Community Calendar

Recipe for abundance is a grassroots community-building organization that organzies free community parties to encourage mutual aid between neighbors through music, art, & food.

This free live music event provided by local artists will also include community art, a community swap, free food, yoga, dance, bike servicing, a fermentation workshop, and more. All of which is provided for free!

Raptor Piñata Making
We love working with our birds of prey, and they need a lot of enrichment to keep their brains active. Help us keep our birds occupied by making bird piñatas!

Hiding food in shreddable containers is a great enrichment for our raptors, and it’s great to have unique exciting piñatas for them to destroy. Create a fun new toy for our birds and learn about the ways we keep our predators engaged and happy.

Saturday, September 5, 2026, 10 am-12 pm

Meet: Classroom inside the Visitor Center. This is a drop-in program.

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; KNC Members free!

Audience: All ages

Nature Journaling
Immerse yourself in the art of slowing down, looking closely, and connecting more deeply with the natural world. These nature journaling workshops are designed for anyone—who wants to cultivate a mindful, creative practice that blends observation, writing, and sketching.

These workshops invite you to step outdoors (or view nature from a window) and tune in to textures, colors, patterns, and stories unfolding around you. Along the way, you’ll explore topics such as seasonal change, nature-based mindfulness, basic field sketching techniques, and how to use your journal as a tool for wonder and awareness.

Please bring your own sketch or notebook. A limited amount of supplies will be available for those who may have misplaced their journal.

Meet: Glen Vista Gallery inside the Visitor Center
Fee: KNC Members are free; Non-Members $10
Audience: Teens, adults
Time: 10:00 – 11:30AM

Please join us the first Saturday of each month at 9 AM (barring special events or bad weather which will be announced on our Facebook page), for "Beginning Birding Walks," led by experienced birders from the Audubon Society of Kalamazoo. This event is free and open to the public. Meet at the second parking lot at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan, just off SR 43. All skill levels are welcome.

We will enjoy nature while typically identifying 20-40 species of birds, plus butterflies, frogs, etc. Over 200 bird species have been sighted at Wolf Lake, which offers a variety of habitats and easy walking trails. Annual highlights include colorful songbirds like orioles, warblers, tanagers, hawks and eagles, kingfishers, Great Blue and Green Herons, and over 20 species of waterfowl. Eastern Bluebirds can be found year-round! Children accompanying adults are welcome. The focus is on birding fundamentals, and extra binoculars are always available. The walk typically takes about 2 hours (but feel free to arrive late or leave early).

This beginner class will be a walk thru the property to examine the utilitarian roles of local herbs, trees, and shrubs. Plants for dyes, fire making, glues, containers, and shelter uses will be explored. Wear walking shoes and dress for the weather.

This hands-on, half-day session covers everything from selecting and prepping tomatoes to safely canning them into jars of pure homemade goodness. Perfect for beginners and seasoned canners alike, you’ll leave with your own jar of canned tomatoes and the confidence to continue canning at home.

Step into the timeless craft of leatherworking in this beginner-friendly class. Students will learn the fundamentals of working with leather while creating their choice of either a leather skillet handle cover or a leather catch-all tray to take home. The class will cover how to select the right hide, lay out patterns, and use of basic leatherworking tools. Students will also practice essential techniques like tooling and stamping, as well as finishing methods.

Join us for an intimate and soulful writing experience with one of our most beloved local writers and poets, Kalamazoo’s own Kira Collins.

Reimagine your connection to the Earth. Re-root your soul in the land & remember your own belonging. We’ll spend time together grounding and feeling the world around us through the written word.

Bring a notebook, writing utensil of choice, water bottle, and something to sit with on the ground.

Think you’re not a poet? You just might surprise yourself!

Saturday, September 12, 2026, 10-11:30am

Meet: Glen Vista Gallery inside the Visitor Center

Fee: KNC Members $28; Non-Members $35

Please Register >

Audience: Adults

Expand your horizons in both survival knowledge and cooking skills! This foraging class involves a lecture and discussion on the wide range of animal foods that can be secured with a bit of knowledge and little effort. This class is not really about conventional hunting or fishing, shining a spotlight on underappreciated animal foods such as grasshoppers, crayfish, and snails.

Step into the timeless craft of leatherworking in this beginner-friendly class. Students will learn the fundamentals of working with leather while creating their choice of either a leather skillet handle cover or a leather catch-all tray to take home. The class will cover how to select the right hide, lay out patterns, and use of basic leatherworking tools. Students will also practice essential techniques like tooling and stamping, as well as finishing methods.