We can hardly believe that we’re already halfway through Dirt Camp! We’ve had a wonderful three days with your campers!
We cared for the farm animals this morning. This is usually a highlight for the campers, and they love interacting with their furry and feathered friends!
We spent time in the garden talking about hugelkultur, which is built by layering materials to create a raised garden bed. First, we dug a little bit into the ground and began layering small logs and chunks of wood. Next, we layered smaller branches and twigs, and we added leaves and other quick-composting materials on top. Finally, we buried the entire mound in a layer of soil. Hugelkultur (which means “hill culture” or “hill mound”) is a great way to help the soil retain moisture, build fertility, and maximize space. Fruits, vegetables, and herbs grow especially well in hugelkultur mounds. Under natural conditions, it takes 400-500 years to create an inch of topsoil, and hugelkultur encourages that process to happen faster.
Orange Peppers work on their hugelkultur bed.
Orange Peppers discuss the benefits of hugelkultur.
We talked about how soil forms, and we learned that different kinds of soil have different parent materials that they originate from. Most soils are formed from eroded rock. We discussed different formation processes for various kinds of rocks and stones, and we did an experiment to observe how sandstone erodes. We dropped a piece of sandstone into hot water, then cold water, and we saw that it cracked and split due to the sudden change in temperature. Next, we tried heating the sandstone in vinegar water, which chemically broke down the rock. This experiment allowed campers to see the erosion process in a very short amount of time. We also talked about how much of Earth is available to use for growing food using an apple as a scale. Ask your camper what part of the apple is farmable!
Green Peppers talking about how rocks form.
Red Peppers observing the changes in the sandstone when dropped in hot vinegar water.
Ms. Ellen shows a Red Pepper the sandstone eroding.
We baked Zucchini Oven Chips in Garden Kitchen this morning. Most of the campers liked them!
Yellow Peppers dredge the zucchini slices in breadcrumbs before baking them.
Red Peppers munch on their Zucchini Oven Chips.
Ms. Pam made salsa for the afternoon snack, and campers sampled it with chips. She showed the campers how to peel the tomatoes quickly by boiling them until the skin splits, then dunking them in cold water. The skins slide right off!
Red Peppers strategize their Capture the Flag techniques while eating their salsa and chips.
We went on a soil scavenger hunt this afternoon and hunted for different elements of soils and the critters that live in them. Ask your camper what they found!
We continued to work on our Mud Castle STEM project. The campers got very muddy and very creative!
Red Peppers play in the mud during their STEM activity.
Orange Peppers working on their mud castle.
Orange Peppers with their castle.
All of the Orange Peppers got mighty dirty today!
The entire camp played Capture the Flag and ran themselves ragged. The Red and Green Peppers worked as a team while the Orange and Yellow Peppers worked together. We heard some awesome strategies among the campers, and everyone had fun just being active.
Campers playing Capture the Flag!
Orange Peppers strategize against a Red Pepper to capture the flag.
Dancing along the neutral zone of the playing field!
Thank you for another great day at camp, and we look forward to seeing you and your camper tomorrow!
Zucchini Oven Chips
Ingredients
1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs
¼ cup (1 ounce) fresh grated parmesan cheese
¼ tsp. seasoned salt
¼ garlic powder
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper
2 ½ cups (1/4 inch) zucchini slices (approximately two small)
Cooking spray
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Combine first five ingredients stirring with a whisk.
- Coat zucchini slices with cooking spray
- Dredge zucchini into breadcrumb mixture
- Place slices on foil lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
- Bake at 425 for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp, turning after 15 minutes.
Salsa
Ingredients
3 whole tomatoes
1 small red onion
1 lemon
1 tsp. salt
½ green pepper
1 garlic clove minced
¼ tsp cumin
Directions
- Bring a pan of water to boil.
- Wash and core tomatoes.
- Place tomatoes into boiling water until skins start to spilt.
- Once skins have spilt, immediately place tomatoes into ice cold water to remove the skins and stop the cooking.
- In a food processor, chop garlic green pepper and onion.
- Add tomatoes and process for up to one minute.
- Add salt, pepper, cumin and lemon to taste.
- Serve with chips.