Seeds arrive for our camp kitchen garden

One of the dreams that Cherri Hankins, our 2012 Adventure Camp Head Cook, and I share is to have a garden at camp where we can grow fresh herbs and vegetables.  I've become an avid backyard gardener, and Cherri loves to garden, too, although her most recent efforts were eaten by ravenous groundhogs.

Our vision is not just to provide healthier and tastier food at Adventure Camp.  It's also to give Scouts and their parents a chance to get their hands dirty gardening and to use a garden as a fun and educational program feature.  We have a patch of land picked out, so I did a little online research and found an organization called Wintersown in upstate New York.  Groups can apply to Wintersown to receive free seeds for educational purposes.  Seemed simple...you fill out a form, mail it with $15 to shipping costs to them.  I wondered if I'd get my $15 back if we weren't selected, so I called the number on the website, and a lady named Trudi answered.  Turns out that Trudi IS Wintersown.  She's a one-woman show, and passionate about teaching youth about gardening.  We had an amazing conversation, and I put my money and form in the mail the next day.  Today this package materialized in my office in-box.

I ripped into it, and found well over 200 packets of seed.  It's  too much for the camp garden we planned, but we are "land-rich," so its just a matter of tilling up some additional territory.  I was amazed by the variety and quantity of seed we received.

There are seeds for zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber, okra, cabbage, eggplant, jalapeno peppers, radishes, celery, bush beans, pole beans, banana peppers, a dozen types of tomatoes, corn, and much, much more.  The most intriguing seed was in homemade packet...

Google "Cyclanthera Explodens."  It's pretty freaky.  This huge package of seeds got me stoked about the possibilities and opportunities the 'Adventure' garden will provide to our campers.  So, I have two questions:

1. If you're planning on camping with us next summer, what plants would you like to see us grow in the Adventure Garden?

2. Is there anyone out there willing to volunteer in the Adventure Garden this spring?  C'mon, how can you resist Exploding Cucumbers?