Groundhogs, Greens, and Giving Back
If you’ve been following the journey of the Good Stuff Garden here at camp, you already know it’s more than just a garden — it’s a place where campers dig into hands-on learning, discover where their food comes from, and help give back to the community through donating fresh produce to local food banks.
This summer, the garden has been flourishing... with a few surprises along the way. A very ambitious groundhog family tunneled into our garden and helped themselves to more than their fair share of veggies. But we are so thankful that we still had a ton of squash, tomatoes, potatoes, and some peppers to send to a food bank in Philadelphia.
The campers have been loving the experience walking through or tending the garden. They've learned how blueberries and strawberries grow (and enjoyed snacking on them along the way). One of our PEACE groups explored the garden in the evening and couldn’t get enough of the ripe raspberries. Our CLC campers have been faithfully harvesting during their service time — with a little tasting included, of course! And with herbs and flowers blooming, we’re seeing more bees and butterflies buzzing through, making the garden even more beautiful and productive.
We’re also thrilled to share that our garden has inspired others to start planting, too. Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of seed donors, we were able to give extra seeds to families who wanted to start their own gardens at home. We also shared surplus seedlings with local churches — some of which found their way into a garden project at a women’s shelter.
We're so grateful to the companies that helped make this garden grow:
Burpee, Renee’s Garden, Eden Brothers, and Baker’s Creek Heirloom Seeds for providing the seeds that started it all.
Lee Valley Tools for donating a drip irrigation system to help our raised beds stay watered.
And Drip Depot, who gave expert advice and a generous discount to help us build an efficient watering system tailored to our small-scale setup.
Even with some unexpected visitors, the Good Stuff Garden continues to thrive — growing food, growing campers’ curiosity, and growing kindness throughout our community. We can’t wait to see what else will bloom before summer’s end!