Lodging Options

Accommodations at Sittin’ Pretty are designed to fit a range of group sizes and budgets. Our four charming guest cabins — listed on Airbnb — can sleep up to 20 guests. For groups seeking a more affordable option, we’re happy to rent the entire farm at a lower rate than our Airbnb listings. We also offer dorm-style lodging in our party barn and the Merry Green Marvel, a sleeper coach bus with plenty of character. See more details on our lodging options below.

Looking for adventure?

Our outdoor experiences draw on five years of youth summer camp programming. We provide trained guides who lead safe, engaging excursions—whether hiking through the woods, paddling local waterways, or tackling team-building challenges. Along the way, participants build new skills, gain confidence as a group, and walk away with fresh perspectives and personal insight.

At Sittin’ Pretty Farm, we believe service, learning, and adventure go hand in hand. We’re happy to work closely with group leaders to tailor each retreat to your goals, be it a weekend of outdoor exploration, hands-on service, or a little bit of both. Together, we’ll create an experience that nourishes the spirit, strengthens community, and leaves a lasting impact on the land and the people who call it home.

Service Retreat Lodging Options

Sittin Pretty Farm Service Retreat FAQ

At Sittin’ Pretty Farm, we believe service, learning, and adventure go hand in hand. We’re happy to work closely with group leaders to tailor each retreat to your goals, be it a weekend of outdoor exploration, hands-on service, or a little bit of both. Together, we’ll create an experience that nourishes the spirit, strengthens community, and leaves a lasting impact on the land and the people who call it home.

What is Sittin Pretty Farm? 

Sittin Pretty Farm, along with our Merry Green Marvel summer youth camps, service learning opportunities and the Louisiana Swamp Camp Volunteer Center, are the community outreach programs for our 501c3 non-profit, Further Along.

What is the Driftless region and why does it need your support?

This hilly region in Southwestern Wisconsin we call home is a host to natural wonders and leaders in the natural food and sustainability movements.  The beauty of the area and its many innovators can belie the fact that over 50% of the children in the area are on free or reduced school lunches, a measure of the poverty many residents struggle to break out of. This presents a call to serve these residents as well as learn from the work community leaders are doing to promote more sustainable living systems.

What is the ideal number of volunteers? 

Further Along wants to ensure that you and your students have the opportunity to join us for a vibrant service experience. The ideal number of volunteers for Sittin Pretty Service Retreats (from a project and cost perspective) is 15 (though we can accommodate up to 25-30), but the minimum number of volunteers is 10. Our goal is for you, us and our communities to have a quality experience with motivated volunteers vs. the quantity of volunteers. We will work with you to ensure you are able to assemble a team and have a great trip. 

When can we arrive?

Generally, volunteer groups come in on Saturday but we certainly have flexibility on what works best for your team. Having Sunday as an exploration day gives time to explore Viroqua, hike or schedule a kayak tour. If a Friday afternoon arrival is possible we also offer the chance to be part of one of our pizza farm fundraisers for local non profits. 

What can you add to the adventure and cultural immersion on our trip? 

The Driftless area where we live is a foodie mecca! Take a cooking class with one of our local chefs and put together a memorable farm to table meal that we box up and deliver to local residents in need as well as enjoy within your group for $20/person.

We offer kayak tours of the Mississippi backwaters for $50/person/day or take a guided canoe trip down the Kickapoo River for $50/person/day or down the Wisconsin River for $60/day. These experiences offer a great way to encounter the natural wonders that are the Driftless Region. Additionally, we believe the community members and leaders we interact with tell great stories that speak to the innovation and resilient creativity within the local culture. Our staff can arrange to have local community members join you for one of your debrief sessions where volunteers can engage in dialogue with our local residents and leaders and learn what it is to see a problem and use personal and community resources to create solutions.

What if your team doesn’t reach the required ten volunteer minimum?

We want to support you reaching your target number of team members and being able to join us at Sittin Pretty! If you can't get to ten participants, we can look into other options. For example: If we have another team coming to Sittin Pretty, we can blend in your team without having to raise the per person fee.

Can we still ride the Merry Green Marvel if we choose the bunkhouse option?  

Yes. We want to offer an option for students to ride the Marvel! If capacity allows, you can ride the bus to service and cultural sites without needing your own transportation. The cost for this would be an extra $18/day per volunteer. We can also possibly pick up a group at their point of origin and bring them to the farm, provide transportation through the term of service and then return them to campus.  Rates for this would be based on mileage and driver fee. We’d be happy to provide quotes for this service. You can also choose to stay on the Merry Green Marvel for your entire service experience. See the lodging options on the following page. 

What are the options for trip dates?

We are open to hosting volunteer teams May 1st-November.

Are there ways we can support Further Along/Sittin Pretty besides volunteering?  

Yes!  We of course love it when you show up with a heart dedicated to a week of service, bringing your own version of joy and humor to energize your team’s spirit! This is an incredible blessing to all of us. 

Beyond that we’ve had schools in the past, who had the means, donate to our non profit.  Though our organization operates mostly through volunteer support, we are growing our programs and we want to bring more people into our mission including youth from schools that typically can’t afford these kinds of trips and have limited exposure to these kinds of communities and opportunities for service. We can discuss in more detail if you are interested. 

Further Along is consistently in need of high quality content for our marketing, social media, newsletter and website needs. Any possible assistance in securing a volunteer or intern from your school's photography or media programs to accompany a service trip or help support us when possible, would be a wonderful and impactful way to help the organization. 

We also are very grateful for, and encourage, social media posts, follows and emailing us written testimonials from students and staff that we can use on our site and in marketing materials. And of course, if you have a great experience, we love you spreading the good word with other students and staff at your school and with any other schools you may interact with. 

