Today was our first day at Teen vs. Wild camp so we started off with some ice breakers, tours, and rules of Tollgate.
We played an ice breaker game where we held up a tarp then each team picked a person without talking and they would select a person to step forward. When the tarp dropped each person would have to say the other person’s name first to get a point for their team.
After the ice breakers, we went out to archery to begin learning rules. The kids learned all about safety and how to use the bows before they went to shoot. It was two whistle blasts to walk to the line, one whistle blast to shoot, three whistle blasts to retrieve arrows, and 4 or more quick blasts to signal an emergency and stop shooting. Unfortunately it started raining too hard to complete archery outside! After we finished our garden kitchen snack we made new targets to finish archery. We moved to inside the tractor barn to give everyone a chance to try archery.
We were learned about electrolytes. We each labeled a cup with A and B. In one of the cups we put well water and the other cup we put bottled water. We tried each cup without the electrolytes then added them and tried each cup. They tasted similar after the electrolytes were added. When we sweat we lose different salts so when we drink sports drinks they replenish those salts. Electrolytes can even mask the taste of well water when animals travel to new locations.
During our garden kitchen time we made pesto and pasta. We made a parsley and sunflower seed pesto with the parsley that we picked from the small garden outside garden kitchen. We also learned how to make pasta without eggs. The flour we used was semolina and all-purpose flour, then we discussed how flour is made from wheat but sometimes you can have it made from other things, such as quinoa. We did a quick look at how measuring flour is impacted when you compact the flour versus keeping it fluffy. We decided that keeping the flour fluffy was a more exact measurement.
Garden Kitchen Recipes
Sunflower Pesto
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw shelled sunflower seeds
- 1 small garlic clove
- 2 cups (packed) arugula leaves
- 1 cup (packed) fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Kosher salt
Rinse sunflower seeds, put in a small bowl or jar, and add cold water to cover seeds by 1 inch. Cover; soak overnight at room temperature. Drain and rinse seeds.
Purée sunflower seeds, garlic, arugula, basil, oil, honey, and lemon zest and juice until smooth. Season with salt. Thin pesto with water if too thick.
Eggless Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 cups semolina flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 to 1 1/4 cups tepid water
Mound the flour in the center of a large wooden cutting board. Make a well in the center of the flour and add water a little at a time, stirring with your hands until a dough is formed. As you incorporate the water, keep pushing the flour up to retain the well shape (do not worry if it looks messy). The dough will come together in a shaggy mass when about half of the flour is incorporated. You may need more or less water, depending on the humidity in your kitchen.
Start kneading the dough with both hands, primarily using the palms of your hands. Once the dough is a cohesive mass, remove the dough from the board and scrape up any left over dry bits. Lightly flour the board and continue kneading for 3 more minutes. The dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Continue to knead for another 3 minutes, remembering to dust your board with flour when necessary. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside for 10 minutes at room temperature. Roll and form as desired.