Two more Farm Camps have come and gone in the blink of an eye and these busy gardeners are in full swing of a wonderful garden windfall. This is the busy time of the growing season for us and we worked with the children over the past couple of weeks teaching them about garden management even in the middle of some very dry, hot days.

Week 2 of camp we taught the little gardeners about crop rotation. Some of our plants had given us all they could and we were ready to replant the area with a new plant. We showed them how to remove the old plants, save the seeds that we could, and how to prepare and replant a new vegetable that could replenish the soil. We put in some potatoes and some garlic. We also readied a few raised beds  for lettuce, peppers, and our second batch of beans. The cucumbers are growing like crazy so the little gardeners got a chance to harvest and can their own jar of pickles. We made some very delicious refrigerator dills. While back at my house I have been busy making my Grandmas very old recipe for Cracked Ice Bread and Butter pickles. Let us know if you would like to get a jar, you won’t be disappointed.

Week 3 continued what we started the previous camps. We like to start with our foundation of the basics of organic gardening and composting. We also like to make sure we pay homage to the bees, earthworms and and beneficial creatures that we see on a day to day basis in the garden. We noticed that the Tiger Swallowtails are really prevalent this year and they pretty much wiped out our dill and cilantro. As disappointed as we are about the loss of those great herbs the butterfly is just so beautiful to look at we will let them stay. After we build the foundation we like to expand on that. So the little gardeners all received field journals and even those to young to write were able to draw about their experiences. We learned about plants and their functions, and an in depth up close lesson on stems and leaves. We ate leaves and stems, did science experiments with them, talked about how the smallest vegetable such as a carrot to the tallest like a tree all have  similar functions. We illustrated, touched and even hugged trees. We really got into plants this week! Each week also brings something  ripe for the picking and this week was our abundance of tomatoes. The little gardeners all picked tomatoes and herbs to make the tastiest jars of salsa that they were able to take home to their families. Speaking of herbs we also have more mint, spearmint and lemon mint then we can possibly handle so we made wonderful scented herb sachets that the children can use in the tub for an herbal bath. After the garden lessons and the nature walks and the cooking and crafts activity we had the little gardeners join our friend Mary Patterson of Kids Move for some spirited physical activity which all tied in to the theme of the day. Thanks so much Mary the kids really enjoyed your activities. Truth be told so did the adults! You got us involved in secret sit ups, very sneaky.

As always we would like to give a big thank you to our helpers Jake, Nicole, Katy and Brian. We also enjoyed the help of Olivia and Maryann. You guys really help us keep the little gardeners involved and entertained.

Thanks are also due to Cornelia for her wonderful yoga lesson in week 2. Truly a relaxing, calming experience that the children go home and tell their families about.

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