Wild Indigo Forest Farm · Pekin, Indiana · Clark State Forest
A forest full of questions. A home built of Earth. A native Pawpaw to wonder about. Come discover how the natural world can be a classroom, and how everyone deserves a place in it.
For schools and learning programs of every kind, youth organizations, disability-led groups, outreach programs, families, adult learners, Earth-build enthusiasts, and corporate teams. All ages, all kinds of curious humans. Come as you are. We'll shape the adventure around your group.
Earth connection belongs to all of us
Especially for young humans. Especially for people with disabilities and those who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids. Especially for anyone who has had fewer chances to enjoy the outdoors because of access, transportation, cost, or feeling unwelcome. There is room for your curiosity here, and room for commUnity to grow.
At Wild Indigo, we are growing a place where learning comes through listening, asking, touching materials when invited, following the seasons, and noticing the relationships between land, water, wildlife, food, shelter, and one another. A quiet observer belongs here just as much as the child with a hundred questions.
Bring a public or private school, Montessori or Waldorf classroom, forest school, homeschool collective, alternative learning program, preschool, youth camp, LGBTQIA+ youth group, adaptive recreation or disability-led organization, senior group, adult education class, neighborhood program, or intergenerational gathering. Everyone is welcome. We tailor the day to the people in front of us, not a one-size-fits-all schedule.
Outreach programs are especially welcome. If cost, transportation, mobility needs, or limited access to natural spaces have kept your group from experiences like this, please reach out to explore a partnership. We will discuss creative ways to make a visit possible, with availability, resources, and any funding or transportation support confirmed before booking.
Tour the land · Follow your curiosity
A guided field trip can weave together the spaces below. We shape each experience for age, season, energy, learning goals, mobility, and the realities of the day.
01 · The forest
Read the forest from the roots to the canopy. Meet native trees such as shagbark hickory and learn about their ecological roles, historic food and medicinal plant traditions, and responsible stewardship. Look closely at fungi, fallen leaves, woodland soils, animal signs, and the relationships that keep the forest alive.
02 · Native food forest
Meet our Native Pawpaws and American persimmons. Explore how the Indiana banana, aka Pawpaw, grows naturally as an understory tree beneath the taller forest canopy. Follow the seasons from blossoms to fruit, noticing pollinators, biodiversity, living soil, and the beautiful possibility of growing food within a thriving woodland.
03 · Earth-built shelter
Come inside Knob 'N Wood, our handmade, off-grid Earth home with a wheelchair-accessible main floor. Discover strawbale insulation, sculpted cob walls and cob sculptures, a timber frame, stained glass, reclaimed wood, handmade details, and art made by Indiana artists. Meet the masonry heater and learn how our solar panels generate electricity while the home also makes thoughtful use of passive solar light and warmth.
04 · Sun, shelter & energy
Explore the difference between solar panels that generate electricity and passive solar design that works with building orientation, windows, summer shade, winter light, insulation, and thermal mass. We look at real examples in the home and invite visitors to imagine how thoughtful design might shape a future house, classroom, or gathering space.
05 · Native gardens & pollinators
Walk through Wild Indigo's native plantings and explore why native roots matter. Discover how planting native can help hold soil and reduce erosion, nourish local pollinators, support birds and other wildlife, and give a forest garden resilience through the seasons. Notice the insects, herbs, flowers, and ecological relationships that make the landscape a living teacher.
06 · Learning by doing
Take learning outdoors: notice how forest layers connect, compare leaves and bark, sketch what you discover, share a nature story, or create temporary Earth art from permitted fallen materials. Our pondside and forest spaces invite hands-on discovery, rest, and commUnity.
Living with the Earth · Building with the sun
Knob 'N Wood isn't a conventional building dressed up to look natural. It is an off-grid, artisan-built Earth home with a wheelchair-accessible main floor, strawbale walls, sculpted cob, handmade cob sculptures, timber framing, reclaimed wood, stained glass, a wood-fired masonry heater, and original handmade art from Indiana artists. Its solar panels supply electricity; its orientation, windows, insulation, and earthen thermal mass show how passive solar design can invite winter warmth and respond to summer sun. Builders, students, and land-dreamers can see how these choices work in a real home and ask how to incorporate them into their own spaces.
