Elkstone Farm

Arnica wildcrafting and salve making with Marco Lam, June 9th, 2026
2026-06-09 10:00 - 13:00 (America/Denver) | Elkstone Farm, 40345 Virtus Way, Steamboat Springs, CO, 80487, United States
Join us for a day of wildcrafting as we ethically harvest vibrant mountain arnica and transform it into a potent, small-batch healing salve. Guided by Marco Lam—herbalist, acupuncturist, and regenerative land steward—you’ll learn how to identify arnica in its natural habitat, understand its traditional and modern uses, and harvest with deep respect for ecological balance. This hands-on class weaves together plant wisdom, practical skill, and embodied connection to place.
After gathering, we’ll return to the farm to prepare a rich, golden arnica salve you’ll take home—crafted by your own hands. Marco will share insights from Western herbalism and Chinese medicine on topical applications for bruises, strains, and muscle soreness, along with guidance on formulation, infusion methods, and safe use. Whether you’re new to herbal medicine or deepening your practice, this class offers grounded knowledge, community connection, and a renewed relationship with the healing plants growing at your feet.
We'll gather for a farm-to-table lunch on the back porch in the aspens after class to enjoy each others company and to answer any question.

Community Death Care: An Indigenous Approach to End-of-Life Planning with Vanessa Cruz: June 11th, 2026
2026-06-11 10:00 - 17:00
Join us for a transformative one-day workshop that reimagines death care through an Indigenous, earth-based lens. Guided by Vanessa Cruz, an Indigenous death doula, this immersive experience explores holistic approaches to end-of-life planning, including creating a death plan, legacy work, alternative body disposition methods, home funerals, and celebrations of life. Rooted in ancestral wisdom and decolonized practices, the workshop integrates hands-on activities, meditative practices, and sacred rituals to help participants connect spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically to the material.

Participants will enjoy a nourishing farm-to-table lunch featuring local ingredients that honor sustainability and reciprocity. Whether you’re seeking tools for personal preparation or professional growth, this workshop offers a unique opportunity to learn practical skills while embracing Indigenous traditions of honoring life and death. Together, we’ll create a sacred space for reflection, community, and empowerment as we navigate the journey of death with reverence and intention.

The Soil Food Web: Direct participation in Soil Science: July 17th, 2026
2026-07-17 09:00 - 12:00
Take a deep dive into the microbial world of the Soil Food Web with Lanny Ellis. Learn about the beneficial bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes and other soil organisms that keep your plants healthy and thriving. Understand who they are, what they do, why they are there, and how we can foster MORE beneficial organisms in our soil. Healthy ecosystems and people start with healthy soil, and it all starts from the ground up!

This lesson entails an educational primer to introduce the basics of soil biology and the Soil Food Web, as well as a live soil microscopy demonstration using living soil to showcase the organisms present in healthy vibrant soil. Bring in your own compost and soil samples to get an immediate qualitative assessment using direct observation microscopy!

We'll finish our class with a wonderful farm-to-table lunch provided by Chef Russell!

Lanny Ellis is a gardener and a soil scientist that is never done learning. Lanny moved to Colorado in 2013 after graduating from University of Texas in Arlington with a bachelors in Anthropology. He then began his journey into Permaculture with the Permaculture Design Course at CRMPI in Basalt, CO and the Colorado Master Gardener Program in 2016. He is also a certified Colorado Native Plant Master.

Lanny started practicing garden management at the Salvation Army in Avon, Colorado where he also formed a small non-profit organization called New Roots CO with like-minded volunteers. New Roots CO was approached by Colorado Mountain College in 2020 to take over management of their community garden located on campus. Since then, Lanny has taken the reins as community garden manager, and has led several educational workshops, volunteer work days, and lectures within the community garden.

In 2021, Lanny completed the Soil Food Web School's certified laboratory technician program so that he could better analyze soil samples and dive into the world of microbiology. Today he uses these skills to conduct live microscopy soil tests for clients across Colorado, and to formulate action plans to convert dirt back into soil.

Herbs for the Spiritual Heart with Courtney Hughes: July 22nd, 2026
2026-07-22 09:00 - 13:00
Join us for a heart-centered exploration of herbs that support the emotional and spiritual heart. Whether you are seeking comfort during times of grief, gentle emotional support, energetic protection, or deeper heart opening, plants can offer subtle yet powerful medicine for the heart space.
In this class, you’ll learn:

Emotional & Spiritual Support
How specific herbs support grief, emotional resilience, and heart opening.

Herbal Allies
Meet and sample a range of herbs traditionally used to support the spiritual heart, and explore both their historical and modern medicinal uses.

Practical Use
Learn how to prepare and use simple herbal teas and tinctures.

Create Your Own Tea Blend
Craft a delicious, balanced tea blend to take home, tailored to your own heart-centered intentions.

This class offers a gentle, grounded space to connect with plant allies and your own inner landscape. You’ll leave with practical tools, a personalized tea blend, and a deeper relationship with herbs that nourish and protect the heart.

