Peaks Day Camp-From Farm to Plate

The Georgian Peaks day camp came to visit us for the day to learn about food! We talked about where food comes from and how it grows, starting at the farm and making it all the way to their dinner plate. The kids took a tractor wagon ride through the orchard to learn about how apples are grown, and even got to pick their own apple to munch on! The kids got to visit and play with the animals of our petting farm, learning the roles of each animal on the farm, and how they are raised. This was followed by a fun game of animal charades! Then it was on to the other group of munchies, plants! We learned about the seed cycle, and seed dispersal, and had a whole bunch of hands-on activities. Next we went on a tour through the nature center, and talked about the role of wildlife in farming. We also went on a big walk to look at the different vegetable gardens and look at the different stages the produce was in. In between all the different activities we played lots of fun games, and played mini golf and archery.
Camp days are always super busy, and the kids go home tired but with a lot of cool stories and experiences to share! Camps and other groups are part of our growing experience here at the Farmer’s Pantry, and outdoor education is a part that we’re looking to expand and grow, so keep an eye out for all the cool, new and exciting things we come up with to keep you guys having fun and learning lots throughout the summer and the rest of the year!

Compass and Orienteering

Saturday was our compass orienteering day! We use our orienteering course for day camps that come visit us, but we also like to have a day or two for the general public to come in and have some fun! We teach the fundamentals of what a compass is and how it works, then we do a couple of interactive exercises to get people on to using a compass properly and comfortably, and teach them situations where it might be helpful to use one. Next is the fun part! We take you on scavenger hunts through the orchard using your newly developed skills. Each step along the way is rewarded with a clue. Once all the clues are collected, we play another game using a different type of orienteering!
This Saturday started out beautiful and sunny, but then we got a bit worried when the sky got gray and it started to drizzle. Tough kids braved the weather and came out anyways, well prepared to get wet! We started out in our barn building and learned the fundamentals. The rain was nice and things dried up by the time we headed outside! The kids made the whole thing a ton of fun and I can’t wait to teach the course again!

Camp Cranberry-A Day at The Farmers Pantry

Friday was a day of bustle and activity as we had campers join us from Camp Cranberry! We kept them busy with an action packed afternoon.
We started the day with a tractor wagon ride around the orchard! Half way through we jumped off and went to pick one of our early varieties of apples! Next was our wildlife presentation, where we talked about animals that you can find here in Ontario! The kids got to interact with real live animals including snakes and toads and rats, and also got to feel cool things like feathers and antlers. The presentation was wrapped up by going on a tour through the nature center! Next the big kids travelled out to the range for an archery lesson and the younger ones played some mini golf. It’s crazy how fast the day can go, and the kids rushed into the store to buy drinks and treats to take with them for the bus ride home!
See you again next week Camp Cranberry!

At the Farmers Pantry we’re happy to organize half day and full day programs for camps, schools, clubs or other groups! We’ll cater to your interests using all that the Farmer’s Pantry has to offer! Give us a ring (519-599-3691) or an e-mail (info@farmerspantry.com) to see if we can work something out for you!

Wildlife Interactive Nature Center

Did you know that we have a nature center at the Farmer’s Pantry? It exhibits Ontario wildlife in many different mediums, including live animal exhibits, taxidermied specimens, and all sorts of treasures of nature including bones, feathers and more! You can try your luck at the Friends and Foes of the orchard game, the bone guessing game, or the antler guessing game! There’s tons of picture filled, illustrative information, and tons of neat things for you to touch and feel. If you decide to take a guided tour, you’ll get to learn extra cool facts from one of our friendly and informative hosts, and even have the chance to meet and interact with some of the real live animals in the nature center! Self-use tours are only $2.00 per person, and guided tours are $3.00 per person. If you wish to take a guided tour, please give us a call ahead of time to insure we have a host available to take you through! We ask for this small donation to help maintain the nature center, but also to upgrade it! Wildlife Interactive is my pet project and great pride, so I am constantly working to expand it to make it bigger and better every year! Entrance to the nature center is also free when you attend one of our Saturday Summer Programs! For some extra excitement, come to see the snakes eat on Saturdays at 3pm, or watch the amphibians eat every Monday, Wednesday and Friday!

Raspberry UPick!

This has really been a weird season! The early heat and rain has had a large impact on our crops, mostly by making everything ahead of schedule. Strawberries are already long gone, but now the raspberries are in full swing! Raspberries usually aren’t ready until about halfway through July, but we’ve had them since the beginning of the month! Right now our 3000 raspberry canes are just loaded with berries! Our UPICK is open along with our store hours, every day from 10-6! Feel free to shoot us a call if you want to check availability, as the berries ripen in waves and if we get alot of pickers, sometimes the canes need a day or two to replenish! We are hoping that the season will last another two weeks, but we’ll keep you informed! Check our twitter for the most recent online updates, or give us a call at (519)-599-3691!
After our normal stock of raspberries are finished for the year, we still have our later varieties such as the kiwi (pictured above!), everbloom and black raspberries to look forward to in the store!

Astronomy Night

We’ve had Blake from the Royal Astronomical Conservatory of Toronto visit us five times now. The first four nights he came were torrential downpour, or cloudy. Still Blake entertained and informed us with his slideshow presentations. Last night through, was special! Last night the weather behaved and for the first time we got to experience the hands on tour through the sky with Blake’s telescope!
Everyone came over around 8:30 and headed over to our info center to listen to Blake’s presentation and wait for it to get dark. Then we headed out to his telescope with our red lights and star charts!
Some of the highlights were Venus, the second brightest object of the sky, you could see it phased just like the moon! It looked about three quarters full! We also got to see Saturn and its rings, along with Saturn’s brightest moon Titan! Talk about cool! We also checked out some pretty neat double stars, and a ring nebula! There was a half moon that night, and to see that up close was breath taking! You could see all the craters and fine details along the surface!
Blake will be joining us for a second time on August 28th at 8:30! Cross your fingers for another great night like this one! August is host to a pretty neat night time display, including the time of the year when Mars is at its closest point to earth! Even if the weather isn’t behaving you can still visit us, as Blake will show you some proper telescope techniques and other hands on activities! The Farmer’s Pantry is a great location for an Astronomy tour, because we are far away from light pollution, allowing you to experience more stars and more objects since our sky is so wonderfully dark! We hope to see you next time!