2022 Farm Camp Recap - Week 4 (June 27 - July 1)

Monday - Welcome & Orientation

Welcome to farm camp! We began with introductions and a name game, followed by a few rounds of Poison Dart Frog to get us all acquainted and comfortable in the new environment. After that, we went over some agreements to ensure the safety and well being was prioritized before going into our first activity, a scavenger hunt! We searched to find many things including, pollinators, leaves bigger than our hands-and smaller than our pinky nails, specific flowers, crops and tools around the farm. By the end of our scavenger hunt it was getting pretty hot so we headed back to our shady classroom for some water and a snack. During snack, we talked about the difference between compost and trash and what kinds of items can go in each of them, as well as why we want to compost. Then, Ms. Nora told a true story about the mycelial network and how it helps trees to communicate and support one another. Later on, we headed up to the tasting room for lunch and some time to cool down, the hike was quite a challenge for some of us who packed heavy backpacks, but we dug deep for our inner strength and made it up the hill by noon! After lunch, we played a game of Metamorphosis and learned how to do 'spider weaving' with popsicle sticks and a toilet paper roll. To top it all off, we finished the day with some time on the slip n' slide.

 Tuesday - Native Pollinators Day

Feeling more familiar with one another on day 2, we started off with a game of Fire in the Forest where we learned about local animals and got to get our bodies moving. After our sweaty game, we took a break to hydrate and have a snack while Ms. Nora told the story of Medusa-per request. After that, we went on a short hike to observe a bug habitat that had been built from a cinder block and cut flowers, wood and straw. We read a book called “The Bumblebee Queen” and talked about bumblebee life cycles and behaviors, mentioning how they find flowers, by being attracted to their bright colors! We moved into our afternoon activity, which was wet felting. We each got to choose three colors of wool roving to work with, using hot water and soap to get the fibers to grab on to one other, creating a piece of felted cloth. Some of the students were very creative imagining sunsets, flowers and clouds in their colors. Once it started to get to the heat of the day, we headed up the hill once more for lunch, singing the Grandmother Song and trying our best to endure the heat without too much complaining. After a break in the A/C and a refuel at lunch, we played a lively game of Weasels and Squirrels. We had so much fun we didn't want to stop! But we had to move on to our next activity, butter making. We put heavy whipping cream in a jar and took turns shaking it until it was solid, and we kept our minds occupied while doing it with a riddle-the green glass door. At the end of this rewarding day we took some time to play in the water before parent pickup.

 Wednesday - Harvest Day

On Wednesday, we started off with some positive affirmations as a group. Recognizing some of the challenges the previous day had regarding the elements and our attitudes, we said out loud "I am strong, I am resilient, I can handle any challenge that comes my way!" repeating the words of encouragement a few times before going into our morning game of Seagulls and French Fries. After lots of running around, we moved into harvesting lots of basil for our afternoon activity. Here, we learned about ethical harvesting rules and how to cut the plants so that they can easily grow back. When we returned from the harvest, we drank some sun tea we had made on Monday and had a snack while we cooled down. We took turns climbing the 'Wonder Tree' and played Poison Dart Frog again before going on a plant walkabout where we learned about the medicinal and wild edible plants on the land including Texas Persimmon, Honey Mesquite, Ash Juniper, and Nettles. We made our way to the tasting room for lunch, and afterwards spent the afternoon making pesto pasta from scratch! We used a mortar and pestle to crush garlic, while others grated parmesan, and chopped basil. It was a little spicy because of the raw garlic but so much fun to make, yum! By the end of the day, we had so much fun we even lost track of time and skipped water play, oops.

 Thursday - Flower Day

We started the day on Thursday with a game of Monarchs and Viceroys, keeping a close watch to try to figure out who was the odd one out. Shortly after our game, we met up with Ms. Bridget to harvest seeds from the farm! We spent some time talking about how and why we might want to save seeds before heading out into the fields to experience what it's like to collect our own. We also stopped to learn about some edible flowers and harvest them for our afternoon activity. After our harvest, we returned to the shady cedar elm tree and took a break to have a snack and some water. Ms. Nora read A Seed Is Sleepy and we learned about how different seeds are spread and carried, and how they sprout and grow in cycles. This story lead us right into processing our seeds so that they could be easily stored and used in the future. We used screens and our hands to separate the seed from the chaff, winnowing in the wind, and garbling to break down the plant matter. We learned so many new words! Shortly after, we headed into the tasting room to help create fresh flower arrangements for the the restaurant tables. We then had lunch and after everyone was done eating, we made confetti canapés with the edible flowers! First, taking the time to process them and pick off the petals, and then spreading cream cheese on crackers before sprinkling the petals on top. We ended our day with some time on the slip n slide and running through the sprinkler before it was time to go.

Friday - Tracking and Tomatoes

A bittersweet end to the week began with a game of Bat and Moth, where we sharpened our awareness skills by using our fox feet, and listening closely while blindfolded. Shortly after this, we headed into the fields where we took time to harvest tomatoes, looking carefully to see if they were ripe, checking the ground for any fallen that we might be able to recover. Coming back into shade for a break, we stopped for water and a snack and Ms. Nora read the story of the Midwife and the Djinn, sweet and inspiring. As the afternoon came on, we played a tracking game with flour, splitting into two teams and leaving a trail for the other team to follow as we hid, stealthy and sneaky. We had so much fun learning to look for tracks and even stopped to observe some armadillo tracks, and possibly a set of fox tracks too! This exciting afternoon lead us into lunch and we sang songs as we hiked up the hill in high spirits. At the top, we stopped to say hi to the cows and headed in for some food. We brought in the tomatoes harvested from earlier, and began to process them to make salsa with onion and pepper for flavor. It was so delicious we ate almost half the bowl with healthy, salty chips. After our refreshing treat, we moved outside for some time on the slip n slide, it was so hot Ms. Nora even took a turn to cool down! What a wonderful week at farm camp, it was hard to leave.

Hope to see y’all back for more- we still have some openings in July!