Discovery Days

Saturday Sept. 16 - 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Sunday Sept. 17 - 12:00-5:00 p.m.

Admission: Adults $5, Children $3, children 2 & under free

Our family-friendly fundraiser “Discovery Days” is back and bigger than ever! Discovery Days is all about ‘trying it out.’ Admission includes free tours, scavenger hunts, and some activities. Other activities have a nominal fee for supplies. 

Activities

  • Make a wood pendant on a lathe with Harold Solberg, an experienced woodturner.
  • Try your hand at butter making the old-fashioned way and take home your tasty treat.
  • Use a hammer to extract natural pigments from plants and flowers onto fabric.
  • Mold fiber from our alpacas into beads.
  • Taste some edible plants and learn how to identify them.
  • Create your own sprouting jar and add some nutrition onto your next salad or sandwich.
  • Fashion a wind dangle by combining natural and man-made materials.
  • Shop the farm stand or gift shop.
  • Take a free tour to explore the gardens, visit bee hives, encounter alpacas, or learn about renewable energy.
  • And much more!

 

Pre-registration is required for:

Paint-a-'Paca: Art teacher Vicki Schmitz will teach you how to paint an alpaca using actual alpacas as models. Register here.
Yoga with Alpacas: join the herd in the pasture as you practice yoga while the alpacas wander around you. Register here.

Tours

11:45 Amazing Alpacas 1:45 Renewable Energy  
12:15 Garden Stroll 2:15 Amazing Alpacas  
12:45 Chickens & Goats 2:45 Garden Stroll  
1:15 The Buzz on Bees 3:15 Amazing Alpacas  

Music

  Saturday Sunday
11:30-1:30 Oly Mach Schau Oly Mach Schau
1:45-3:45 Zaido Cruz Rare Privilage
     

Food

Delicious food from Zaytuna’s Kitchen will be available in addition to our awesome white chicken chili, vegetarian chili, hot dogs, brats, and corn-on-the-cob. As you eat, relax near the pasture and enjoy music from local musicians.  

 

Enter to win our $1,000 Sweepstakes!

Tickets are $3 each, $15 for 6, or $30 for 12. (No purchase necessary. Purchase will not increase odds of winning.)

Click here for tickets.

Drawing will take place after 4pm on Sunday, September 17. You do not need to be present to win. 1 out of 24,000 chances to win.

If you'd like to enter without purchase, email with your name, phone, and email address.

 

A 20-item silent auction will be held online with items like a pizza party on the farm, a stay at the Center’s Hermitage cabin, fine art items and more.

Bid on items all week long starting 7pm on Sept. 10th. Bidding ends at 6pm on Sunday, September 17.

Click the 'bid' button to bid!
   

 

Proceeds raised during Eco-J Discovery Days…

  • Contributes towards garden production – over 30% of which is donated to the Northside Food Pantry
  • Buys 140 bales of hay & 45 bales of straw for more than 30 animals on the farm
  • Purchases 58 bags of chicken feed
  • Pays for vet care for our aging alpacas
  • Contributes towards education of school groups,summer camp children, and visitors

Be a 2023 Discovery Days Sponsor!

Discovery Days is Eco-J's largest and most important fundraiser of the year. Discovery Days sponsors are individuals or businesses that make financial or in-kind donations to assist with printing, signage, music, food, and more.

$1000 Sponsorship of the sweepstakes grand prize

Ten admission tickets for Discovery Days, the opportunity to distribute informational brochures at our sweepstakes table, your logo in all social media and print advertising, acknowledgment in “Rooted in Hope” (the Eco-Justice Newsletter sent to 1300 homes), inclusion on our website and in our sponsor directory, a letter of recognition for your support.

$500 Sponsorship of Discovery Days

Four admission tickets for Discovery Days, your logo in all social media and print advertising, acknowledgment in “Rooted in Hope” (the Eco-Justice Newsletter sent to 1300 homes), inclusion on our website and in our sponsor directory, a letter of recognition for your support.

$250 Sponsorship of Discovery Days

Your logo in all social media and print advertising, acknowledgment in “Rooted in Hope” (the Eco-Justice Newsletter sent to 1300 homes), inclusion on our website and in our sponsor directory, a letter of recognition for your support.

If you or a business you know would like to be a Discovery Days sponsor, email us!