On the evening of Saturday, December 19, the barn at Gale Woods Farm will open for Tomte Solstice Magic. The program is built on the Scandinavian Tomte tradition. Guests visit the animals, take a short luminary walk or a snowshoe if there is snow, make a felted wool Tomte while someone plays Swedish music on the nyckelharpa, and finish with s'mores around the fire. It costs $15 per person, and the five sessions begin every half hour from 4 to 6 PM.
The Three Rivers listing set Wednesday, October 21, as the first day to register for that evening. That is two months ahead of the event, and it follows the schedule that sets nearly the whole winter calendar at the farm on Whaletail Lake.
A Farm That Drew Thousands This Fall
Gale Woods is a working farm run by Three Rivers Park District at 7210 County Road 110 W. in Minnetrista, close to the western shores of Lake Minnetonka. It is not a quiet corner of the west metro. The Laker Pioneer reported that this year's Fall Fest drew more than 4,000 people, along with 80 volunteers and about 50 staff. New this year was the MinneApple Fiddling Contest, with 30 participants ages 3 to 66. Community members also built a traditional felted Mongolian yurt, which will stay on site as a play space for children.
The same report said the Star of the North Stockdog Trial moved to October 9 through 11 to make room for the World Sheep Dog Trial in Scotland and the National Sheepdog Finals in California. Organizer Pearse Ward told the paper that the trial, now in its 20th year at Gale Woods, has one of the most picturesque trial fields in the world.
The winter programs are far smaller. In mid-October, each Tomte session listed 36 spots and the December wreath class listed 14. Once the open fields of October give way to the barn, the classroom and the fire ring, getting in depends on registering when sign-up opens.
December's Sign-Up Day Was Set for October 21
According to its program registration page, Three Rivers program registration "typically opens at 8 AM on the third Wednesday of each month for programs happening two months later." Sign-up is online or by phone at 763-559-6700. The program page also notes that the district recently launched a new reservation and registration system, so returning users may want to confirm their account works before the next opening morning.
The farm's December public programs follow that rule. All three list the same first day of sign-up:
| Program | Date and time | Cost | Ages | Sign-up window |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Wreath Making | Sun., Dec. 6, 12:30 to 3 PM | $40 per person | 18 and up | Oct. 21 to Dec. 6 |
| Family Needle Felting: Holiday Creations | Sun., Dec. 13, 1 to 3:30 PM | $50 per group of up to three, with one adult | 6 and up | Oct. 21 to Dec. 10 |
| Tomte Solstice Magic | Sat., Dec. 19, sessions starting 4 to 6 PM | $15 per person | All ages | Oct. 21 to Dec. 19 |
The wreath class uses greenery and other natural materials gathered at the farm, and participants take the finished wreath home. In the needle felting session, families make three small holiday sculptures and visit the sheep whose wool they are working with. These programs are the farm's own products turned into holiday gifts, so they are naturally small.
What a Month Did to September's Openings
The best guide to how December will go is how November went. November programs opened on Wednesday, September 16. By mid-October, the Three Rivers listings showed what four weeks had done to them:
- My Preschooler & Me: Farm Beginnings: both November 4 sessions were waitlisted.
- My Preschooler & Me: Puppet Escapades on November 19 was sold out.
Some family programs on a separate homeschool registration track, which opened in July, had filled too. Pasta Palooza on November 17 was waitlisted. The December 10 Holiday Gifts & Winter Play Day had a waitlist in both age groups. Homeschool Family: Holiday Needle Felting on December 15 was sold out.
The pattern is clearest in the programs built for young children and families, which are the ones most likely to land on a December weekend. The most current status for any session is on the Gale Woods program listings. The snapshot above is from mid-October and has certainly changed.
November Still Had Room, Starting With Brew Fest
Not everything books up the same way. In mid-October, several of the farm's adult workshops for November still listed open seats:
- Saori Weaving with fiber artist Chiaki O'Brien, Saturday, November 7, 1 to 4 PM, $75. Participants take home what they weave, whether it turns out to be a scarf, a table runner or a wall hanging.
- Farm to Pantry: Herbal Infusions and Broths, Monday evening, November 9, $40.
- Needle Felted Pet Class, Saturday morning, November 14, $40. Bring a photo of your pet to work from.
- Fantastic Fat! All About Tallow, Sunday, November 15, $45. The workshop uses rendered tallow from the farm's grass-fed beef.
- Holiday Felted Stocking, Sunday afternoon, November 22, starting at 12:30 PM, $55.
The Saori Weaving class overlaps by an hour with the year's largest ticketed event at the farm. The 13th annual Tonka Brew Fest runs from 3 to 6 PM on Saturday, November 7, with live music from The Selmer Effect, slow-smoked barbecue and a commemorative tasting glass for each guest. The organizer advertises unlimited samples from more than 15 Minnesota breweries. The Laker Pioneer's Westonka fall preview put the count at 22 and added that raffle prizes are new this year. Tickets are $50, or $55 at the door, and proceeds support community and humanitarian projects of the Mound-Westonka Rotary, which organizes the event. Tickets are sold through tonkabrewfest.org.
Two weeks later comes the farm's most direct look at its own animals. Gale Woods keeps about 60 Finnsheep and shears the flock twice a year, in March and November, according to the Laker Pioneer. Sheep Shearing and Holiday Gifts runs Saturday, November 21, from 9:30 AM to noon. Admission is $6 per person, and felted make-and-take items such as soap scrubbies and ornaments cost $4 to $7 each. It is open to ages 5 and up, and preregistration is required. In mid-October the listing showed 185 spots. Each Tomte session showed 36. That difference in capacity is why one of these two holiday events can be a last-minute plan and the other needs to be booked early.
The Part of the Farm That Needs No Reservation
The registration calendar covers only the barn and the classroom. The rest of Gale Woods stays open to anyone, any day:
- The grounds are free and open daily from 5 AM to 10 PM. Three miles of unpaved hiking trails pass the pastures, where chickens, cattle, sheep, guard dogs, cats and pigs may be out.
- Snowshoe trails cover 4.2 ungroomed miles through rolling fields and forest, past undeveloped lakeshore and wetlands. Rentals are available in winter when conditions allow.
- The farm store is open Monday through Saturday from 9 AM to 5 PM and Sunday from noon to 5 PM. It sells frozen beef, lamb, pork and chicken raised on the farm, plus eggs, first come, first served. For gifts, it carries wool, roving, yarn, fiber tools, handmade wool gifts, activity kits, books, toys and gift cards.
Two rules shape a visit without a reservation. The barn opens only during scheduled events, so meeting the animals up close requires a program. Dogs are not allowed anywhere at Gale Woods out of consideration for the farm animals. The farm announces product availability and sales in its newsletter, which is the most direct way to hear when meat or wool goods are stocked ahead of the holidays.
The Next Third Wednesday Is November 18
Under the same rule, January's programs at Gale Woods should open at 8 AM on Wednesday, November 18. February's follow on December 16. A December weekend at the farm can include a free snowshoe loop, a stop at the farm store for lamb and yarn, and a Tomte session by the fire, but only if the session was booked weeks ahead.
At The Debbie McNally Group, we follow the seasonal calendar around Lake Minnetonka as closely as the market itself. If the farm and the communities of the western lake are part of what you're weighing for your next move, we'd be glad to help. Schedule a private consultation.
