After an early morning rain shower, we began the day with the weekly update of our recipe binders and a rousing series of stretches.
The Sylvia Center group got straight to work on a big, delicious lunch: consisting of simple tomato sauce, fresh lasagna, homemade ricotta cheese, broccoli and salad from the garden. Campers learned the science behind cheese making, using lemon juice to curdle milk and then hanging it up to strain in a cheese cloth. They also learned how to roll pasta dough into noodles. Everyone harvested basil from the garden and worked together to make a tomato sauce. Then, we assembled the lasagna, layering noodles with sauce, cheese, and basil.
Meanwhile, other campers took turns working in the garden and completing the Egg Carton Scavenger Hunt. In the garden, we cultivated a vegetable bed and amended it using sifted compost. We worked together to build 3 new trellises and planted a few varieties of winter squash. During the scavenger hunt, students roamed through the garden collecting objects that matched corresponding adjectives such as “soft” and “sturdy” or “fragrant” and “odorless.” When their egg cartons were full, they brought them back to the whole group where everyone had a chance to guess each other’s adjectives. We learned about biodiversity and how we have such a diversity of life right here in Swindler Cove.
After an incredible lunch, we were lucky to welcome a guest speaker to camp, Melba, an emergency room doctor who lives in Inwood. She discussed how food can be used as medicine and how important it is to eat healthy food in order to keep our bodies strong. We learned about how blood flows through our bodies and brings us oxygen and how this process can be disrupted when we eat food that’s bad for us. Finally, we discussed health problems that can arise from eating unhealthy food and learned what we can do in case someone close to us has a heart attack. Each of us had a chance to practice our CPR skills, so we can save a life someday!