Day 4 has been amazing yet again! We stayed dry and cool thanks to the heavy cloud cover, and we had a blast learning new skills and expanding our knowledge.
We took care of the farm animals this morning, as usual. Our campers have shown great compassion for the animals, and this is one of their favorite parts of the day!
The Yellow Peppers milked Isabella again this morning.
We went for a hike through the woods, and it was a beautifully gloomy walk. We spent some time reflecting and identifying plants and animal tracks that we know. We took hula hoops out with us, laid them on the ground, and drew a picture of what we saw inside the hoop.
The Orange Peppers found a geocaching box hidden in the woods and left a message for the next person who finds it!
Ricotta cheese and pita crackers were on the menu for Garden Kitchen this morning. We heated mill until it reached 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and then added citric acid to make the milk curdle and salt for flavor. Next we poured the milk through a cheesecloth and allowed the whey (watery liquid) to drain from the curds (cheese chunks). Once the whey and curds separated, we enjoyed eating the ricotta cheese with pita crackers.
The Red Peppers learn about curds and whey.
We practiced casting yesterday, and we put that hard work to good use today! We went fishing in the pond this morning, and quite a few campers reeled in fish. We caught a few bluegill and sunfish and had lots of fun playing with the bait worms as well!
The Green Peppers caught quite a few fish this morning!
Ms. Mandy helps a Green Pepper take a fish off his hook.
Red Peppers waiting patiently for a fish to bite.
We have a new pony on the farm this summer, and her name is Friday. She stands 12 hands tall and is nearly 20 years old. Today we got to pet her, groom her, and feed her some of the delicious horse treats that we made yesterday. We also talked about the jobs that horses have on farms and the equipment needed to help them perform those jobs. Friday was a great sport, and we all learned lots of fun facts about horses from Ms. Nicole.
The Orange Peppers say hello to Friday!
Orange Peppers using curry combs to groom Friday.
Red Peppers grooming Friday. She nearly fell asleep!
We continued to craft our sustainable farm models and talk about what parts of a farm we want to represent in our models. The campers have gotten very creative during the week using natural materials that we find around the farm and plastic animals as placeholders.
A Yellow Pepper working on her sustainable farm model.
We made Strawberry Spinach Salad for snack this afternoon, including the salad dressing. Our campers have gotten very good at safely chopping ingredients for Ms. Pam over the course of the week! We also prepared a Rainbow Smoothie and froze some of it into popsicle for tomorrow’s snack.
Orange Peppers chopping strawberries for our salad.
We spent time singing silly camp songs (ask your camper about the Rare Bog Song!) and practicing our skits. We will be performing skit tomorrow (Friday) afternoon around 3:00pm, and we invite you to join us! The performances will also be recorded and posted tomorrow for your viewing pleasure.
Red Peppers practicing their group bow for skits tomorrow.
We’ve made it through Thursday! We are all looking forward to celebrating the end of an extraordinary week of Green Science Camp with everyone tomorrow!
Ricotta Cheese and Chives
Ingredients
4 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons good white wine vinegar
Directions
- Set a large sieve over a deep bowl. Dampen 2 layers of cheesecloth with water and line the sieve with the cheesecloth.
- Pour the milk and cream into a stainless-steel or enameled pot such as Le Creuset. Stir in the salt. Bring to a full boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar. Allow the mixture to stand for 1 minute until it curdles. It will separate into thick parts (the curds) and milky parts (the whey).
- Pour the mixture into the cheesecloth-lined sieve and allow it to drain into the bowl at room temperature for 20 minutes until the whey has drained.
- Serve with bread or crackers.
Strawberry Spinach Salad
Ingredients
Salad
Spinach
Sesame Seeds
Strawberry slices
Dried Cherries
Dressing
¼ tsp. Worchester Sauce
¼ C. Sugar
¼ C. Apple Cider Vinegar
½ c. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Granulated Garlic
Directions
- In a mason jar combine dressing ingredients, shake well and allow to sit.
- Wash greens well and shake dry, slice strawberries, toast sesame seeds (or almond slivers if no nut allergies). Mix and toss in dried cherries. (fruit choices can change also; mandarin oranges, raspberries work nicely too).
- Toss greens mixture with dressing and serve.