Luna Valley Farm Stay (Tent #1)

Welcome to Luna Valley Farm, an organic farm nestled deep in a driftless valley, 10 minutes north of Decorah. On our working farm we grow organic crops, rotationally graze sheep and cattle on pasture and invite the community out for wood fired pizza on Friday evenings (and some Saturdays). This is our fourth year hosting glampers on our farm and we hope to have the opportunity to welcome you here! (It is a working farm, but we promise we'll let you relax!) The space Pitched on an oak savanna valley side, our platform tents are furnished with rough sawn hardwood floors, a king bed with luxurious linens and places for you to sit and read or write or simply relax. Each tent includes a private patio where you can listen to the birds sing and watch the sheep graze. Our tents are 12x14 and are furnished with a king sized bed, night stands, dresser and bedside lamps. Both ends of the tent can be tied open to allow beautiful summer breezes to pass through. On the back side of the tent you have a 12x13’ private patio with two adirondack chairs and a table where you can watch the birds or read a good book. Tents come equipped with two LED lanterns and a large battery pack, which powers the bedside lamps and can be used to charge a laptop or ipad. Cell phone service is spotty down here in our valley, allowing you to truly feel like you’re away. If you need to connect, a wifi network is available to guests for use down by the barn where the bathrooms are located. We provide all bedding including sheets, blankets, bedspreads and a down comforter (in case it’s a chilly evening) and also provide a variety of pillows so you can find one that suits your sleeping preferences. The bathhouse is located a 3-4 minute walk from the tents, in our barn. We provide towels and eco-friendly shampoo, conditioner and soap and a spot for you to store your toiletries so you don’t have to carry them back and forth. There are two bathrooms, one of which contains a big beautiful tiled shower (you’ll love it). If you look close enough you’ll even notice some of the original barn beams that have been incorporated into the design. The canvas wall tents come with a deep history. For years our local Girl Scout Camp (Camp Tahigwa) hosted groups of girls for week-long camps in the summer, some of which were in wall tents in the woods, overlooking the local trout stream. When the camp got sold a few years ago, we purchased a few of the tents with the dream of someday pitching them on our farm to welcome guests for a farm stay! We have a passion for breathing new life into remnants of the past and doing what we can to repurpose things of deep history and profound beauty. A local Amish tarp repair shop helped us fix up the tents and they have found a new life on our farm, where we hope they will be enjoyed for many years to come. When we bought our farm eight years ago we fell in love with the burr oak trees on all the valley sides. They had become severely overgrown and one of our goals is to restore them to the oak savanna that they once were. The first place we’ve cleared is the glamping site! It is one of our favorite parts of the farm and we’re excited to share it with you. From the tent you have views of oak trees, pastures, birds and our (hopefully not too weedy) garden. If you walk around our farm you’ll get to see the Canoe Creek, solar panels that power our farm, sheep and cattle grazing, beehives busy at work and a dam/pond that works to mitigate flooding in our watershed. Whether you’re here to visit the breweries, trout fish, mountain bike, visit kids at Luther or just get away from it all for awhile, we know you’re going to love Decorah and we’re happy to share information about our favorite local places so you can make the most of your stay. Guest access On Friday nights you’ll share the farm with everyone who comes from near and far for pizza. For the rest of the weekend you’ll just be sharing the farm with us, one other tent of glampers and lots of cute animals. Occasionally we are open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays (holiday weekends) and sometimes we also host private parties. In those cases, we will do our best to give you a heads up so you know what to expect. If you're here for a midweek stay, you'll just be sharing the farm with us and all the farm animals! Bathrooms are located in the barn and are shared with other glamping guests throughout the weekend. You are welcome to wander our field roads, hang out down by the Canoe Creek or take a walk on the gravel roads around the neighborhood. Parking - We ask you to drive to the end of our driveway and to park on the right, past all of our outbuildings. The tents will be on the left and are accessible by field road and mulched path into the oak savanna. Please do not drive on the field road to the tents. Other things to note Parking is a short walk from the tent and includes a steep uphill climb. Bathrooms are located in the barn, a 3-4 minute walk from the tents. For your convenience we will have a space for you to keep toiletries so you don't need to take the back and forth from the tent to the bathrooms. Pasture Raised Meat: After experiencing our farm, many of our guests are interested in taking home meat from our pastures. We try to keep a good supply of our 100% grass fed beef and lamb in stock and also have heritage pork. Let us know if you’re interested in taking home some meat and we’ll gladly help you stock up. More information about our meat can be found on our website. We are open to the public every Friday from 4-8pm for wood-fired pizza and drinks and hope you'll arrive early enough to join us! While we haven't had too much of an issue with mosquitos down here (knock on wood), we do have seasonal pests like gnats, flies and ticks. The tents are outfitted with natural bug spray. We've slept out in our tents a lot and haven't had any issues with bugs but some people are sweeter than others so you might find that they're more attracted to you. :) Part of the charm of the tents is that they open up and aren't air tight but this also means they aren't bug or rodent proof. We keep several mouse traps throughout the tents to catch the occasional critter that might find its way in, but know that you are sleeping outside so there is always a chance of something coming in uninvited. We ask that you keep food and beverages in the cooler that we provide as one way to reduce temptation for critters. Tents are always cleaned the day you arrive and we leave them looking spic and span so please excuse any leaves or bugs that might find their way in between the time we clean and the time you enter the tent. We wish we could guarantee perfect weather for your stay but weather is always unpredictable, no matter the time of year. We hope you get sun and gorgeous temps but please be sure to pay attention to the weather in the days leading up to your stay and pack accordingly. If rain is in the forecast you’ll want rubber boots and a raincoat. If it looks to be chilly, bring your layers. We do what we can to help you have a comfortable stay but sometimes Mother Nature has different ideas. This may be fancy camping, but it’s still camping and there are elements. Be ready for an adventure! Dog and Cat: We have a Border Collie named Noche (night in Spanish) and a black cat named Ella. Both are friendly and will probably find you at some point during your stay. Noche loves to play fetch with her frisbee and will also chase rocks, but because we love her teeth and don't love vet bills, we ask that you please don't throw rocks for her...even if she gives you that cute puppy dog look and asks nicely.