DAY CAMP INFORMATION:

**A new shorter camp schedule option and redused cost for 2010.

The Beautiful Earth Farm Children's Camp is a day camp offered during the summer.  We are located on the East side of Chelsea just off the I-94 Exit 162.  We are just 15 minutes from the Maple/Miller exit in Ann Arbor! 

Camp Activities

Daily activities include: morning and afternoon circle time, daily unstructured nature walks, outdoor free play, structured nature observation & study, nature journal daily theme work, arts & craft time, vegetable and flower garden care-taking, group games and nature songs.

Your children will take daily walks through our 3/4 acre woods and in and around the 10 acre farm grounds.  There will be time for "free play" to climb trees and build forts in the woods. We will have some structured time to study flowers, animals, trees and pond insects.

They will each receive their very own high quality nature journal and set of colored pencils.  In it they will learn to sketch and take notes daily (to the best of their ability-with no pressure).  This book will also become a place for them to store treasures found in the woods and on the ground such as small flowers, unusual leaves and seeds.  This will naturally cause them to want to know more about what they have collected.  We will help them learn about what they have found.

We will have time each day to explore the special children's flower and vegetable garden digging, weeding, and harvesting, as well as sitting and relaxing or drawing within the garden's gates.

During craft time, we will paint the outdoors using watercolor paint as well as make crafts using all natural and recycled materials. 

We will play outdoor games in a group setting.  All games are fun, educational opportunities for your child to learn more about the natural world around them.  These games are intentionally created to help your child discover the natural "love of the earth that lives in every human's heart".   We believe children learn to love science and nature, as well as garner a deep respect for the Earth and her inhabitants when they enjoy a close, joyous and "loving interaction with the natural world".  

We will also learn nature songs centered on nature consciousness.  These songs are fun and whimsical, catchy tunes and hopefully your child will come home each day singing the words to you!

All this in the beautiful scenic setting of our organic farm!

For ages 5-10

Bring your own vegetarian bagged lunch.  On certain days we will have the children pick fresh veggies for their snack time.  On the other days, we will provide store bought, all natural and organic snacks.  Please list any allergies on the registration form.

Cost will be 250.00 for one week, per child ($210.00 plus 40.00 supplies fee) we also have a 3 day option which is $160.00 ($130.00 plus 30.00 supplies fee). A 10% discount will be applied to those who send in their registration by April 1st with full payment.

Siblings receive a 5% discount.

We also have a few volunteer opportunities for disounts on camp cost. You can volunteer for one camp day and recieve a 40.00 discount on the cost of your camp fee. You will be doing things like organizing, clean up and craft preparations.  We have very limited volunteer days so please call ahead. Thanks!

Dates of camp : 

August 2-4 [1/2 week];2-6 [full week] OR August 9-11 [half week-CLOSED].

**Please include which week date and full or half week on form.

Monday-Friday 9am-4pm; OR Mon-Wed 9am-4pm.

Additional childcare is available for a fee. $10.00 an hour. 8am-9am and 4pm-6pm.

Camp Registration Forms will be excepted until we fill up.  Limited spaces are available and are taken on a first come, first serve basis.  Please note, you may send in a $100.00 deposit to hold your spot.  We encourage early sign up to guarantee your child a spot.  Payment balance will be due 2 weeks before the start of camp.

We continue to be awed by the wonders of nature everyday. Please visit these sites for more information about the curriculums that inspire the games and crafts we use. 

http://simplycharlottemason.com/

http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/

http://www.sharingnature.com/JosephCornell.html

Camp Director: Chandra Mitchel; Former homeschooling mother of 3, Artist and Co-manager of Beautiful Earth Organic Family Farm.

Co-Camp Director: Brittaini Pulver; Mother of 1, Licensed K-12 Art Educator for Columbus City Schools in Ohio,  owner and chief designer of Longmountain Art (www.longmountainart.etsy.com ).

Camp Student Assistant: Zenah Mitchel; Chelsea Public High School student. 

What is CSA/Community Supported Agriculture?

CSA is a way for people to directly connect with local farms and know where there food is coming from.  It brings farms and people together.  Members make a financial comittment that helps the farm pay for seeds, tools, supplies, labor etc. and the farm returns a weekly supply of fresh produce.  This helps the farmer to stay focused on planting, growing and harvesting good food; and directly connects the members with their food and the farm.

