Survival Camp Week 2- Day 1

Welcome to Survival Camp Week 2!

Every morning, campers and staff meet together to say the Pledge of Allegiance and the 4-H pledge.

Here’s the pledge to practice at home:

“I pledge my HEAD to clearer thinking, my HEART to greater loyalty, my HANDS to larger service, and my HEALTH to better living. For my club, my community, my country, and my world.”

There are 5 pepper groups at Tollgate this week: the blue peppers, red peppers, orange peppers, yellow peppers, and green peppers.

Meet the blue peppers. This is the oldest group at camp this week. They really enjoyed garden kitchen today.

The other pepper groups also enjoyed cooking in the kitchen!

In the morning, they cooked plantains. Where are plantains most commonly grown?

In the afternoon, the groups took turns making hummus and sweet potato chips. What ingredients go in hummus?

Did your camper try a new food today? Did they enjoy it?

Here are the recipes from today:

Morning: Fried Plantains

2-3 ripe plantains
Olive oil (or another oil for frying)

Peel and slice the plantains. The best way to slice them is either diagonally or cutting them in half and slicing lengthwise. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large frying pan and add the plantains. The plantains do not take long to cook, so be sure to turn them before they burn and cook until golden on each side. You can use a spatula or a fork to turn them. Place the cooked plantains on a paper towel to drain any excess oil. Serve warm.

Afternoon: Baked Sweet Potato Chips with Hummus

Sweet potato chips:

1-2 sweet potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp dried rosemary (optional)
1 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash the sweet potatoes and slice them using either a mandolin or a sharp knife. Ina large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with oil, salt, and rosemary. Place sweet potato chips in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then flip the chips over and bake for another 10 minutes. For the last 10 minutes, watch the chips closely and pull off any chips that start to brown, until all of the chips are cooked.

Hummus:

2 cans chickpeas
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves
1/3 cup tahini
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp sea salt
Paprika for serving (optional)

Combine ingredients into a food processor and process until evenly combined and smooth.

All of the pepper groups took turns making tie-dye t-shirts. How did your camper use rubber bands to create a pattern on their shirt?

This camper helped refill the spray bottles with dye.

When the campers finished dying their shirts, they played a game with the parachute.

There was a shark under the parachute trying to pull friends into the middle.

The blue pepper group milked the goats this morning. Do all goats produce milk?

What other animals on the farm benefit from goat milk?

The yellow peppers fed the ducks and chickens.

This camper helped collect eggs from the coup. What color are the eggs? You can find out what color eggs a hen will lay by looking at the color of her ear.

The red pepper group helped sweep up the barn. The goats appreciate a clean place to rest.

The campers collected items on the farm. They found a flag, flower, brick, and plastic bottle on the ground. If aliens saw these things, what would they assume about humans on Earth? What do humans do? How do they live? What food do they eat?

A big theme this week is “Leave NO Trace.” The campers discussed what that means today. How can they go into the forest and leave no trace? Why is this important for protecting wild life and natural habitats?

This week, campers will be creating shelters every day. They started work today and will finish on Friday. The groups will visit each shelter for a tour at the end of the week.

The green peppers utilized man-made materials to begin work on their shelter. Why are tarps and ropes beneficial in the wilderness? What would they do if they did not have tarp and rope?