We're mid-way through Slide Ranch's summer camp season, and we're enjoying opening up the wonders of Slide Ranch to energetic, engaged 5-to-13-year-olds.

Each week campers at the ranch have focused on a different theme related to our relationship with the environment and agriculture. So far this summer we've explored the idea of stewardship, learned about seeds and pollinators, investigated tide pool ecosystems, and indulged in the variety and diversity of Slide Ranch with all five of our senses.

Over these summer weeks, campers have learned about stewardship by taking hands-on care of animals, plants and the wild lands. They've explored the lives of bees, observing flower foraging and bee anatomy, sniffing waxy honeycomb and tasting honey. They've investigated goats’ senses and empathized with what a goat sees with its “eyes on the side,” as well as how a goat hears, smells, and feels. Camp groups have learned about the importance of seeds, how they grow into our food, and how they can be food themselves.They made seed balls, planted bean seeds and harvested seeds for cooking projects.

And as always, all of Slide's campers have revelled in the freedom of the Marin coast, roaming the wild lands from Bone Grove to the Dome, from the magical tide pools and Owl Trail to the Pines. We hope that they carry special memories of Slide Ranch and the things they learned here into the world, and that their experiences foster a lifelong interest in environmental stewardship.