How much does the Further Along/Sittin Pretty staff get involved with volunteer teams?  

We take our job as your hosts seriously! We are always available to make this a memorable and meaningful service learning experience. That means we want you to have a comfortable, safe place to stay and enjoy scrumptious home cooked meals we prepare together. We’ll accompany you to work sites and work alongside you. Our team will welcome you with an opening circle and bid you farewell with a closing circle and we always enjoy being a part of your reflection circles. Our staff combined has over 60 years of teaching and non profit leadership experience that we have a passion to teach and facilitate from. We also recognize the importance of each group having their own space as needed to build their group trust and process.

What are the projects we would be working on? 

Some of the issues and projects we work on are related to land stewardship and restoration, sustainability, poverty alleviation (Vernon and Crawford counties are among highest in Wisconsin for children on free/reduced school lunch) and the spirituality of the land (we explore the ways we build a relationship with the land that leads to an active role as enthusiasts, caretakers and advocates).

Daily Project Options (depending on community need and service group interest we would draw from these partners):   

• Help with local Living Faith Food Pantry on distribution day. 

• Help with local Habitat for Humanity project. 

• Projects in collaboration with Valley Stewardship Network 

  • Focus on how land stewardship can organize farmers and property owners through local watersheds.  Hands on projects may include assisting with stream bank restoration, tree planting, water testing, invasive removal.

• Projects in collaboration with Kickapoo Valley Reserve.  This may include trail maintenance, invasive removal, stream bank restoration. 

• Work on local organic vegetable farms, learn from farmers' stories of why they chose their life path, values of  land stewardship, giving back to the surrounding community.  Assisting with work of the farm this may include gleaning for food bank distribution.

• Sittin Pretty Farm hosts pizza events/fundraisers every Friday eve, May-October. Each Friday we raise funds for a different local non profit.  With some planning, volunteer groups could join the crew!

• Mississippi River work in conjunction with the Mississippi Valley Conservancy, Friends of Pool9, Allamakee County Conservation  

  • Learn about the history and challenges facing this mighty watershed and take part in restoration, clean up, and habitat improvement projects. These projects would pair with the guided kayak tours of the Mississippi backwaters.  

The focus of these projects would not only be hands-on work, but a chance to hear from and work alongside our local community leaders and learn how they've seen problems, built organizations, created collaborations and carry on the work to problem solve.  

We try to give quality time and interactions in our projects that essentially create a leadership school for visiting students.

What’s a sample itinerary?

Saturday eve: 

• Welcome, Orientation, Dinner

Sunday Morning:

Breakfast

Church Service option

Afternoon:

• Visit Kickapoo Valley Reserve Visitor Center

• Learn history and discuss the current land management plan that includes the Ho Chunk nation, meet with a local elder  

• Hike to Black Hawk rock overlook

• Picnic or back to farm for dinner

Reflections

Monday-Friday (This would be the typical daily schedule): 

7:00 Wake 

7:15 Breakfast prep  

8:00 Breakfast  

8:30 Clean up 

8:45 Depart for project 

Noon (bag lunch in field) 

4:30 Wrap up project  

5:00 Dinner prep

6:00 Dinner 

6:45 Clean up 

7:15 Reflections/campfire

What should I bring?

Here's a packing list for the team members. The key is to prepare for all kinds of weather.  Louisiana can get freezing temps in Winter and Spring as well as pushing into the 90s. Prepare for it all. Look at the forecast just before you leave to get an idea of what to expect.

• Water bottle 

• Long underwear or other inner layers (Think layers! If you’re warm you can peel a layer and then put back on if you chill)

• Hooded sweatshirt 

• Warm winter hat

• Sun hat (Super important. The sun cooks uncovered heads!)

• Shorts -  that you don’t mind getting dirty! (We are gonna get dirty, embrace it!) 

• Work pants long preferably light weight that dry out easily (Super important especially when working in forests and fields)

• 4 pair warm socks

• Rain boots mid calf 

• Rain jacket and pants (pants not essential) - At times we may work in light rain 

• Pillow 

• Warm Sleeping bag (We have some sleeping bags we rent out for $20 /week per volunteer) 

• Sunglasses 

• A small towel 

• Work gloves (provided by Further Along)

• Personal hygiene kit 

• Make sure your phone has a flashlight or bring a small flashlight

• Sunscreen  

Do not overpack!  Everything you need in a duffel or carry on bag. This is a service trip where simplicity is essential.   

Note:

• Please bring your own group first aid.

• This list does not include what you need for traveling and walking about town.

What can I expect to eat during a Sittin Pretty Service Retreat?

Note: All volunteers participate in the set up, service, breakdown and clean up of meals during their service week

We aim to satisfy a hunger that comes from a fulfilling day of service work!! Our offerings are nourishing, wholesome and when possible - fresh and organic. We serve in a buffet style that creates choices for meat eaters to vegans. Please let us know if you have any food restrictions.  We strive to create as little food waste as possible through encouraging you to take only what you can eat and we practice food composting. Here’s some common entrees:

Breakfast 

• Oatmeal Self Serve Bar: oatmeal with fresh fruit and nut choices, dairy and non dairy toppings, spice and sweeteners 

• Pancakes with fresh fruit and hand whipped cream, real maple syrup

• French Toast similar toppings as pancakes 

• Scrambled eggs with cheese and veggies

• Breakfast Burrito

Lunch 

• Prepare and bag your own lunch to carry to project 

• Choose from Breads, spreads, meats, cheese, veggie spreads, fruits, snacks

Dinner

• Build your own burrito

• Mash potato bar

• Pesto Pasta

• Pasta with red or white sauce

• Sweet Potato with peanut sauce

• All dinners have veggies!