2022 Farm Camp Recap - Week 8 (July 25-29)
Monday - Welcome & Orientation
Willows (Mr. Kyle)
I began by playing a game of bandana ball toss in order to introduce myself and so the students might leaner my and each other’s names. We then played a stretching game of Simon Says in order to limber up, which the kids enjoyed. After a hydration game we set out to tour the farm. I introduced them to the loofah gourd bed and the tulsi row, and pointed out bees and butterflies as we walked, and harvested leaves for sun tea. A little while later we went on our scavenger hunt; it worked well to stay together in a group, moving single file style with me at the head of the line. After snack, some free play, and a quick game of Buzzing Bee, we told insect tales and learned about the ant-eater’s journey toward becoming a lacewing. The students enjoyed helping pull the cart with surplus bags in it, although they found the hot road a challenging distance to traverse. We ate lunch in the Tasting Room and made art with seeds provided and also seeds gleaned from our garden tour earlier. The students went out to water play and had a good time.
Oaks (Ms. Nora)
Welcome to farm camp everyone! We started off strong with a name game, passing a ball around and practicing calling each other by name, even trying to go backwards. Then, we went over our agreements that help keep us safe like, we agree to: be kind with our words, respect each other's boundaries and be safe with our hands and feet. After going over some ground rules, we took a tour around the farm, stopping to admire the chickens and roosters, and check out our special composting toilet. We were feeling pretty hot by mid morning, so we stopped for a snack and some hydration games. Next, we went out to the fields to harvest seeds, running all over the farm to find viable seeds in different wildflowers and medicinal plants. Success! We collected plenty of seeds and headed back to our class to separate and process them! By this time it was half past noon so we headed up to the tasting room for lunch and to cool down. After lunch, we played in the slip n slide for the rest of the day!
Tuesday - Critter Day
Willows (Mr. Kyle)
After an initial storytelling exercise, Nora and I combined classes and moved to Mr. Braden’s classroom for a high-octane game of Bird Survival. All of the students participated with undiminished exuberance, though a few of the younger kids began to flag and needed to sit out for a round or two. Then we returned to the farm for a game of Bird Bingo. Incentivizing my students with a “surprise” for any who got four bingo squares crossed off in a row yielded swift results. Again we stayed together as a group while moving around the beds looking for birds. I doled out freshly felled sunflowers in watering cans to the triumphant bird bingo’ers, although later I sadly forgot to bring them up to lunch with us. After lunch we helped Ms. Nora make watermelon mint popsicles with mint we harvested that morning. The students were all aglow with popsicle anticipation and ran off their excess energy outside during water play time.
Oaks (Ms. Nora)
Day two began with a lively combined game of bird survival in the forest, where we pretended to be hawks, blue jays and sparrows carrying food from one nest to another without getting attacked by the blue jays! We worked up quite a sweat running around, so we stopped for some hydration games and a snack. Feeling rejuvenated, we took to the fields to harvest a very special watermelon for our afternoon activities, we also learned how to identify plants in the mint family, by their square stem, opposite leaves and strong smell. After our bountiful harvest, we talked about bird language and listened for the songs and chirps of nearby birds. By then, it was time to head to lunch so we packed up and hiked to the tasting room. With full bellies, we moved on to our afternoon activity-popsicles! We blended the watermelon, and mint together with lime, coconut water and honey for a delicious treat. With popsicles in the freezer, we headed outside for some fun in the sun, a water relay game and some free play on the slip n slide.
Wednesday - Harvest Day
Willows (Mr. Kyle)
We began the day with a game of animal changes, wherein one student chooses the others one by one to tap with their magic wand, thus imbuing the tapped child with the power of metamorphosis. I was surprised by the way they organized the game and continued it through multiple rounds after my initial set-up and instruction. It worked well and they had fun acting out different animal motions for their peers to name, and often mis-name! For harvest day we picked okra for pickling. Before that, however, we walked to creek where I invited the students to quest for a single stone that called to them; this would be their “sit stone” and accompany them to their sit-spots in the forest above the creek. We sat in our sit spots for five minutes, which felt to be about the average time the students could tolerate. I asked them about their likes/dislikes, difficulties/successes with sit spot and received honest and insightful answers.In the lunch-room we enjoyed our food and I told a Native American myth about two wolves, light and shadow. Afterward we launched our okra pickling project and talked about the various foods that humans pickle and serve and the correlation between brine and the saltwater in our blood, sweat and tears! The students went out to water play and refreshed themselves.
Oaks (Ms. Nora)
Wednesday morning we started with some time for free play on the playground followed by a game of poison dart frog. Then we went out into the fields to harvest eggplant for our afternoon activity. After being out in the heat for a bit, we played several rounds of would you rather hydration style. We took some time to climb the tree, getting into our bodies before stopping for snack. After a quick refuel, we began going over the ABCs of carving to prepare everyone with proper knife safety tips. T-tool not toy, A-always ask permission, B- blood bubble, C- carve off & away, D-don't get distracted & E- end with everything away. Escaping from the hot sun, we spent some time carving sticks in the shade. By this time it was almost noon, so we headed up to lunch to roast our eggplants. After eating, we combined the roasted eggplant, garlic, tahini, lemon and spices into a delicious baba ganoush! At the end of the day, we snacked on it and finished with some time on the slip n' slide before going home.
