Campers
Each session of Farm Camp is tailored specifically to meet the educational and experiential needs of those attending camp, as well as give a comprehensive overview of many different kinds of agricultural businesses in the region.
In order to give you a sense of the people who attend Farm Camp, a full list of the businesses, organizations and offices that have previously attended camp is available here.
In addition, please click here to see a sample of a recent Farm Camp schedule.
A typical day at camp might include several of these activities:
>> All About Eggs at Flying Pigs Farm:
Meet the chickens, fill the feeders, collect the eggs, learn what to look for in a fresh egg, scramble some ups, and drink locally grown coffee (just kidding.)
>> Dairy Direct at Battenkill Valley Creamery:
Inspect the cows and see how their milk is bottled just yards from the udder. Do a comparative milk tasting and learn the impact of reduced pumping, gentle pasteurization, and see the effects of homogenization. Learn how the price of milk is set and taste some ice cream.
>> Rare Breed Pork at Flying Pigs Farm:
Learn the difference between a heritage breed and a rare breed, discuss the thickness of back fat, and scald-and-scrape vs. skinning. Herd the pigs to new pasture and eye the Ossabaws.
>> Breaking It Down:
We’ll tour Eagle Bridge Custom Meats and see how butchering happens on a regional scale. From the cutting table to the sausage stuffer to the smoker we’ll get the low down on the break down.
>> Lingo:
What does it all mean? Grass-Fed, Pastured, Organic, Grain-finished, Free-Range. Learn how to speak the language so that you can make informed purchasing decisions.
>> Keeping it in the Family at Kenyon Hill Farm:
Here you’ll meet the Nolan family, our neighbors and fourth generation dairy farmers. Learn all about regional dairy cooperatives and also about how this family’s milk makes its way from their cows to your refrigerator.
>> Local Food Requires Local Farms:
A discussion with American Farmland Trust about how the cost of land contributes to the cost of food in the Northeast. Learn why we are losing our best and most productive soils at a rate of two acres, every minute of every day, and, learn what we can do about it. Discuss how new farmers can gain access to farmland.
>> To Kunik and beyond, the art of goat cheese from Nettle Meadow:
Will a goat really eat anything? How does an animals diet effect its milk? Eat some cheese.
>> Chicken Little: Tour of “The Garden of Spices” New York State Certified Poultry Processing Facility
Pasture raised chickens are the gold standard for roasters and a classic on any menu. Reminiscent of Thomas Keller and the rabbits, we’ll choose chickens to slaughter, scald, pluck, and prepare for dinner.
>> The Sweet Life: Maple Syrup at Mapleland Farms:
Taste the differences between grades of maple syrup and learn why the burn temperature of maple sugar makes for great barbecue. Cane sugar is so over.
