We will start small this year with a 2 night overnight stay. This will be a family camp with parents and grandparents welcome. There will be a mix of historical homesteading and modern homesteading over the three days and two nights. Food would be included, with all meals prepared by the campers over an open fire or in an oven (if we build it). The final night would culminate with a 100 meter meal harvested and prepared by the campers and a campfire with music and singing.
 
Campers will stay in tents, that they provide, however if there are any who would like to build a lean-to and sleep in the woods, they are welcome to do that also.
 
Some of the activities we may try are:

Fire starting
Simple carpentry
Wool prep. from fleece to spinning to knitting or felting
Gardening
Harvesting "wild Food"
Cooking techniques
Preserving the harvest, canning, drying, fermenting
Soap making
Cheese making and other dairy products
Candle making
Animal husbandry
Story telling
Historical games
Basketry with cattails
Music/singing
 
 
The weather will have a huge impact on the success of this camp. And so, it will remain an option to cancel if the skies are going to open on us. Therefore, I won't ask for any advance payment and only ask that if you are interested I will "register" you and get a list of interested campers, with a maximum of 15, by the 15th of August.  A registration form follows. 

Cancellation: If you have registered and the weather gods are good and something comes up that you will not be able to attend, I will ask for a $50 fee for having held your spot. When you email me your registration, please indicate which three of the above activities, or perhaps others, you would like to participate in. Animal chores will take about 2 to 3 hours a day.
 
The cost this year would be $150/camper for the three days. Meals and some shelter are provided, as well as a composting sawdust toilet, and potable water. Family Rates are available for groups of three or more, which will be discounted by 25%.  Also, if there are any interested adults who have a skill they would like to share, they will get a 25% discount as well, if they would like to teach a 2-3 hour workshop. These discounts would be cumulative, but I will need help with that math!! hmmm let me try:

eg  1.one student over 10: $150.00
     2. family of two adults and two children with one parent leading a workshop: 150.00 x 4 = 600.00 - 25% =  450.00 less 37.50 (25% of 150) = $412.50
     3. family of one parent and three kids: 4 x 150 = $600.00 - 25% = $450.00
 
Age limits are negotiable but I'm thinking those 7 and up will get the most out of it. Nine and under will need a willing, paying, participating mentor to accompany them for the duration. Ten and up may come unaccompanied, assuming there are at least three willing adults to be extra eyes and ears. There will be free time each day.

The dates will be the last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of August: 27, 28, and 29. Camp will start at 9 am Monday morning and end on Wednesday night at 10 pm. If this goes well I will offer more dates and longer dates next year, so keep it in mind, please.

Everyone will go home knowing more about self-sufficiency and pioneer life.

Warmly, Maryann Borch
 
Registration form: please copy and paste this into an email with the subject:
Homesteading Camp Registration
to: borchfam@hotmail.com

Name of Camper: ____________________________________________________

Age: __________   Phone Numbers: ______________(home)______________(cell)

Email address: _______________________

Alberta Health Care number (just in case of an Emergency):___________________

Activities of Interest: 1.__________________________

                                    2.__________________________

                                    3.__________________________

Justine, the Disco wwoofer from France, lol, has now moved on too. I will miss her smiling face and positive attitude and just everything about her! I will definitely be visiting her in France someday on her fishing boat! She completely removed the grass in the home garden beds and then sheet mulched all the pathways. It is a joy to weed in there now, as you can actually see what you are doing and feel like you have made a difference.

We are waiting patiently for Xixi to calve and she is slowly filling up her udder, so it shouldn't be much longer. We have our three biggest Chicken tractors full of chicks out in the pasture and it is amazing to watch them scramble for the new grass and fresh source of bugs every tie they are moved each morning. The only dark spot on that is the Ravens have also found them out there, and where ever there is a solid wall and the chicks can't see beyond it, they investigate any little crack by sticking their heads through ... then the Ravens are right there to decapitate ... not sure how I could have worded that better, but such is life on a farm. We are now blocking every scrap of light between the bottom board and the ground and replacing them each time the pens are moved.

Here's one more picture that shows the "educational" aspect of what we do here: