Camp combines the best aspects of a small, nurturing nature camp with the special opportunities for development and connection provided by a family farm setting with plants and animals to care for, soil to work, things to build and fix and figure out. Campers experience all aspects of farm life, from seeding & protecting plants to feeding and fencing animals and harvesting eggs. They grow and harvest their food and once a week prepare a harvest celebration with our families.

Farm Camp was founded at Deer Ridge Farm by Lisa Holderness in 2005. Lisa had taken time off from full-time teaching after twenty years to work on her husband’s organic farm and care for their son Stuart (3) in 2003. Watching the joy and development of her son and his friends in the farm setting gave her new insight about missed opportunities in other nature camps, including the #1 rated Boston nature camp she had founded herself in the early nineties. For example, most nature camps don’t relate the food campers eat with the lessons their learning. Many wonderful camps also exist on manicured lawns – but children aren’t encouraged to dig, move, build and make their marks.

At Deer Ridge Farm, Stuart was keenly attuned to his bird and reptilian neighbors; he knew many plants and was an ambitious problem solver, mechanic and inventor. He looked at the world as multi-layered with levels of meaning and association. He played for hours independently and was as healthy as could be with hours of fresh air daily in all weather. He noticed the moon, stars, position of the sun. He was very confident in approaching challenges and loved helping with any farm project – from picking, weeding, sweeping, digging to taking out the trash.

So Farm Camp was born. Although much of it relies on the experience, reflective nature and exuberance of the founder and director, the basic concepts are transferable and universal. At Northeast Organic Farming Association Summer Conference 2006 there will be a presentation on Farm Camp and farm-based camp planning.

For some of the main identifying characteristics and opportunities of Farm Camp, please see the Activities page.

Lisa Holderness has been teaching and leading camps for over twenty years. She created and directed the #1 rated nature camp in the Boston area until she moved to Vermont to teach science on a farm at The Putney School in 1995. Watching her son Stuart develop confidence and competence through his experiences on Deer Ridge Farm led to the creation of Farm Camp in 2005.

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Deer Ridge Farm  4057 Hinesburg Road, Guilford VT 05301
(802) 254 - 3540 | vermontfarmcamp@comcast.net