According to the area events calendar my little southern granddaughter wasn't the only one celebrating being 5 this past week as KINSTONE located on the ridge overlooking the Mississippi east of Fountain City celebrated their 5th year to hold an open house. As the grandbaby really started her sixth week, KINSTONE was in its sixth year of existence..
Actually, I had never even heard of KINSTONE, a ridge top megalithic garden and permaculture sanctuary, before reading about yesterday's open house with music, tours, food truck and more. The 'more' was the unexpected magnificence of the setting great for classes, retreats, tours, plant walks, birding, seasonal alignments, etc...Every one of KINSTONE's projects in the past 5 years has been to fulfill their motto of Regenerate Relearn Revive. A lot of work and thought has gone in to what a visitor experiences in this magical place.
People collect all types of things. My son actually'd find a stone to bring back from wherever we'd travel. I think he and Kristine Beck, the person who conceived KINSTONE, have something in common as they both loves stones. Fortunately he liked the size stones that would fit in his pocket whereas Kristine always loved travel to places where there were large stones like Stonehenge and she made it her mission when she moved back to a parcel of her family's 4th generation farm to recreate what she had seen on her travels. She decided on using granite. Can you imagine the energies required to find and move these pieces from the quarries of Cold Spring Granite Company in Minnesota and South Dakota?
Amidst the restoration of an oak savannah, a 2 acre prairie, pasture, food forest, numerous unique buildings, sit 100 + granite standing stones dotting the 30 acre parcel of land with 3+ stone circles. It is a spiritual place for connecting with the land, our past and present.
Also on the grounds are:
The Three Witnesses aligned with the equinox for sunrise through the round equinox window. 
This sacred 'Remembrance' Dolmen honors those that came before us, our ancestors, and is surrounded by 5 large guardian stones.
What an undertaking to construct the 12-15 ft deer fencing protecting the new growth on the savanna and prairie. (Look left of the grey stone to see the fence posting.)A lot of work has gone into this restoration and creation of stone gardens, a labyrinth, sitting circles, buildings and gardens.
Cranes were used to place the bigger stone between 3 to 6 feet deep depending on their size. Some are really ginormous. Here's Natureman next to one in the KINSTONE circle.(R)
Grass paths meander through the different sites and en route we visited the sauna, a cordwood structure built by 3 previous workshops. It is a post and beam frame with cedar cordwood and colored bottles interspersed allowing their charming diffused light to its interior.
Its dressing room has antler towel hooks and cedar benches don the sauna equipped with a small wood fired stove for heat.
Next stop was a yurt, a round tent covered with felt and insulated walls, which can house small meetings, yoga classes/even sleeping quarters as it is set up now. Other platforms are available for similar use.
Followed by the Thatched Cordwood Chapel dedicated to St. Francis. There was a serenity throughout the grounds but sometimes one might need shelter from the elements. Inside the chapel were elements of other religions. Buddhist bells,
a lovely glass stellar mosaic and a prayer tree where one can attach a prayer on a fabric strip. (On Oct. 4th the tree will be burned and its prayers will find a new path.)Different stone seating is available for taking it all in... and by all means don't forget to look up. The skies were putting on a spectacular show themselves...
The summer solstice corridor and the pond ..
We took a lunch break as Kristine's sister has a farm to foodtruck for those who get hungry. If you have a chance to eat from her food truck locavores will be in heaven and others will taste the difference in fresh locally bought and homemade food. We ordered the Sheep Dog, a lamb brat with stone mustard and sauerkraut accompanied by fried sweet potato chips. Perfect.
Their menu as you can see ( zoom in on) was for both omnivore and vegan.
We listened to music by the Bus Boys close up as we chowed down our lunch soaking in the perfect gorgeous fall day sitting at picnic tables by the Educational Center.
Down from the educational center were the compost areas with squash growing up their fencing enroute to the raised garden beds, the snazzy chicken coop and home for the dwarf goats. Accessible feeding and egg collection out front and ramps in the back for the animals into their pen areas.
Here inside the cabin is a bur oak sculpted while the clay plaster wall was wet and on the outside wall are 2 honey combs with bees. Bee- u- ti ful. 
There was a lot to see at KINSTONE and
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| impressive firepit |
One thing I know for sure is we will be back in other seasons and bring others with us. KINSTONE is just a very special place.
So go to their website and check them out. Sunday tours are from May 1 to Oct 31 at 1pm with a suggested $5 donation per person to help maintain the grounds and projects. Call to check out their schedule and classes. You won't be sorry.
Here's the link where I found them. KINSTONE tours
Very instructive and fascinating. You taught me lots. How long do you sauna? saunajournal.com
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