The main teaching room is most comfortable with about 20 people together. For a guided tour of the Earth-built home, we generally recommend groups of around 20 to 25 participants per rotation, depending on ages, mobility needs, chaperones, and the spaces being visited. That number is not the limit for an entire field trip on the property.
With a larger group, we can stagger house tours throughout the visit. While Elise guides one group inside, other groups can enjoy a supervised pondside activity, forest observation, or orchard learning with their own leaders or additional agreed staff. We arrange the rotation and staffing plan in advance so everyone gets a chance to explore.
Follow the questions the forest invites
There is no conveyor-belt field trip here. Your visit unfolds around the season, your group's curiosity, and the pace people need. From the orchard understory to the earthen walls of Knob 'N Wood, every stop offers a different way to understand our relationship with the living land.
Arrive in commUnity
Before we follow the trails, we arrive with our senses. Was it the cool air beneath the canopy, the call of a bird, the shape of a leaf, or the first glimpse of the pond that caught your attention? Elise invites everyone to bring their own curiosity to the circle, whether through a few words, a gesture, a sketch, or quiet observation. No introductions or sharing are required. Together we learn what it means to be a thoughtful guest of the forest: walk gently, notice the lives around us, and gather only with permission.
From the understory to the canopy
Follow the forest's layers. Meet shagbark hickory, American persimmons, and our Native Pawpaws, the Indiana banana, growing beneath taller trees. Look for the relationships between roots, water, pollinators, fallen leaves, and the animals who call this woodland home. What we discover changes with the season.
A house that teaches
Step inside Knob 'N Wood to see how people, sunlight, timber, strawbale, cob, stone, and artistry came together to make a home. Explore the masonry heater and how passive solar warmth differs from electricity produced by solar panels. Larger groups take turns indoors while teachers or chaperones supervise learning and rest stations on the land.
Carry the forest's stories forward
Turn the day's discoveries into leaf prints, nature sketches, or little woodland structures made with prepared or permitted fallen materials. An optional Forest-to-Table meal can bring everyone together, and a closing moment offers room to reflect, draw, talk, or simply sit with what the land taught us. Activities are adapted to your group, never required.
The forest is an artist's studio
There are countless ways to make art with the forest instead of taking more from it. Groups may choose a guided creative add-on that begins with observation and a thoughtful gathering walk, then returns to the outdoor classroom to make something with their hands. Activities are arranged for age, access needs, season, tools, and supervision.
Creekside creativity
Visit a suitable creekside area with your guides, learn why the creek and its habitats matter, and, where collection is permitted, choose a small fallen stone for painting back at the learning space. We can also provide pre-gathered stones so no one has to enter the creek or disturb its banks.
Botanical art
Explore patterns, textures, and natural color through leaves and botanicals, using prepared materials or responsibly collected permitted fallen plant pieces. The exact printing technique and materials are selected in advance for each group's ages, sensory needs, accessibility, and available time.
A little forest wonder
Take a guided hike to look for permitted fallen twigs, leaves, bark, seed pods, and other forest treasures. Then gather to build tiny fairy houses, temporary woodland structures, or imaginative Earth art. Elise can guide this as an optional hands-on tour add-on, celebrating imagination while leaving living plants, fungi, wildlife habitat, and sensitive areas undisturbed.
Leave the forest thriving. We only gather where permitted, without digging, stripping bark, removing living plants, or taking habitat materials. Some experiences use prepared supplies instead of foraging, and all activities require suitable adult supervision.
Princess Leia's Pond · A living water classroom
Princess Leia's Pond and the forest around it offer a peaceful place for guided observation, quiet reflection, learning about aquatic habitats, and supervised time outdoors. Groups can discover how the pond, native gardens, forest soils, and dam relate to water movement and erosion.
Included in a planned outdoor experience
Watch the water and wildlife from designated safe areas, sketch or write, discover how the dam and land shape the pond, or enjoy a teacher-led nature station while another small group tours Knob 'N Wood. Children stay with their teachers or chaperones; the dam and water's edge are not unsupervised play spaces.
Available to all field trip groups
Pond swimming is available to every field trip group, with no special advance arrangement required. It is an optional part of your day at Wild Indigo, alongside pondside nature learning and exploring the forest. Swimming depends on suitable weather and water conditions, appropriate adult supervision, and applicable safety requirements. Wild Indigo does not provide a lifeguard. Everyone entering the water must wear a properly fitted life jacket. Life jackets are available at the farm, although organizers should make sure suitable sizes are available for their participants. Teachers and adult chaperones actively supervise swimmers, including in the water, while also supervising anyone who remains on shore.
