Farming, through the teenage lens.

We told the campers they'd have to stay out of the strawberries for a bit because we'd just found 3 rat snakes tangled in the bird netting.  None of them blinked an eye. 

Or at least, they did it while our backs were turned, busy cutting snakes out of bird netting. 

Regardless, this week's highlight was a visit from Texas A&M at Galveston's SeaCamp.  A vanload of teenagers arrived at the farm with cameras in hand, just as they did last year, and spent a good hour roaming around taking photos of whatever caught their eye. (Read the post from last year's photo visit here.)

(c) SeaCamp 2014

A cicada in the orchard. (c) Reese 2014

This relationship with the summer camp is a real boon for us, and we hope the campers get something out of it as well. We're happy to give them an environment in which to practice their skills, allow them a look into the reality of local agriculture and give a few botany lessons to boot.

I particularly enjoyed the chance to demonstrate the hidden talent of swallowtail caterpillars and the magical design of a tomatillo plant. Nothing like teaching a batch of 14 year olds the beautiful beginnings of a plate of enchiladas verdes. 

And, as they did last year, these kids took some brilliant photos. Opening their photo files a few days later is an exciting moment.  I get a unique glimpse into the microcosm that is our farm that I'd never see without 20 separate pairs of eyes trained. All these photos are taken in the same hour, and they all borrow a moment of this particular summer.  

Thanks, SeaCampers of 2014!

(oh, and in case you were wondering--no one had any further adventures with snakes. Plenty of stinkbugs, but no encounters with the legless.)

(c) Kathryn Barrington, 2014

(c) MacKenna Greenwalt, 2014

The asian pears plumping up in the orchard. (c) Sara Barrington, 2014

Honeybee mid-tasting. (c) Emily Hedrick 2014

Zinnia! (c) Kathryn Barrington, 2014

The Black Swallowtail caterpillar shows off its scary orange 'horns' if provoked. In this case, we gently poked its back.  (c) Emily Hedrick, 2014

A bug's eye view of the growing edamame. (c) Emily Hedrick, 2014

(c) Isabelle 2014

Lucky for us, we're having two more visits from SeaCamp this summer, which means we're looking forward to more photo montages and stories of talented teenagers! 

Special thanks to Robert Mihovil, local photographer and engineer behind our camp partnership, and to Tray Wright, the excellent chaperone who stepped in like a champ to help steward the young photographers on their visit! 

We're grateful to the campers and to Texas A&M at Galveston for such a lovely and photographic farmday!

(c) Reese, 2014