Week One Camp Comes to a Close

The week sure flew by! Our first week of summer camps on the farm has come to a close and we move forward into a new week. We wrapped up on Friday with a review of all the different activities everyone got to participate in and everything the kids learned about farming. When asked "did we give anything back to the earth this week?" one garden explorer remarked, "Of course! We composted!"

The farmers for a week concluded by creating their own mini farmers market. The produce was vegetables they harvested themselves from the garden, the customers were their parents and the educators, and the currency was sour grapes from the garden. I was able to buy some garlic for 4 grapes from one of the vendors. There was even some price competition going on between the farmers, what a great simulation! 

The garden explorers made some delicious pickles! They mixed five small cucumbers (chopped) with 4 tablespoons of sugar, let the mixture sit until watery, then added sprigs of dill, 3 teaspoons salt, and 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar. We enjoyed these pickles right away, what a quick fix for a pickle craving! So delicious and completely unprocessed. 

Farmers for a week made raspberry rhubarb jam. A sweet treat on the last day of camp! We used fresh raspberries from the farm's perennial garden and rhubarb from the learning garden. Combine 4 pounds rhubarb/raspberry mixture with 4 cups sugar, juice of one lemon, and 1.5 cups water. Heat over medium heat until it reaches close to desired consistency (about 30 minutes, it will thicken as it cools). We enjoyed immediately, but you could also keep it in a jar in the fridge. 

I hope all of our campers had as much fun this week as I did and I can't wait to see what this next week has in store!