Courtney Hughes is a Certified Clinical Herbalist, Certified Nutritionist, and mixed media artist guided by a deep belief in the body’s innate capacity to heal. Her work is rooted in removing obstacles and cultivating environments where both body and soul can thrive. Through herbal medicine and art, Courtney explores the multifaceted nature of physicality, with much of her artwork centered on the human body and the transformative power of embodiment.

Plant Medicine Healing with Shaela Noella: Plant Limpias: August 15th, 2026
2026-08-15 09:00 - 12:30
We are excited to invited one of our favorite plant medicine teachers, Shaela Noella, to teach two workshops at the farm.
Morning class 9am-noon.
Plant Baths & Brushings aka Plant Limpias:
Learning earth based wisdom practices to keep your spiritual hygiene sparkling. We will make plant baths (plant blessing waters) and learn plant brushings; aka plant limpias. These are beautiful practices to connect us more deeply with the spirit of the plants, and their powerful ways, as well uplift the mood or clear away unneeded energies. These practices can be found from many earth-based cultures around the globe. Shaela Noella has learned alot from one of her dear teachers, Ann Drucker, and spirit helpers, as well as from various experiences and Curanderas in Latin America .

Shaela Noella is a songstress, medium, and practitioner of the healing arts, whose journey is as captivating as her gifts are profound. Her relations with Curanderas and Nanas in Mexico and Guatemala, has expanded her knowledge, particularly in womb care and Spiritual work.
Shaela Noella has started and led several music groups and choirs including: Sister Winds ensemble, Medicine Weavers, Mystic Choir, Sumati, and Las Curanderas. Her prayer and intent is to serve in the highest good for all beings everywhere.
As the founder of the Sister Winds Foundation (www.sisterwinds.com), Shaela is devoted to uplifting women in music, healing arts, and collective empowerment, with long term goals of children's homes and/or eco-orphanages in Latin America.
She offers a variety of sessions: Readings from the Deck of the Imaginable, Song Spirit Medicine Sessions, Vocal Opening and Womb Whispering. These modalities are self-awakened or discovered, adding an authentic depth to her offerings. More about her personal session offerings at www.songspiritmedicine.com
She also has an affinity with Guatemala with deepening relationships to the healers of those lands and is organizing retreats in Guatemaya with them this winter : Www.enrich-your-Alma.net .

Opening the Voice Workshop with Shaela Noel: August 16th, 2026
2026-08-16 18:30 - 20:30
We are excited to invited one of our favorite plant medicine teachers, Shaela Noella, to teach two workshops at the farm.
Opening the Voice Workshop:
Do you ever feel blocked in your singing voice? Or just love to sing?
Or want more confidence just in speaking your Truth?
Any which way you answered : this workshop is designed for you: both singers and nonsingers to enjoy!
Singing is medicine!
In fact singing has been scientifically proven to raise immunity. It can also help boost confidence, joy, and clarity. One of life's natural wonders.
Join Shaela Noella for the Opening the Voice Singing.
This workshop is a wonderful opportunity to strengthen and open your singing voice, no matter what level of a singer you are. Shaela Noella creates a safe space for all levels to find their comfort zone and joyful edges.
Are you ready to embark on a captivating journey of vocal exploration and expression? This is a transformative experience designed to unleash the power of your voice and nurture your inner artist. Whether you're an aspiring singer, a seasoned vocalist, or simply someone who wants to find their true voice, this class will take you on a unique and empowering journey.

Shaela Noella is a songstress, medium, and practitioner of the healing arts, whose journey is as captivating as her gifts are profound. Her relations with Curanderas and Nanas in Mexico and Guatemala, has expanded her knowledge, particularly in womb care and Spiritual work.
Shaela Noella has started and led several music groups and choirs including: Sister Winds ensemble, Medicine Weavers, Mystic Choir, Sumati, and Las Curanderas. Her prayer and intent is to serve in the highest good for all beings everywhere.
As the founder of the Sister Winds Foundation (www.sisterwinds.com), Shaela is devoted to uplifting women in music, healing arts, and collective empowerment, with long term goals of children's homes and/or eco-orphanages in Latin America.
She offers a variety of sessions: Readings from the Deck of the Imaginable, Song Spirit Medicine Sessions, Vocal Opening and Womb Whispering. These modalities are self-awakened or discovered, adding an authentic depth to her offerings. More about her personal session offerings at www.songspiritmedicine.com
She also has an affinity with Guatemala with deepening relationships to the healers of those lands and is organizing retreats in Guatemaya with them this winter : Www.enrich-your-Alma.net .

Men's Retreat: The Grounded Man, September 25-27, 2026
2026-09-25 18:00 - 2026-09-27 17:00
Under the aspens, we get real.

A fall men’s intensive for men who want to stop drifting and build a life with strength, heart, and accountability.
There is a lot of men’s work out there, and a lot of it creates heat without creating change.
This weekend is built for something else: grounded men. Men who can tell the truth, take feedback, build real strength, and bring more heart to the places that matter most.

