Fall 2023:Garden Prep

During the previous fall, we worked on killing the grass which had overtaken the entirety of the garden. This included laying down recycled cardboard, leaves, and topsoil. We also started planning on what we would like to plant. The goal was to use the garden both as a teaching tool for campers and other guests, to use the food grown, and support local pollinators. We also took care to lean towards seeds from Minnesota/ the upper Midwest and heirloom varieties. 

Ground coverings for winter to help kill grass

Winter 2024: Getting Started

With the arrival of winter, we started planting all of our seedlings. We set up a grow room in one of the rooms in the Camp House (not pictured is the other side of the room, full of plants). The plastic cups will be reused in future planting years. 

Spring 2024: Planting Time!

Once the ground thawed, it was time to till up the soil, and reveal the path which had previously been set in the garden. After tilling twice, it was time to plant. 

Garden in early May, after tilling, addition of compost and more topsoil, and planting seedlings. 

June 2024:

Once summer came, things started to grow! Leah, one of our staff who was in charge of the garden and helping us become better stewards of the Earth. Leah, one of our summer staff members, took control of maintaining the garden (you’ll see how fabulous it looks today soon). We also added some compost bins. These function to serve as a teaching tool for campers. They get to add greens and browns to the bins, and spin them while talking about how we can reduce, reuse, and recycle (and other R's of sustainability) in our daily lives. We also added a rain barrel to capture rainwater to be used in the garden and around camp.

All 39 of the tomato plants were staked.

Things are starting to grow! Look for the sunflowers (the tallest plants) in other photos.

August 2024:Garden today

Things are growing! It’s been amazing to see how quickly things have grown in the past 2 months. Campers have loved being able to find, pick, and taste items such as beans, cucumbers, and basil! Our tomatoes and corn are not quite ready for harvest, but we’re hoping they’ll be ready for the EcoFaith to explore in the end of the month. 

Zinnias for us (and bees) to enjoy

Zucchini is starting to form!

Campers have been snacking on a ton of beans while exploring.

So many peppers!

Along the back of the garden, we planted some native wildflowers. Sadly, it seems like our seed mix was older and we didn’t get as many native plants as we would have liked. The bees seem happy with what we’ve given them, but we’d like to expand this area. 

Future:

We’re hoping to keep the garden as a staple of our environmental education (Creation Care) here at Camp Onomia.  Creation Care is a cornerstone of our programming, but we can do more to inspire wonder and instill responsibility in our campers when it comes to the environment. 

We also have a few other small action items in order to better care for Creation:

• Increasing our compost operation through the addition of vermicomposting (using worms to break down food) to reduce our food waste and increase our hands on sustainability education opportunities.

• Evaluate administrative and kitchen waste and usage. Continue to phase out the use of foam coffee cups. Find out where we can be better stewards of the Earth in these areas of camp. 

• Expand our pollinator friendliness by planting more native and wildflowers.