woods their home and learn how to use a field knife, ax and handsaw. We will play games that focus on our awareness.  Practice activities that get us out of our heads and into our bodies. We will nurture the Jedi Knight within, face team challenges, and learn to respect the land, each other, and ourselves. Your boy will spend a day in the woods learning how to pack and dress for all kinds of weather, be prepared for the unknown, communicate clearly and express what they are feeling. 

Learning to take care of oneself is vital in this stage of development.  

Tes Reed is a passionate naturalist, and wilderness educator, wildlife tracker and guide.  She has been taking children and adults into the woods for almost 20 years.  To find out more about Tes and what she does visit her website www.tesreed.com and contact her at tesreed01230@gmail.com.

Dates: Sunday October 29, 2023 and Sunday November 12, 2023

Time: 10am-4pm.  

Location:  138 Calkins Cross Rd., New Marlborough, MA 01230

Cost: $200 (must register for both days and pay prior to start of program)

Wild Earth Sisters 2023 Retreat 4 Sundays + a Saturday-Sunday overnight In New Marlborough, MA. Leave your cell phone and your to-do list behind, and step into a nourishing day in the life of the woods. We’ll circle around a community fire, then let the energy of the group and the gift of the wild guide us, with plenty of time for connection with other wild earth sisters and time for solitude, if that’s what you need. At day’s end no one wants to leave, it’s that exquisite!

The weekend autumn overnight extends our time together and allows us to explore the passing of day into night (and night into day), the changing sounds, the glowing embers of a well tended fire, the starry sky, lovingly prepared delicious food, and a deep night’s rest in a beloved forest. There’s no one to take care of, no work to be done, no email to answer.

As we retreat, we make friends with and deepen our relationships with the flora that surrounds us. We identify, gather, process, craft with, and eat or make medicine with wild plants – from acorns to nettles to evergreens and more. We explore primitive skills including fire-making, shelter building, primitive cooking, bird language, ephemeral art, and animal tracking. Time loses its pull as the power of our connection to the natural world keeps us present in the moment.

Wild Earth Sisters Retreat 2023

Sunday June 4, 10am-4pm

Sunday August 13, 10am-4pm

Full Moon Friday September 29, 1pm – Saturday September 30, 11am:

Overnight includes delicious snacks, dinner, and breakfast.
Retreat to the woods with a sisterhood of amazing women to explore our connections to the Earth, each other and ourselves.  This overnight retreat allows us time to truly sink in to the wild, to let go of our agendas, to leave our devices behind and rest.  You will be nourished with delicious food from my garden and the earth, try your hand at primitive skills, learn about the wondrous plant life that surrounds us, marvel at stories shared around the campfire, enjoy a starry night walk and rest deeply supported but the Earth and a powerful sisterhood.  You will leave the wild renewed, refreshed and with firm footing as you pursue your next dreams and ambitions. 

Sunday October 15, 10am-4pm

Sunday December 3, 10am-4pm

Wild Earth Sisters Retreat 2023 Tuition: $700 early pricing prior to May 1, 2023

$750 after May 1, 2023

Individual retreat day pricing: $150 per day, overnight $250 (if space permits)

TESTIMONIALS

“There's nothing more relaxing and nourishing than a day in the woods with Tes and the women who show up. I always get exactly what I need from the retreat--whether it's discovering a new favorite wild edible plant, or enjoying a magical meditation alone under a tree, or making a friend. Can't wait til next time!"

Join us for a day of drawing, sketching and coloring the beauty of autumn in the woods. We’ll explore composition, line, color mixing, and mostly the inspiration of the wild. Focus on the tiny details of a leaf or rock, then zoom out to capture the magnificence of the landscape.  Learn about the natural world, interpret the bird language that surrounds us, and identify plants, trees, and animals.  Together we’ll build a collective fire using a primitive friction fire method, and enjoy our lunch around its warmth, sharing our work and stories.

Kim Waterman has been creating art on her own and with students of all ages for almost 40 years, the last 25 in the Berkshires.  She teaches in settings, from private studios to public classrooms, to the woods. See a sampling of her work on Instagram @piratetreasurejewels

Tes Reed has been taking kids and adults into the wild for 20 years.  She is a passionate naturalist, gifted wilderness educator, skilled and entertaining guide. Find out more about her at www.tesreed.com on Facebook @Find Your Wild and, Instagram @tesreedwild

A Drawing Retreat (pdf file)

Wild Book Club

Wild Book Club: Friday October 6, 3:30-5:00pm

Our “book” this month is actually a recent episode of the Tim Ferriss Show in which Tim interviews Boyd Varty, a humble, funny, and charming South African lion tracker whose experiences on his family’s multi-generational wildlife reserve, Londolozi, are a privilege to be privy to. Wild Book Club will center around this two and a half hour interview.

