Last week was our Food/ Farm week culminating with a Farm Party, with most of the food coming from our farm. Throughout the week we focused on the distance our food travels, how much food waste we are producing as a community, and impact of our food system. Throughout the week we had wonderful conversations on topics such as land use, food miles, hunger, food deserts, pesticides and fertilizers, migrant workers’ movements for justice, and the delicate tension between commercial organic and local conventional foods.
All week long, campers not only worked hard in our garden, but they also made products for our Farm Party such as ice cream, butter and cheese. On Saturday evening, we sat at tables in one of our pastures and celebrated the beautiful work we’ve done together over the summer with songs, poems written to our farm animals, and a beautifully prepared meal. We enjoyed roasted chicken, potato salad, pickled beet stems, roasted beets and other vegetables, sweet basil tea, and home made maple ice cream sweetened with F&W maple syrup.
Now our farmers have shifted into preparation for Fair. This year they are making a quilt (which is already beautiful), T-shirts, bread, pies and other baked goods, jewelry, and jams and pickles to sell to raise money for scholarships for campers next year.
It’s wonderful to watch the staff stepping back and campers stepping up in these last couple weeks of camp. As staff, we’re just enjoying the final days we have to spend with these amazing young people as they lead our projects (you should come see the cabin they built this summer).
— Amy Bowen, Tamarack Farm Director
