Summer Farm Camp has been an integral part of Oxbow’s programming for over a decade. Year after year, kids of all ages spend sunny summer days playing games in the orchard, harvesting snacks from the farm fields, exploring forest trails, building homes for woodland fairies, and truly immersing themselves in the magic of Oxbow. Now that camp is a wrap for the year, let’s take a look back at some highlights from Summer Farm Camp 2021 and hear what some of our campers had to say about their experience!

Stone Soup: A story of sharing

Our team of talented educators brings fresh new activities to Summer Camp every year, along with tried and true stories, games, and songs. One crowd favorite is the story of Stone Soup, a folk tale that illustrates the power of sharing even when one has very little. The sweet lesson culminates in a batch of camper-created “stone soup” featuring a rainbow of just-harvested veggies.

 

Harvesting for hunger relief

Gleaning day is another highlight when campers not only get to harvest food from the farm fields, they get to make an impact by donating their harvest to increase food access in our community. This year, our camps harvested a whopping 333 lbs combined of chard, kale, onions, plums, beets, raspberries, fava beans, garlic scapes, peas, summer squash, and broccoli for Hopelink and Frank Wagner Elementary School.

 

Keeping it fresh

New to the camp lineup in 2021 was a very special activity that brought together the powers of positive thinking and the grounding ritual of tea. Campers enjoyed sipping kid-friendly herbal teas in the Oxbow Orchard, learned about the traditional symbolism of flowers and herbs, and took a moment to journal and draw their hopes and dreams for the year ahead at home and school.

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Let’s hear from the campers

There’s no better way to learn about Summer Farm Camp at Oxbow than to talk to the campers themselves. We interviewed sibling duo Ji-Hoon and Hannah, and here’s what they had to say about their week at Oxbow: 

   

Q: What activity was the most fun?

A: Tunnel time…harvesting and pulling out stuff.

 

Q: What is the coolest thing you learned about plants?

A: I didn’t know that plants made food from the sun!

 

Q: What is the most interesting thing you learned about animals or bugs?

A: Caterpillars can also turn into moths and not just butterflies. Beavers make river dams to keep out water from their den. Bugs create holes and sometimes bubbles on leaves.

 

Q: Name one way camp has changed how you think or do things.

A: I can be a farmer at home and plant pumpkins. I can plant plants in seasons that they’re not meant to grow in but they’ll still grow!

 

Q: What is something you’re proud of learning/doing at camp?

A: I learned how to make vegetable soup.

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Oxbow Summer Farm Camps are a blast for kids, but parents are a huge part of the experience, too. Ji-Hoon and Hannah’s parents report that camp helped their kids overcome the challenge of working with other children who they hadn’t met before. Their dad notes that there have been positive impacts on their family after camp, too. He says:

“The outdoors is an important part of our lives, and Oxbow Camp has reinforced for them how important it is and introduced a new level of empowerment for them. For example, we have three garden beds at home and the kids are so much more eager to not just participate, but take ownership of deciding what our Fall garden plans will be.”

We’re thrilled that Ji-Hoon, Hannah, and their family shared a little bit of their camp experience with us, and we can’t wait to see what a whole new season of summer farm camp holds in 2022!