Garden Camp

I sent Abby and Caroline off to camp this week -- Garden Camp.  (Yes, I am officially one step closer to qualifying as a "hippie mom", although I still like deodorant and bacon.)  The camp, sponsored by Willistown Township, included arts and crafts, yoga, fairy themes, and loads of time in the Township Garden.  They planted beans and harvested radishes, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and onions.  They came home with watercress spouts that will be ready to eat in a day or two, some really creative and beautiful recycled paper crafts, homemade peppermint tea bags, and bouquets of hand-picked zinnias, which are probably my favorite summer flower.  AND, most importantly, they were both begging me to go back again next year.  Literally B-E-G-G-I-N-G!

This camp had a really small enrollment (15 kids or so), wonderful counselors, and an eye-popping garden.  You should seriously see this garden.  It is incredible!  It's divided into different sections:  rainbow garden (featuring flowers planted in a rainbow), pizza garden (tomatoes, basil, oregano, peppers, onions, etc.), "smelling" garden (fragrant flowers and herbs), wigwam covered with crazy ornamental gourd vines, fairy house, berry patches, and then sections of just regular vegetables (beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.).  And, it has a covered giant sandbox -- with tiny buried treasures too.  This garden is just as nice and creative as those at Longwood, but planted and maintained completely by volunteers!  I will stop gushing now, but it is open to the public on Sunday afternoons (Spring Road, Willistown Township).

Caroline and Counselor Alexis near Rainbow Garden

I had a really hard time picking out which summer camps to send the girls.  I went to a summer camp fair in February or March and picked up an entire bag of literature of possibilities.  I figured we could send Caroline to one week of camp and for Abby two weeks. There are camps for every theme -- sports, dancing, acting, arts and crafts, girl scouts, outdoorsy things, sailing, swimming, gymnastics, etc., and the camps range in price from sort of reasonable to astronomical.  So, I was shooting for affordable but interesting.  Since this was a Township Camp, the price was definitely reasonable, and I'm very glad the girls enjoyed it so much!  Also, they learned a little more about where their food comes from, and I bet they don't even realize it.

Abby and Ben sitting in Wigwam