And for anyone who’s inspired to go further, consider reading one or both of Body Varty’s actual books:

• "The Lion Tracker’s Guide" to Life a slim volume in which Boyd, who’s also a life coach and gifted storyteller, shares ancient wisdom that can teach you to recognize the essential ingredients of a meaningful life. Or

• "Cathedrals of the Wild," memoir of Boyd's somewhat harrowing and epically nature-connected life at Londolozi (where Nelson Mandela came to recover upon being released after 27 years of imprisonment).
  
  Please RSVP to let us know if you’re interested, and we'll be in touch with any weather-related updates as October 6 approaches.

Location is Tes's house: 138 Calkins Cross Road, New Marlborough. Weather permitting, we'll walk 5 minutes down the road into the woods to meet around our campfire.

Wild Book Club is free. For women. Bring your friends.

Also bring paper and pen, and a camp chair or blanket to sit on. 

And you’re welcome to bring food and drink.

Please RSVP to let us know you’re interested and we'll be in touch with any weather-related updates as May 17 approaches.

Previously read for Wild Book Club:

Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis
Martin Marten by Brian Doyle

Wesley The Owl: The Remarkable Story of an Owl and His Girl by Stacy O’Brien

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Coyote: Seeking the Hunter in Our Midst by Catherine Reid

TESTIMONIALS

“Wild Book Club is a special gathering of women (often at the edge of the forest around a campfire with shared treats) who enjoy exploring together books related to the natural world.  Every circle is a combination of new and old friends that adds variety, new insights, experiences and strengthens a powerful and growing network.  The discussions are lively, thought-.provoking and always a time to reconnect to nature and our place in this magical world.”

Honoring our Plant & Animal Teachers: A Writing RETREAT in the Woods

Spend an enlivening, contemplative day in the forest, writing and sharing in good company about the many forms of guidance offered by denizens of the more-than-human world.

Award-winning author and gifted teacher Jennifer Browdy joins with skilled wilderness educator Tes Reed for a writing workshop that will emerge from the verdant landscape of the autumnal New England woods.

Inspired by pathbreaking writers like David Abram, Stephen Buhner, Joy Harjo, Sandra Ingerman, Robin Wall Kimmerer, C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Maclean, Joanna Macy, Pam Montgomery, Malidoma Some, Andreas Weber, Terry Tempest Williams and more, we'll commune with our surroundings and enter into dialogue with plants and animals from our past, present and future, who always have wisdom to share with those who take the time and make the space to listen.

Wild Writing Retreat

Who
A handful of women with pen, paper, and picnic wanting to write prose, poems, fiction, non-fiction, gibberish, or anything else. No experience necessary.

What
A retreat for writing, discovery, community, relaxation, and joy – nurtured by nature. We’ll play with writing prompts, poems, metaphors, and share sustenance and stories around a fire. Let us guide you through the day’s writing or work on your own project-- as you wish.

When
One-day Retreat: June 25, 2023
One-day Retreat: July 9, 2023
One-day Retreat: August 18, 2023

Where
We begin at Tes Reed’s house in New Marlborough, MA and walk a quarter mile into a private and beloved forest.

Why
Because it’s delicious to unplug from technology, electricity, the news…and plug into Mother Earth. Because the container of writing prompts leads to creative freedom and expressive surprises. Because the forest feels like ease, vitality, creativity, awe, and flow. Because by the end of the retreat, you’ll have practices to incorporate into your writing life—indoors or under the sky.

Your Guides
TES REED, wilderness educator, mentor, and storyteller, currently writing her first book, Walking the Dogs. JANE BERNSTEIN, riverside writer, and book coach whose work has appeared in The Boston Globe, Natural Awakenings, The American Gardner, and elsewhere. BA in English Lit, MA in Italian Lit, apprentice to the forest.

TESTIMONIALS

“A Women’s Wild Writing Retreat is a delight!  To spend a day in an enchanted forest being guided by Jane and Tes ignites the creative spirit and heals the soul.  With no need to go anywhere or be anything, time slows and relaxation sets in. In this meditative and inspirational state my thoughts and pen flowed freely like eternal partners speaking my truth.  The added wilderness touch (learning to make a fire, finding wild edibles, preparing pine needle tea, identifying trees and bird song…) makes this one day a treat to savor and carry forth to share.  Thank you!”