We’re filling every bed at Tamarack Farm this summer (we literally have three left as I write). I couldn’t be more thrilled that 28 campers are returning for their second summer at the Farm. Why are campers wanting to come back? I went back and pulled quotes from our post-camp camper survey from last summer:
I just want to emphasize how much you really get attached to everyone, every single person at camp after talking to and sleeping next to and sitting next to and hugging the same people for seven weeks. You just miss everyone all together.
I learned how to use a lot of tools that I had not used before. I learned a lot more about gardening and taking care about animals. I learned a lot about the farm life overall.
I learned how to live in a small community. I learned that I don’t mind doing things like weeding or washing dishes if it is with and for people I care about.
I miss the people, living in a small close-knit community, being in the outdoors all the time, the meals and the care-free culture.
I have learned that, outside of camp, I often follow instead of lead because it seems easier but camp helped me work on that and it helped me empower myself.
Well, I gained more confidence this summer. I am ready to take on 10th grade.
This camp is awesome!! It allows you to grow, helps you to become more in tune with who you are as a young person. The counselors are non- judgmental, in fact they guide you along rough patches.
I loved my counselors, my cabin mates and the whole camp community. Thank you ALL for making my summer memorable, fun and enjoyable!!!
Farm & Wilderness has been a massive part of my life, and even though I’ve only been coming here for 3 years, I feel like it’s made me who I am today.
Going to Tamarack Farm was an incredible experience and I would like to come back next year to have another experience like it.
I miss being with the same people every minute of every day, feeling like a big family, and taking care of each other.
I want to come back because I love F&W and I loved Tamarack Farm! I loved working in the kitchen, in the garden, swimming in the lake, hanging out with friends, singing, and so much more!
I learned almost everything about how a farm is run. I also learned many useful wilderness skills.
I have found that I have a large love for farming and would love to do it again.
I learned how to listen to other people, how to see rather than just look and how to wait my turn. i learned how to milk a cow, make pickles and churn butter& make ice cream. i learned how to live with other people by choice, and accommodate for their needs and choices. i learned how to cook with other people, work with other people and accept other people without constantly pressuring them to be better.
i have become a lot more comfortable with myself as a person in the way i behave and how i look; i have learned that certain things make me react in certain ways and what my strengths and weaknesses are in a community.
tamarack farm is the happiest and safest i have ever felt in my life. I miss it and every single person there, and it would be amazing if i could come back
I think my passion got social justice has really blossomed and put me in a position where I not only feel inclined, but really want to work with social justice for the rest of my life.