Dispatch From the Ranch: Hello and First 2025 Retreat Announcements
Hello Friends,
I’m writing to you amidst a beautiful, quiet winter at Red Clover, where we’ve been busy dreaming and planning our 3rd season. We can’t wait to open up the gates in May to invite you in. We will be announcing many of our 2025 retreats over the next month. Read on for our first announcements! Please join us for one. Space is limited so sign up soon.
Looking forward to hosting you,
Annie Coleman
Head Wrangler
PS - We have just a few dates still open for this season. If you are interested in hosting a retreat, corporate getaway, friends food inclusive gathering, or wedding of your own. Email us. We’d love to hear from you.
PPS - If you are in the Chicagoland area come on out Feb 15th to Thalia Hall for The 18th Annual Barn Dance Apocalypse.
THE ART OF MINDFULNESS: CRAFTING A VIBE WITH ANNA LINDBERG CEDAR/ 5/15 - 5/18
Join Anna Lindberg Cedar, MPA, LICSW, LCSW for a 3 night retreat in The Art of Mindfulness, doing less to help you connect with what matters most. You are invited to practice crafts carefully paired with meditations in non-judgment, present-focus, and embracing imperfection. Together, we will maintain a space for fun, playfulness, and curiosity, balanced with dedicated time for personal reflection and rejuvenation. Ultimately, you will design a craft that will become a visual reminder of the mindfulness intentions you plan to practice after the retreat.
The Art of Mindfulness is an intentionally indulgent retreat for the senses. Enjoy the bounty and emergence of Spring in Wisconsin's Driftless region. Nourish yourself with farm-to-table cuisine and experience the deep rest that only nature can give you at Red Clover Ranch. Find community in a space dedicated to restoration and creative renewal.
WEEKEND AT THE RANCH - ROAD & GRAVEL BIKE WEEKEND/ 6/12 - 6/15
Join us for a fun-filled long weekend of cycling, community with new friends, farm-to-table food, and both on and off-bike exploration of the Driftless. The rides will be guided, no-drop (unless you wish to go at it alone), and fully supported by our professional mechanics/ride leaders, Lauren Wiscomb and Thomas Kehrer. We’ll ride 30-60 miles a day, which will be broken up between morning and afternoon rides — you get to decide how much you want to ride. After a day of wandering valley roads and rolling green hills, you’ll return to the comfort of Red Clover Ranch and all it has to offer. We’ll fuel your weekend with nourishing meals made by Chef Dani Lind from the freshest local ingredients. You can spend your afternoons and evenings hiking our trails, recovering in the sauna, or checking out the stunning night sky by the campfire. A good book and a fabulous screen porch is, of course, also an option. We welcome you to tell us what your cycling skill level is and we can tailor our rides to the needs of the group. The topography of the Driftless is challenging, but we have a huge variety of routes.
DAPPLED RETREAT w/ EMILY SPURLIN & LAURA SCHERB / 7/24 - 7/27
Join pastry chef Emily Spurlin and photographer Laura Scherb for a restorative and inspiring retreat at Red Clover Ranch. During our time together, we will focus on infusing our creativity with a sense of time and place. With Emily, you’ll learn about local heirloom grains and how to incorporate them into your baking, a lesson on natural food coloring, and how to translate inspiration into cake decoration. With Laura, you’ll explore photography in the natural world, capturing light, color, and designing a beautiful tablescape to photograph. There will be plenty of time for rest and recreation, with a trip to the Viroqua farmers market, Star Valley flower farm, swimming and enjoying the natural beauty of the Driftless region of Wisconsin. There are only a few spots left. Don’t dawdle or you will miss out!
ELEMENTAL: THE ART OF NOTICING WATERCOLOR RETREAT WITH LESLIE BAUM/ 7/31 - 8/3 & 8/7 - 8/10
Follow your own personal making arc on this contemplative watercolor painting retreat under the guidance of Leslie Baum. Experience plein air painting as an expansive practice, one that encompasses more than rendering a view. Paint in response to Leslie’s invitations - prompts designed to foster connection to the late summer landscape and bring you into relationship with the four elements. Watercolor by firelight. Mix creek water into your paint. Discover the varied colors of the soil, the shapes of plant life, and the moods of the valley’s atmosphere. Embrace the full creative potential slowing down and being present. Enjoy guided and independent painting time, opportunities to share work, connection with an expert in the earth element, and morning yoga. Want to learn more about Leslie and her approach to making and teaching? Listen to our conversation.