Men who are ready to stop wasting time, who:
Are successful at work but struggle at home and in community
Checked boxes they were “supposed to” but are not fully alive
Want more access to their power without becoming rigid, performative, or angry
Want more heart without collapsing, self-erasing, or losing their spine
Are ready to get honest about where they are stuck and do something about it
If you are done drifting, done hiding, and done pretending you will "figure it out later," join us.
This is for men who are willing to be challenged.
Men who want clarity, embodiment, accountability, and real practice. Men who want a stronger life, not just a “powerful” weekend.
This is not therapy, nor …
A "safe space" (it’s safe enough to be unsafe)
For men who want to apologize for being men
For men who want to hide in abstraction, debate, or excuses
This is for men who are willing to tell the truth, take feedback, and practice.

What Happens Here
We work directly on the places men get stuck most: sex, money, connection, self-respect, and follow-through.
We do it through group work, partner work, embodiment practices, hot-seat coaching, shadow work, and fierce accountability.
This is practical, direct work designed to move your life, not just have a “powerful weekend.”

Problems We Address
Digital distraction taking away from presence
Overwhelm of world events
Collapse in the face of the critical feminine
Lack of purpose
How We Address Them:
Presence — what it is, how it’s done
Focus on impacting the world through what you most care about
The ability to be honest with what is without collapse
The opportunity to be seen in the parts we don’t let others see with an acknowledgement that we are all human.

What You Walk Away With
You leave with sharper clarity about where you are drifting, direct feedback on what is costing you, practices you can use under pressure, stronger self-trust, a clearer standard for how you live as a man, and real contact with other men, not just surface connection. Most men do not need more information. They need stronger practice, better mirrors, and a room that does not let them hide. This weekend is built for that.
Specifics
We are not interested in intensity for its own sake. We are interested in change that holds up when you go home.
That means work you can actually use when your:
marriage is strained
money story is running you
temper is close to the surface, or
never there at all
discipline slips
phone becomes your escape
work success stops feeling like a life
We work on grounded strength, honest self-confrontation, embodied presence, and the ability to stay open under pressure.

This will be led by experienced men’s work facilitators Jeffrey James Howard, Marco Lam, Keith Martin-Smith, and Eddie Konold.
Marco brings heart and life, open curiosity, and joy.
Jeffrey offers cutting clarity and accountability.
Eddie delivers everyday-man sensibility, a wide-open heart, and grounded intelligence.
Keith brings direct challenge, deep insight, and a no-bullshit path to strength with heart.
Jeffrey and Eddie are licensed psychotherapists. Marco is an acupuncturist, permaculture expert, martial artist, and community leader. Keith is an ordained Zen priest, published author, and martial arts lineage holder, and Marco and Keith have been in the same men’s group, with the same group of men, for nearly 20 years.
“Keith had a strong presence, physically and spiritually with meditation and embodiment exercises. Eddie was love and gentleness, killing it with kindness and active, warm, soft reflective listening and precise at picking up relational material to give back and act on. Marco was mindful, honest, and more of a quiet/wise leader and organizer. Jeffrey was an excellent facilitator, listener, and therapist, coming in with challenges that quickly closed in on the issues at hand, using a knife to sharpen his teeth and go in for the kill.
Watch out! They all worked very well together, cohesive, displayed confidence and therefore trust and a letting go into the work and the group. The container was beautiful and held tighter as the retreat came to a close. I would participate again. I would recommend this to any man wanting more from his relationships.”
— GA, Spring 2022

Schedule

Friday
6-7:15 - Council
7:30-8:30 pm Dinner at Elkstone Farm
8:30- 9:10 pm Fire circle: Turn up the heat
9:10 Close for the night

Saturday
9:00-9:40- Sit
9:45-10:15- Physical/embodiment exercise
10:15-1200 Content/circle/teaching
12:00-1:00- Lunch
1:00-3:30- Content/circle/teaching
3:30-5- Extended break/wander/practice period
5-6:30- Content/circle/teaching
6:30-7:30- Dinner
7:30-8:45- Closing circle for the day
8:45-9 — Warrior’s rest/Meditation

Sunday
9:00-9:40- Sit
9:40-10:00 Physical/embodiment exercise
10:00-11:30- Content/circle/teaching
11:30-11:45- Break
11:45-12:00- Physical/embodiment exercise
12:00-1:00- Lunch
1:00-3:30- Content/circle/teaching
3:30-3:45 Break
3:45 - 4:20 Circle/teaching
4:20 - 4:30 Break
4:30-5:00 - Bringing it home
Lodging
There are two options for lodging for this event.
Camping, either in a tent or your camper van. There is no charge for camping, and all of the details will be managed by us. All you’ll need is bedding and protection from the weather. The rest will be provided. You’re only a 5-minute walk to the main house with showers, bathrooms, and a full kitchen, all open 24/7.
Airbnb or stay in a hotel in the town of Steamboat Springs, only a five-minute drive from the farm. If you’re interested in sharing a house or room with another man or group of men, please contact me and we’ll get you onto a shared list so you can coordinate with others. This cost is not covered.

Refund Policy
Refunds will be charged a $50 fee up to 30 days before the event.
THERE ARE NO REFUNDS WITHIN 30 DAYS OF START OF THE EVENT.
