Overheard at Seasonal Eaters

Hello and happy Thursday! We have explored many aspects of seasonal eating and cooking this week. From blind taste tests to squeezing cabbages to make sauerkraut, these seasonal eaters have been actively learning about sustainable food from farm to chef to table. 

A big thank you to our horticulture friends at Mount Vernon who brought a beautiful 4 month old Hog Island lamb, to Dylan for a fantastic fermentation workshop, and to Rosemary for her expertise on vermiculture and composting. 

The coolcumbers hold up a thank you card they made for Farmer Dylan

Some our favorite quotes from this week include...

"What did you try for the first time today?"
"Salad, onion, tomato, hummus, dressing, cucumber"
"What did you think?"
"AWESOME!"

"I make salads and they're the best because I make them"

"After our buzzing bees water game we saw a bee with knee buckets pollinating in the garden!"

While harvesting basil: 
"I've never tried pesto before"
"pesto is soo good!" "you're going to love it" "pasta with pesto is perfection" "one time I snuck with my sister and ate a whole bowl of pesto"

Blind taste test (spoiler alert! we served parsley, beet, okra and parsnip)
An older camper: "That's the first time I've had beets in my life. No joke. Those are actually good! I'm going to have beets tomorrow or tonight"
A younger camper: "I know this one!! Okra! We eat it at home in an Ethiopian dish with fish and chicken"

"The salsa is out of this world!"    
"Salsa, like guacamole without the avocado."

"What are you excited to make today?" "I've tasted butter and I want to try new things, so I'm excited to make salsa and pesto and sauerkraut."

"I can't wait until we pet the sheep. That is the best part."

Welcome Seasonal Eaters!!

Hello and welcome to all of our Seasonal Eaters!! 

We've got a creative bunch this week. The composting cornsnakes, farm wolves "aooooooooou", coolcumbers, zombie zucchinis, and happy harvesters have jumped right into a week of edible exploration. These campers have been harvesting, making seasonal menus (with dinner items such as a chinese stir-fried eggplant with sautéed okra served with a tangy beet and radish salad topped with a wood sorrel garnish), learning knife skills, and making pollinator smoothies on our bike powered blender. 

This Tuesday we'll be highlighting Emma and Robel.

Emma Tober is one of our camp counselors at Arcadia Farm Camp this summer. Emma was introduced to the world of sustainable agriculture and the magic of growing your own food while studying Health Science at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. During her time at VCU she was an intern for the Office of Sustainability where she was involved in numerous environmental projects on campus and volunteered with VCU’s community gardens and food pantry. Emma has developed a passion for community health and empowering youth to live and lead healthy lives regardless of their background. After graduating last May, Emma spent a year serving in a 2nd grade classroom as a tutor and mentor with AmeriCorps in Washington D.C. Emma has always enjoyed working with and inspiring youth and is excited to inspire and learn from others while growing, cooking and eating fresh, delicious food at farm camp this summer!

Robel just graduated from George Mason University with a degree in Public Health and Nutrition. He studied Permaculture Design which gave him the skills to apply principles of sustainability, biodiversity, and environmental health to farming and gardening. He is passionate about health and fitness. He loves to stay active and make nourishing meals. His favorite hobbies are training jiu jitsu, rock climbing, biking, running, and enjoying the great outdoors. He has experience working for Whole Foods Market and several local organic farms. 

Overheard at Farm Creatures Camp

This week we explored farm creatures big and small. Hissing cockroaches and a Nubian goat were two favorites. A big thank you to the guest educators from Willowsford Farm and Innovative Pest Management, Inc. who came to Arcadia's Hilltop Farm this week to share their expertise on goats and bugs. 

Some of our favorite quotes from campers this week include...

"Garlic is like candy to me" -said while drinking self-made garlic water

"The 82-eyed Camouflager and the 3 eyed Slurper like to slurp up nectar, and eat rice. They went to see the Emoji Movie in theaters! They split one piece of candy. They fly to the movies and it takes two days because they cary so much popcorn. They like to pollinate and eat corn— it's their favorite food! The End.” -a short pollination story written by a camper and our camp director

"I have ten instincts and they all say don't trust the ice. Right instincts?" -before our "frozen overalls" water game for the day

"Catch it so we can take a closer look and learn about it" -said before trapping a moth in our garden

We've had a wonderful week exploring the world of farm creatures with some fantastic campers. Thanks again to all the people who make this camp possible!

Farm Creatures Has Started!

Hello and welcome to week two of Arcadia's Farm Camp - Farm Creatures! Our week has started swimmingly with a box turtle spotting under the grape arbor, many bug races, and time spent caring for our hens.

We're going to continue our Tuesday tradition by introducing two of our fantastic Farm Camp counselors: Talia and Dani. 


Talia Schmitt is an Environmental Community Health major at the College of William & Mary. In 2013, she co-founded an environmental education program, Eco-Schools Leadership Initiative (ESLI) where high school and college students educate elementary school students about the environment (www.eslileaders.org). On campus, Talia works as a Dining Sustainability Intern and is involved in a project bringing produce from a local farm back to the college’s cafeteria. Some of Talia’s favorite farm & food memories include eating asparagus right from the ground, and viewing the bright blue artichoke flower for the first time! She can’t wait to embark on the exploratory and tasty adventure of farm camp with some eager campers! 

Dani is a Farm Camp Counselor at Arcadia Farm. She recently graduated from Grand Valley State University in Michigan, where she developed a passion for both community outreach and sustainable agriculture. She took many courses focused on sustainable agriculture, and worked with many community farms and gardens. In addition to sustainable agriculture, Dani loves exploring, cooking and being outdoors – and she is so excited about sharing her passions with the campers!

Overheard at Young Farmers Camp

We're wrapping up our first week of Farm Camp already! Here is a glimpse of what some of our campers have been saying...



When describing what Lamb's Ears SHOULD be called: "Puppy Belly"

While touching the potting clay in our "seed balls" activity: "this feels like touching clouds"

Looking through the compost pile: "I spy an invertebrate!"

Camp Director pun: "What did the mom cow say to the baby cow? You gotta go to bed it's PASTURE bed time"

On a bug catching excursion: "Guard my Harlequin Beatles!!"

After our beekeeping lesson: "I have a business plan for the bees...have them sting the cockroaches"

We have heard shrieks of laughter during our water games; inquisitive questions when Farmer Katherine came to discuss crop rotation, seasonal harvesting, and proper washing techniques; hushed excitement when Farmer LaRon gave a lesson on beekeeping (including a demonstration with the bee smoker); and "ooo this is good"s when they try our farm fresh cooking creations for the first time. And don't forget the wide eyes we see when they hold a warm egg or feel the soft feathers of our hens.

A huge thanks to everyone who made this amazing first week possible!

Welcome Back to Farm Camp!

This summer we're kicking off Farm Camp with some of our newest Young Farmers!! Throughout the next five weeks we will be highlighting our incredible camp counselors - with backgrounds from soil specialization to education - and the wonderful campers who are harvesting, cooking, and creating in our Groundhog Garden. To get us rolling we would love to introduce Sarah, whose campers this week have an affinity for weeding: who knew?!

Sarah has been working in environmental education and conservation for 5 years now. From nature centers in Fredericksburg, VA and Montpelier, VT to the mountains of Taos, New Mexico and the forests of Paraguay, many experiences have led her to Farm Camp with Arcadia. She loves working with kids and the creative energy they provide and hopes to learn new ways to spark their interest in locally sourced, healthy eating while at Arcadia. Her favorite vegetable is zucchini because ZOODLES!