F.A.R.M.
Let’s get knee deep into dirt and discuss F.A.R.M.
Firstly, F.A.R.M stands for Food, Animals, Repurposing, and Manpower, all things that we work with in this program! What exactly do they do at the Falling Creek farm?
Let’s find out.
Growth at F.A.R.M
At F.A.R.M we work on teaching the boys sustainability and growth. This is done in many different forms.
Compost: The boys learn about compost, how to create their own compost heaps, why it is useful and how it benefits the soil. The boys also learn what nutrients are good for the soil and what helps the plants grow.
Repurposing: An example of how we repurposed materials, includes using bamboo sticks to prop up our plants that may be leaning. For example, our tomato plants that will lean over, we use bamboo sticks as support structures.
Cloning: This is a very fascinating topic. The boys are cloning plants in order to ensure that they can get the best vegetables. They have cloned tomatoes, corn as well as squash. This is done by finding and cutting a sucker stem, which is a developing steam with no leaves that is growing up rather than outward. They then take the sucker stem and put it in water to test if it will grow roots and leaves. Once it has grown roots, you have essentially successfully grown a clone, and that plant will grow the same fruits or vegetables. This ensures the best genetics are preserved and can be used repeatedly.
Chicken Maintenance
We teach the boys how to maintain the chicken coop . Firstly, we have the female chickens (hens) that lay eggs and the boys learn how to collect the eggs carefully. They also are able to check the water supply for the chickens and provide them with feed. The boys also learn how to ensure that the chicken bedding is clean and well kept.
The boys also learned how to build a coop for baby chicks, as well as a coop for adolescent chicks that will then be integrated with the adults.
Farm Maintenance
The farm maintenance involves pruning the plants, ensuring they are growing correctly and ridding them of any dead weight. The boys also learn how to identify weeds and de-weed the beds to ensure optimal growth to each plant. They learn how to identify any issues or cause for concern to each plant, as well as how to take care of it.
The boys also learn how to do soil testing using a kit. They test the pH levels of the soil and know what to look out for to ensure optimal growth.
Produce to Products
Now, we have all these fruits and veggies… What to do with them? We teach the boys how to go from produce to product. A perfect example of this is when we taught the boys how to make omelets from the eggs that the chickens produce.
We have also taught the boys how to make rhubarb jam as well as how to preserve peaches for eating later. This teaches the boys how to ensure there is no waste If there is an excess of produce, we can preserve it for later.
We made salad using all the fresh vegetables and herbs that we are growing. We have also taught the boys how to forage and have made natural teas to enjoy.
The boys are learning how to grow a range of different fruits, vegetables, and herbs and now know what to do with them. This includes cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, corn, green beans, catnip, mint, blackberries, strawberries, rosemary, amaranth, spring onion and chives.
Statements:
Vedaan S. from cabin 7 is 10 years old and from New York. Vedaan says that he loves “EVERYTHING” about F.A.R.M. His favorite thing to do at the farm is harvesting the food and eating it. Vedaan has just become a Challenger in his F.A.R.M. progressions.
Camp counselor, Ethan Jones, loves working at F.A.R.M. He explains how he thoroughly enjoys teaching the boys how to be sustainable, self-sufficient and independent. He believes farming is essentially an investment in your future. Learning to grow your own food is such a useful skill.