Size

Our CSA shares are 1/2 to 1 bushel size. It will, of course, vary throughout the season. 

You will receive 4-8 items on average in each share.  We try to grow a nice variety to keep it diverse and exciting.  We plant with the seasons, please see our map and chart to get more details on what is harvested when.  We will also have Tomato Sauce, Pesto and Salsa weeks when tomatoes, herbs and peppers are most abundant!  Those weeks you will find your shares overfilled.

At times when there is only 4-5 items ready,  you will get larger quantities of each.  A typical share, at this time, might contain {early in the year} a bag of garlic scapes, 3 heads of lettuce,  1 LB of spinach, 2-3 bunches of varietal dark greens,  a large bunch of broccoli OR {late in the year} butternut squash, acorn squash, basket of large tomatoes, basket of cherry tomatoes, red bell peppers, cucumbers.   During the most bountiful times of the season you can expect an average of 8 different items in your box.  A share at this time might have 2 bunches of greens (Chard, Kale or Collards),  a head of cabbage or lettuce,  2-4 cucumbers, 2-4 sweet peppers, a bunch or two of herbs (chives, dill, parsley or basil), a variety of heirloom slicing tomatoes, cherry or grape tomatoes, 2-4 summer squash, a bag of green beans or green peas and so on..(please visit our "what we grow").

Our shares cater to those who love to eat "in season" fresh, local vegetables and who understand everything does not come at once.  With each share we will post a newsletter, discussing the items in that week's share and updating you on farm happenings.  We will always offer an assortment of recipes in each newsletter to keep it interesting.  Our "recipes" page of our website also has archives of all the recipes.     

On the first week you pick up your share, it will be in a reusable plastic bin; it is helpful for picking up your share at the market each week after for the whole season.  There is a refundable charge for the bin, that you will get back at the end of the season, when you return the bin.  We found with using the cardboard produce boxes, last year, that they were not re-usable for long.  By using the plastic bin, it is a more environmentally responsible choice, because it is much more sturdy and easy to clean.  If you have your own basket or bin you want to use, thats fine too.  We have found that using a hard basket or square "bin" type container is better than using "cloth bags" to cushion the produce.

We will be updating this page with more info on our shares as the season progresses. Please check back often.

Location

We are currently working on 2-3 location pick ups.  Right now the choices are either Ann Arbor Farmers market on Wednesdays or Chelsea Farmers Market on Saturdays.  We are considering adding an Oakland County area pick up (Livonia/Farmington area).  If we have enough members to make this viable, we will offer it.  Please email us if you are interested.  Thanks!

Cost

Full Share- 3/4 bushel,  20 deliveries over a 23 week season, June-October, (there will be 3 weeks that are "skips" , we will notify in advance).  We will announce the first share pick up date, by June 1st.

$400.00 + $15.00 refundable bin charge  = $415.00

Volunteering

We encourage and enjoy volunteering.  We understand that not everybody is able to do this and we want everyone to have access to delicious, local organic food, whether they can volunteer or not.  If you can volunteer, our volunteer days are offered one day a week and you may choose which week(s) you would like to volunteer with a minimum of 2 hours per work day.  Our farm is a working farm with tools and tractors abound.  If you would like to bring your children with you on your volunteer day you must provide an additonal adult to supervise them while you work.  All members are welcome, we have all kinds of work to share, and we appreciate the help.

Purchase Info                                               

If you would like to purchase a share, please send your check to the address below.  We have a limited number of shares available, so we encourage signing up early.  Full payment is due with each registration.  Please send your name, address, phone, email and desired share pick up  location along with your check.   Please note bin deposit included on memo.

Please make checks payable to:

Beautiful Earth Family Farm

14329 Strada Drive

Chelsea, MI 48118

*Saturday, Oct. 24^th , 2009 from 4pm-7pm

*Please bring a vegetarian dish to share (optional)

*Music by local Chelsea  Jazz Ensemble “The Dorkestra” (Dorks who play cool music) 4-7pm

*“Green Home” Workshop presented by www.local-motion.org at 5:30pm

*Arts & Crafts and Farm Scavenger Hunt for Kids 4-7pm

*This event is held outside, please dress for the weather. For more information on these events visit our website.  www.beautifulearthfarm.com

*This is a working farm with equipment and tools abound, please do not leave children unattended.

*Please RSVP with number of children/adults to:  beautifulearthfarm@yahoo.com