Summer camps kicked off the week of June 10 at the Patch. The Secret Garden Day Camp for children ages 9-16 unlocked the secret wonder of plants through field trips to Oxmoor Farm (The Food Literacy Project), Suzy’s Clay Studio, Louisville Science Center, Bernheim Forest and the Falls of the Ohio.
At Oxmoor Farm, campers picked, planted and then cooked plants including strawberries, kale and beets; then they planted tomatoes and cooked omelets. The food festivities did not end there, campers also baked bread and shook cream until it became butter.
Along with food fun and cooking an herbal feast, there were crafts to channel the campers’ creativity. Campers studied the art of Henna, wove baskets out of the reed plant, dyed silk scarves with lac bugs and painted with the yucca and mulberry plants.
To finish up the week, campers made plants into herbal lotion, grapefruit lotion bars and cosmetics. Elizabeth Smith, a Recreation & Youth Development Specialist for The Cabbage Patch, said her favorite part was the end result of all of their hard work, “This camp is very tangible, campers get to see what they accomplished and I love to see how excited they are.”
The campers learned about plants as food, as dyes and products, Elizabeth said.
Campers walked away from Secret Garden Day Camp with plant filled baskets, bright scarves and an experience they will never forget.
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