Dirt Camp: Day 4

We could not have asked for a better Day 4 of Dirt Camp!

Just like every other day, we took care of the farm animals.

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The Red Peppers giving some love to our rabbit, Alice.

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Orange Peppers milking Isabella.

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Everyone loves the baby goats!

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Green Peppers gathering eggs.

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We found 7 eggs in the chicken coop this morning!

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Green Peppers learning about roosters with Ms. Mandy.

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Ms. Pam and the campers made fried rice in Garden Kitchen this morning. Scrambled egg, rice, soy sauce, broccoli, peas, and a few other ingredients make for a yummy snack!

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Green Peppers talking about MyPlate with Ms. Pam.

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Red Peppers chopping their fried rice ingredients.

Worms are an important part of soil formation and structure, and we love to see worms in our gardens. We also use worms in vermicomposting, which entails keeping worms and feeding them compostable materials. The worms break down the food scraps or other materials and produce castings, which are extremely rich in nutrients that plants need. We use the castings as fertilizer for our gardens. The campers built wormariums to house worms and observe their behavior, and we got to play with our Red Wiggler worm friends!

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Orange Peppers look for Red Wiggler worms in the vermicompost bin.

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Kissing worms is good luck, right?

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We went on a garden walk and talked about composting bugs that help natural materials decompose. We also discussed phototropism, which is an organism’s orientation in response to light. Some bugs are positive phototrophic, which means that they move toward light sources and are not bothered by light, while other bugs are negative phototrophic, meaning they have an adverse reaction to light and try to get away from it. We looked for bugs in the garden and tried to find both positive and negative phototrophic insects.

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Yellow Peppers hunt for Colorado Potato Beetles, an invasive species that eats the foliage of our potato plants. Potato beetles are positive phototrophic insects.

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Squishing Colorado Potato Beetles.

The campers snacked on baba ghanouj (a Mediterranean eggplant dip) and veggies during their afternoon snack time. Even though it looks a little strange, many of the campers took a taste and decided that they liked it after all!

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A Green Pepper helps Ms. Pam make baba ghanouj.

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Yellow Peppers munching veggies with their baba ghanouj.

We made seed balls this afternoon using soil, clay, and wildflower seeds that are native to the area. The campers couldn’t wait to take their seed bombs home and plant them!

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This Orange Pepper used seed balls as an excuse to get muddy!

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Orange Peppers crafting their seed balls.

We went for a hike in the woods to look for decomposing bugs that live under logs. These critters are crucial to the forest ecosystem, breaking down fallen materials and returning them to the soil. Ask your camper what kinds of decomposers they found!

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Green Peppers use a chart to help them identify decomposing insects in the forest.

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Green Peppers spot some decomposers!

Campers continued to build their mud castles, and we’ve added new materials to their available resources. Their designs have gotten more intricate over the course of the week, and STEM time has become an excuse to get very muddy!

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Green Peppers work on their mud castle.

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Such concentration!

Orange Peppers sporting mud beards!

Orange Peppers sporting mud beards!

We sent home a parent evaluation survey today at pick-up time, and we would greatly appreciate if you would fill it out and bring it back by the end of tomorrow (Friday). We value your feedback and input as we continue to develop/revise camp activities and curriculum. Feel free to talk through the survey questions with your camper and answer them together. We would love to hear from both of you!

We will be doing a water slide tomorrow afternoon as part of our closing activity, so be sure your camper has a bathing suit if they want one. We’re looking forward to finishing Dirt Camp on a fantastic note!


Fried Rice

Ingredients

3 3 ½ ounce bags boil in bag brown rice
Cooking spray
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tsp. dark sesame oil
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 cups frozen peas and carrots

Directions

  1. Cook Rice according to directions
  2. Heat skillet over medium high heat. Coat in cooking spray.
  3. Cook eggs for one minute until set. Remove from pan
  4. Add oil to pan, add oil peas and carrots, onions and ginger. Saute until warmed.
  5. Combine soy sauce, rice vinegar and dark sesame oil.
  6. Drizzle over rice. Add veggies and eggs. Toss gently.

Baba Ghanouj

Ingredients

2 medium eggplants (2 pounds)
3 to 4 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ cup of tahini
Juice of ½ to 1 lemon, to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Roast whole eggplant on a foil lined baking sheet in a 475 degree oven for 40 to 50 minutes or until completely collapsed. Turn it a few times to get even baking.
  2. Remove and allow to cool. Remove the stem and slip off the peels.
  3. Sauté garlic over low heat until golden about 2 minutes.
  4. Combine eggplant pulp, garlic, tahini and lemon juice in a food processor. Process till mixture is slightly chunky in texture. Season with salt and pepper and serve at room temperature with wedges of pita.
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