Come ready for the water if your group would like to swim. There is no separate swimming reservation or special advance approval. Organizers should bring adequate teachers or chaperones, follow their program's permission and consent requirements, and plan for participants' ages, water confidence, accessibility, and properly fitting life jackets. Swimming takes place only when conditions are safe. Anyone who prefers to stay dry can enjoy the pondside classroom, dam and forest observation areas with supervision.
Accessibility, dignity & belonging
We want people to know what to expect before they arrive, especially when mobility, sensory needs, disability, fatigue, communication, or unfamiliar outdoor spaces shape how a field trip feels.
We welcome wheelchair users and people who need mobility assistance. Knob 'N Wood is an Earth-built home with an accessible main floor, mobility-friendly bathrooms, and an adaptable indoor learning area. The surrounding forest is natural knob terrain, with tree roots, leaf litter, slopes, and sometimes narrow or uneven trails. Not every trail is wheelchair accessible.
We do not want the roots to be the end of the adventure. When it is safe and welcome, our team is happy to help navigate an appropriate route, including assisting with a wheelchair with the visitor's consent and advance planning. We will talk about surfaces, inclines, rest stops, equipment, and staffing before the visit. We cannot promise passage over every trail or every obstacle.
The Yoga Loft is reached by a library-style ladder and is not wheelchair accessible. A meaningful accessible main-floor experience is available without visiting the loft.
You don't have to share a diagnosis to ask for support. Tell us the practical changes that would help your group participate comfortably, and we'll discuss what we can safely arrange.
Good field trips start with good planning
We can tailor language, questions, hands-on elements, and pace to your group. Schools and programs remain responsible for appropriate staff or chaperone supervision, especially for minors.
There can be more than 20 guests on the property. Our main indoor room comfortably accommodates about 20 together, and house tours generally rotate in groups of 20 to 25 depending on needs and logistics. Larger schools and organizations can have multiple guided indoor rotations, with supervised outdoor experiences between turns. Sound-bath capacities are different and described below.
Orchard fruiting, flowers, forest conditions, and available activities change through the year. We adapt the visit rather than promise a particular fruit harvest, wildlife sighting, or trail on every date.
Looking ahead
We are planning a long outdoor commUnity table near Princess Leia's Pond and dam, with space for groups to learn and enjoy a meal beneath the forest canopy. The table is not built yet. It is not part of the current field trip experience; we'll confirm when it becomes available.
Choose closed-toe footwear appropriate for the weather and uneven ground, weather-ready layers, drinking water, and anything your group uses for mobility, communication, or sensory comfort.
Our lower/bottom lot can accommodate two school buses plus a few cars with advance planning. We also have three other parking areas: the Knob 'N Wood Retreat Center lot for about 7–9 vehicles with close-access spaces prioritized, the Upper Ridge Sun Lot for about 5–7 vehicles, and the tucked-away Forest Lot for approximately 10 vehicles, depending on their size and comfort with a quirky hidden forest parking area. Larger field trips should plan on coordinated school buses or other high-occupancy vehicles rather than separate cars for every attendee. Please discuss the arrival plan before booking.
Field trips are arranged by inquiry, with an individual quote based on your group, visit length, activities, staffing, and accommodation needs. Optional catering is priced separately. Ask about possibilities for programs facing access or budget barriers.
Listen to the land · Rest together
For groups who want to settle into the sounds of the forest, we can arrange an optional outdoor group sound bath beneath the trees, gentle guided meditation, or an indoor listening experience. Imagine resting on the grass, hearing the wind through the canopy, and listening to the resonance of instruments with the forest around you. Sound is always an invitation, never a requirement. Sitting quietly, using a quieter listening area, or choosing another activity is welcome.
With Wild Indigo Forest Farm
Gather for a calm, age-appropriate guided pause with Wild Indigo's resonant instruments and an optional sound-bath experience. We can shape the session for young explorers, adult teams, sensory-sensitive guests, and mixed-age groups. Participation is voluntary, and group needs are discussed beforehand.
Guest sound practitioner
Ask about adding a sound experience with Catherine “Cat” Moeller-Cunanan, musician, former orchestra educator, certified sound practitioner, and founder of Cat & Owl Alchemy in New Albany. Cat brings a lifetime of musical learning and professional sound practice to carefully designed listening experiences. Guest sessions are arranged separately according to availability, group needs, and a quote.
