Week two of summer camp and the first of three Harvest camp weeks just concluded as a resounding success. Truly I worried that campers learning from Josh might become bored or distracted by the other activities going on at Mountainside. I have major attention problems and I constantly find myself looking around to see if I am missing out on something cool. I feared some children would defect to the climbing wall by day three knowing that their chance on the tower was reserved for Friday. Not so. In fact we got a resounding thumbs up from all the harvesters of every age.
Day one started with introductions and learning about good bugs and bad bugs. The bad bugs ended up in paper cups filled with soapy water that lent to a clean death. Of course each day was filled with planting, picking and eating healthy. Broccoli slaw, stuffed green peppers, fried green tomatoes and cheese cake were some of the delicacies the children enjoyed. There was some measure of envy from staff and regular campers alike as they watched the kids feast on Valinda's specialties at the end of each day. Everything the kids ate came from the garden and along with a lot of learning came a lot of fun. It helps to have a swimming pool just yards away from the garden and a Ga Ga pit to enjoy at break time.
This first session in June will be so different from the week two in July and week three in August where the harvest will be more varied and much more plentiful. We had 24 campers working, learning and playing with Josh and KK, AJ, Sam and Valinda. Even the staff that were assigned to harvest camp with no prior experience or pronounced interest in farming loved it. I could not have hoped for more satisfied campers and a program that delivers to parents exactly what we promise.
The best way to tell this story is thru pictures... so here goes.
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