Thursday - Flower Day
Willows (Mr. Kyle)
We started flower day by visiting the flower beds in the north-east garden with scissors and harvest baskets in tow. Each student was allotted one flowerhead of a different color to add to our flower-dye palate. I also encouraged them to gather leaves of grass and plants for a robust green color. Farmers were nearby in the fields and I learned a lot on the spot, reminded by Farmer Austen that flowers are the fruit of a plant and to pick one off a farm box crop is the same as picking the finished fruit itself! We admired the loofah gourds on their stems and later saw a dried-out spongy specimens in the tasting room. After hydration games, I sent the students on another scavenger hunt of sorts with paint samples from the hardware store. Each child found an astonishingly close match somewhere in the garden, though some despaired along the way and needed support and help from myself and peers. We drew with colored pencils on paper and experimented with pounding out colors form flowers and stems onto white cloths. The students enjoyed this enterprise with obvious relish, creating percussive tempos and rhythms as they painted their cloth with colors from the garden. We played a game of Robber Bee and the Blind Queen (variation of Blind Samurai), snacked and drank plenty of water, then trekked to the Tasting Room when the time came. The students needed some guidance in sharing the cart-pulling duties fairly across the class. In the tasting room we made confetti crackers, ate our watermelon popsicles, and read a book called How Groundhog’s Garden Grew, then went out to the slip-n-slide.
Oaks (Ms. Nora)
We began our day with a few rounds of blindfolded samurai led by Mr. Kyle to get our bodies ready for the day before heading into our morning game of Seagulls and French Fries. We worked up quite a sweat running around and stealing peoples bandanas, so we took a break for some hydration games. After that, we went out to the fields to harvest colorful flowers for our activity, making bookmarks. We arranged the flowers on a strip of paper and used hammers to transfer the pigment to the paper, then tied a string to them to finish them off. We worked up an appetite by then, so we took a break for snack while Ms. Nora read the story of Lady Bird Johnson. Afterwards, we did a mystery game with egg cartons, with two opposite categories written on each, we collected different items around the farm that fit into the categories and then tried to guess the themes. By then, it was lunchtime so we headed up to the tasting room. After refueling, we went on a hike up the hill to look for the cows. We didn't find them, but we did find a spectacular view and play an engaging game of flock of birds, pretending to be different animals and activating our primal selves. Then, we moved to water play, and got to eat our popsicles from the day before! What a tasty snack.
Friday - Bees & Butterflies
Willows (Mr. Kyle)
At the students’ request we played another student-directed game of animal changes, which went well, and told “weird dream” stories during water-sipping time. While it was still early I lead them to the basil bed and we harvest a tub-full for basil bouquets, which we tied together and set in water after snack. Between snack and lunch I let them each have a turn with my sound-making instruments: singing bowl and djembe drum, then drummed and told part of a South American myth. I ended where the first green seedling has just risen from a mat of ashy destruction. In good timing, Ms. Bridget arrived just then to help the students plant kale seeds, as if picking up where the story left off! Love it when it works like that! We transitioned to the tasting room and this time the journey didn’t seem quite so arduous! The children all showed good responsibility handling knives and a strong work ethic when it came time to whip up some salsa. They had fun playing with masa and slapping tortillas out on their palms, once they got the feel for it. We also finally dipped into Monday’s sun tea, and ironically found it a weak decoction, owing to a short time spent in the sun and a long time in the Tasting Room fridge. The students ended their week on a high note skidding down the slip-n-slide and went home with basil bouquets and jars of salve (which can be used for cuts and bug bites - best kept in a cool place.)
Oaks (Ms. Nora)
For our final day of farm camp, we started off with a tracking game where we split into two teams, mammoth and hunter, then the mammoth fled from the group, dropping a trail of flour for the hunter to track. We used natural camouflage and walkie talkies to add to the imaginative scenario. After our game, we took a break for snack and water and spent some time climbing the tree at our class site before heading out again to look for real animal tracks this time. We spotted armadillo, road runner and fox tracks in the sand and followed them until we lost the trail. Then, we went on a plant walkabout to learn about some of the medicinal, edible and toxic plants native to our ecosystem including the ash juniper & mesquite trees, Texas persimmons and prickly pear. After learning about all the uses of prickly pear, we had to harvest some of the fruit and pad and taste it. Everyone enjoyed getting to try the fruits of our labor after several minutes of removing thorns and glochids. By then, it was about lunch time so we headed up to the tasting room. Sticking with our theme of medicinal plants, after lunch we made a salve from an herbal infused oil with calendula, lavender and pine and added beeswax for a soothing, healing skin salve best for rashes, scrapes and bites. Towards the end of the day we played in the slip n slide closing out with a bittersweet goodbye.
Registration is now open for our Nature & Farm School in the Fall. We offer homeschool classes on Tuesdays and Fridays and weekend classes, too. Register before August 13th for early bird discount!