Inside Knob 'N Wood: an indoor sound bath can welcome up to about 25 people when the Yoga Loft is included. The main room fits about 20 comfortably. Since the loft requires a ladder, not every indoor position is wheelchair accessible; accessible main-floor participation can be planned separately and capacity adapted to the group.
In the forest: outdoor group sound baths may accommodate 50 or more people with an appropriate site, weather, supervision, and sound plan. Large groups need organized arrival by school buses or other high-occupancy transportation. The bottom lot can accommodate two school buses and a few cars when coordinated in advance.
Let us know if you're envisioning a quiet youth-group meditation, a staff or corporate retreat, an accessible listening experience, or a large outdoor sound gathering. Session duration, staffing, seating, accessibility, and any guest-practitioner fee are arranged by inquiry.
Forest-to-Table Field Trip Catering
At Wild Indigo, caring for people includes feeding them. We can prepare thoughtfully sourced, seasonal food for field trips, school groups, and supported programs. Catering is optional and planned around your visit, not a required extra.
Our first-choice group meal
Start with: quinoa or jasmine rice. Build with Williamson Farm beef if desired, roasted sweet potatoes, beets, mushrooms, and seasonal greens.
Add your favorite toppings: sauerkraut, pickled purple onions, cowboy candy jalapeños, pickled daikon and rhubarb, cilantro, queso fresco, and fried leeks.
Choose a dressing: tahini-Dijon maple dressing or yuzu-sriracha mayo.
We can organize a guided serve-yourself line, simpler preassembled combinations, or assistance for guests who benefit from extra support. We confirm the actual seasonal ingredient list before the visit, so no guest has to guess what will be offered.
Group rates by quote · seasonal ingredientsExamples drawn from our Forest-to-Table catering offerings. Menus are adapted for the season, group preferences, and kitchen availability.
A thoughtful table for every guest
We can discuss vegetarian, vegan, gluten-conscious, dairy-free, and other dietary needs as well as separated foods, altered textures, portioning, allergies, and sensory preferences. Our kitchen handles wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, sesame, nuts, fish, and shellfish and is not a dedicated allergen-free kitchen. If cross-contact is a concern, tell us ahead of time so we can honestly assess what can be supported.
Field-trip catering is priced as a customized group plan; we do not want to advertise a single fixed per-person price before knowing your headcount, age group, chosen menu, food needs, service style, and budget. Explore our full Forest-to-Table Catering menu or request a field-trip food quote below.
Your people · Your pace · A little forest magic
Bring your family, friends, coworkers, company team, or a group of adults who are dreaming about living on land, building an Earth home, or exploring a more resource-conscious way of life. Private tours can linger over the natural-building details, passive solar orientation, strawbale insulation, cob, masonry heat, and what day-to-day life in a forest can look like. Corporate and organizational groups are welcome to inquire about tailored team outings and learning visits.
1 hour
A guided introduction to the farm, retreat spaces, and the story of Wild Indigo.
$111 for up to 6 guests
$15 for each additional guest.
2 hours
Get acquainted with Wild Indigo, then follow the trails into the forest with time to explore and ask questions.
$222 for up to 6 guests
$20 for each additional guest.
3 hours
A longer guided tour and forest hike with a more leisurely pace and deeper exploration.
$277 for up to 6 guests
$25 for each additional guest.
Optional catering is available for private tours, too. Explore the seasonal food options above, then tell us your group size, dietary needs, and what you have in mind. Catering is quoted separately and is not included in tour prices.
Tour prices are per private group, not per person. Standard private-tour bookings accommodate up to 12 guests; larger company, builder, or adult-learning groups are quoted individually. Visits are arranged by appointment, with availability and details confirmed before booking.
For private tours, guests may also arrange optional bodywork appointments separately, subject to practitioner availability. Please tell us about mobility or access needs, and the pace that feels right for your group.
Come grow some wonder with us
Tell us who you're bringing and what you hope they'll discover. We'll follow up about opening circles, rotating home tours, forest crafts, outdoor sound baths, pondside learning and swimming interests, transportation, accessibility, catering, possible outreach partnerships, available dates, and a quote. You're welcome to inquire even if you're still dreaming up the day.
