Day 2 of Bug Camp is over! Although we had rather uncooperative weather today, we still had a great time and stayed plenty busy!
During Garden Kitchen this morning, we made Sunny Broccoli Salad. This recipe has ingredients similar to traditional cole slaw, but it uses broccoli instead of cabbage. Nearly every camper took at least a small taste of their salad!
Red Peppers chopping broccoli for the Sunny Broccoli Salad.
We took care of all of the farm animals again this morning. Each animal needs food, plenty of fresh water, and some sort of shelter. As stewards of the farm, it is our responsibility to make sure that all of our furry friends are happy and healthy!
Green Peppers meeting our two Holstein steers.
Green Peppers munching on Sugar Snap Peas in the greenhouse between activities.
We braved the rain to tie-dye our camp T-shirts. The shirts will be washed and passed out to the campers on Thursday, and we hope that everyone wears their shirt to camp on Friday!
Orange Peppers tie-dying in the rain!
We learned about the different body parts of an insect. We used bread and water to create a dough, then shaped it into our own insect! Some campers modeled their bread bug after a real insect while others made up their own insect entirely.
A Yellow Pepper with her bread insect creation.
After lunch, we worked on our STEM project. Due to the rain, we stayed in the barn and drew identification cards for different kinds of ladybugs. These ID cards will help us later in the week when we go hunting for ladybugs around the farm.
Orange Peppers making identification cards of ladybugs as part of their STEM project.
The afternoon Garden Kitchen snack included Homemade Ranch Dressing and fresh veggies. All of the pepper groups were very careful with the kitchen utensils, and we learned the safe way to cut and peel vegetables. You can find the Ranch dressing recipe at the bottom of this post.
Green Peppers chopping veggies to go with their homemade Ranch dressing.
We had originally planned for a hike in the woods to find bugs that live in the woods, but the rain kept us inside. Instead, we checked out a bug collection that belongs to a friend of MSU Tollgate. The collection included all kinds of bugs, and we were able to examine their body parts using microscopes and magnifying lenses.
A Red Pepper brought in a bug from her home garden and we identified it as a Beetle Hunter!
We learned about the various types of mouths that insects have, and we played a relay game in the barn to put our new knowledge into practice. We used a sponge to soak up liquids like flies, a pair of pliers to tear and shred food like beetles, a turkey baster to suck up liquid like butterflies, and a dropper to poke through a barrier like mosquitoes. It was lots of fun to stretch our legs a bit and work on our teamwork skills!
Yellow Peppers compete in a bug relay!
We’ve had another great day of Bug Camp! A little rain and clouds can’t stop us from having a blast and learning together. We encourage you to reflect with your camper at the end of the day and talk about what they did and learned. Perhaps you’ll learn something new, too! We hope your camper has enjoyed the first few days of camp, and we look forward to spending more time with them during the rest of the week!
Sunny Broccoli Salad
Ingredients
1 cup mayonnaise or reduced-fat mayonnaise dressing or salad dressing
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup golden raisins
3 – 5 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
7 cups chopped fresh broccoli florets
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
8 slices bacon, crisp-cooked, drained and crumbled (optional)
Directions
- In a large bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, onion, raisins, sugar and vinegar. Add chopped broccoli and stir to coat. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
- Just before serving, stir in sunflower seeds and bacon.
Homemade Ranch Dip/Dressing
Ingredients
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann’s or Duke’s
2 garlic cloves, minced (see note)
1 scant teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons dried dill
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Few dashes Tabasco sauce (optional)
Directions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Chill until ready to serve.
Note: The dressing will keep well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. The garlic flavor gets stronger the longer it sits, so you might want to cut back if you’re planning on making it in advance. The dressing will thicken up to more of a dip consistency as it chills.