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Join us for fun and adventure these October 2022 school holidays, and learn some new skills too!
Homegrown Organics supplies Mid North Coast families with year-round fresh organic produce from our market garden. We also love helping families experience the delights and realities of nature and country life.
It’s no secret that kids are physically and mentally healthier when they spend time doing stuff in nature. It helps them to think independently, act responsibly, and choose an active and adventurous lifestyle that builds character and resilience. Our on-farm experiences are packed with fun activities that build new skills as we do meaningful things.
This September/October school holidays we have three farm workshops on offer for children and families. They are suitable for different ages, and there are options for parents to leave children or to stay and participate.
Kids on Fire!
Workshop Details
Kids on Fire! is a fun, social and hands-on experience that will build respect, confidence and appreciation for the power of fire as kids learn fire safety and fire skills.
Fire has a magnetic attraction for kids. Which of us can resist poking at a campfire to make it burn brighter, or setting the end of a stick alight and whirling it around in the air wondering at the patterns of light you can make, or just sitting watching and wondering at the infinity of pyrotechnics in the bushman's TV?
Fire has long been a blessing for humans for light, cooking, comfort, security, signaling, hunting, burning waste, clearing land, manufacture of metal items, etc, and today it is as essential as ever. We also know fire can be an incredibly destructive force, the 2019/20 bushfires are a recent reminder of how a great blessing can become a terrible curse. Our aim is to teach kids how to utilise the blessing and avoid the curse.
Rod is the lighter of a thousand fires, starting his 'pyromaniac' career as a kid burning out stumps and logs on the family farm in rural WA. An experienced camper, bushman, and fire fighter, husband and firestoker to Desley who likes the lounge fire going from March to September, and dad to 6 kids who all love a good fire, he seeks to inspire a new generation of kids who are not afraid of fire, but who respect and safely appreciate it's power while having loads of fun.
This workshop:
- teaches the science of fire
- emphasises fire safety
- develops campfire lighting skills, including in difficult conditions
- explores available fuel sources, including exposure to the chainsaw and axe
- builds respect, confidence and appreciation of fire
- exposes kids to grassfire and bushfire sense and safety skills
- covers basic first aid for burns
and
- encourages a connection to nature while fostering curiosity
- helps to build confidence and resilience
- enhances independence and critical thinking skills
- develops basic bush survival skills
- encourages teamwork and interdependence
Ages
6 - 15 years. Parents welcome to stay or to drop off. Children under 8 to be accompanied by an adult.
Date Time & Cost
Sunday October 2
9am – 1pm
$70 first child / $40 subsequent children
Campfire Craft
Workshop Details
Sitting around a camp fire and cooking a meal tinged with smoke is one of the delights of life. Our Campfire Craft school holiday workshop applies our kid's creative energies to making campfire tools and furniture that will last a lifetime! Our projects this time are a folding timber and canvas camp stool, and a deluxe toasting fork.
Nearly 50 years ago, Desley's brother Dana attended a Pathfinder workshop where he made a folding camp stool, and he has been using it ever since. Leading bush adventure expeditions for years in QLD and TAS and now in NSW and NT, Dana's 50 year old stool is still an essential piece of his equipment.
We will also make a deluxe toasting fork in our workshop. We learned this ‘improved design’ from Dana a few years ago when we travelled the Simpson Desert together. Our son Jack has been making them ever since, and they are brilliant at preventing a camp cooking tragedy - half cooked toast falling off the toasting fork into the fire!
When these projects are completed, we will all sit around the campfire on our new creations and make a few pieces of toast together!
This workshop:
- develops hand eye coordination and fine motor skills
- encourages kids in a love of doing practical useful things
- associates fun with achieving meaningful outcomes
- promotes increased resilience and confidence - "I can do this!"
- enhances social and personal skills
Ages
6 - 15 years. Parents welcome to stay or to drop off. Children under 8 to be accompanied by an adult.
Date Time & Cost
Wednesday October 5
9am – 1pm
$95 first child / $65 subsequent children
Cost includes materials for stool and toasting fork
Campfire & Garden Cooking
Workshop Details
Our Campfire & Garden Cooking workshop is a fun experience that invites children to get their hands into the dirt of our garden beds and forage for their lunch! They will then prepare the food, cook it over the campfire, and serve you with their delicious creations – a true garden to plate experience.
Eating from a homegrown garden is a wonderful experience for children. Have you ever watched a child eat a pea straight off the vine for the first time, or pull a beetroot from the ground, wash and eat? Not only do these moments create beautiful memories but they also foster a connection to the soil, an understanding and appreciation of where our food comes from, and you guessed it, kids who grow their own veggies eat more veggies!
Desley has raised 6 children on the farm and she has kept many tummies full and nourished over the years! If you’ve been to the Real Food markets, you’ve likely seen her smiling and serving the community with delicious homemade pies, hummous’, relishes, pestos, salad dressings and more. She loves to help families eat well and live well, and she’s looking forward to seeing you for a fun morning in the garden and meal around the campfire.
This workshop:
- teaches children about ‘real food’ and where it comes from
- encourages healthy eating
- promotes physical exercise
- introduces children to the world that lives below the soil
- develops campfire cooking skills
- promotes a profound sense of achievement
and
- encourages a connection to nature while fostering curiosity
- helps to build confidence and resilience
- enhances independence and teaches responsibility
- develops basic cooking and food preparation skills
- encourages teamwork and social skills
Ages
6 - 15 years. Parents welcome to stay or to drop off. Children under 8 to be accompanied by an adult.
Date Time & Cost
Sunday October 2
9am – 1pm
$70 first child / $40 subsequent children
Kind words
"The kids loved learning about healing properties of charcoal, and just generally enjoyed the full adventure."
"The kids enjoyed the cooking workshop from beginning to end although I do believe shopping the garden was their favorite part."
"Cooper loved the whole experience. He was particularly keen on what he learnt especially the facts about charcoal helping with poison and how to light a fire in the rain."
“An inspiring, nourishing & educational farm tour! From seed to seedling, to ripe & ready… we learnt the whole process of veggie growing."
"So many tips and tricks for the home garden. The whole family loved the experience to connect with those who lovingly grow our food! Thank you Rod and Desley.”
"The kids really enjoyed the blacksmithing activity and especially the night games, spotlight etc. As a parent I really enjoyed seeing the kids participate in cooking damper and I loved discovering the new ingredients to add making it a delicious dinner, now adding a new recipe to our future camping trips."
“Amazing generosity of time and knowledge!”
“Educational, engaging, fun, flexible to meet the needs of the group, the curiosity of the little & big people, and a little spontaneous!”
“Rod & Desley were so generous in sharing their experiences & knowledge. The tour was more than a walk through the veggies!”