Sage Mountain Farm is partnering with Camp Stevens to bring CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) boxes to Camp Stevens for you to pick up. These boxes will be delivered and ready for pick up every other Thursday between 1-3pm. To sign up click here. You are required to sign up for 4 boxes to start, and the least expensive option is to sign up for ‘Auto-renew’ that you can cancel at any time if you do not want to continue.
Sage Mountain Farm has generously offered for a portion of the cost of each CSA box to be donated back to Camp Stevens as well. We are so grateful to be able to partner with them during this time, and to connect our community with more local organic produce.
If you are interested in purchasing a CSA box to donate to a local family in need to fresh produce, click here!
About Our Gardens
At Camp Stevens our gardens are designed to serve as a space for reflection, inspiration, nourishment, and education. We aim to preserve the biodiversity of life, create opportunities to experience the joys of connecting with our food, and provide an outdoor classroom for children and adults. Camp Stevens’ garden began as a small herb garden behind our Dining Hall and has since encompassed three acres.
Take a look around our gardens and you might find:
- Organically grown vegetables
- Herbs
- Fruit trees
- Grape vines
- Native flowers and shrubs.
You might also find our flock of laying hens, two kune kune pigs, or come face-to-face with goats.
Sustainability
Rooted in our mission to inspire, challenge, and empower environmental transformation we practice regenerative growing in our gardens.
Some of the ways we garden sustainably:
- Compost all our food scraps
- Make our own potting soil
- Avoid pesticides and other harmful agents
- Grow non-gmo, organic, and heritage seeds
- Inter-plant flowers and native pollinators
- Use water wise irrigation
Garden Programs
We’d love to lead your group in a hands-on garden program or provide you the space to relax or explore on your own.
Our programs include:
- Harvesting (and munching on) fruits and veggies
- Planting young seedlings
- Meeting our compost worms
- Canning jelly
- Baking fresh breads in our wood fired cob oven
- Hunting for eggs in our chicken coop
- Service projects
and a whole lot more!
Resources
Our gardens have been tended by an immense community of professionals and helpers alike, not to mention the ancient tending practices of the Kumeyaay who cared for and shaped this land long before our concepts of gardening came to be. Both our land and its current human keepers have gathered a lot of wisdom from all of the forces and hands that have shaped our gardens over the years. Here are some principles that we hope can get you started on your own journey to tapping into the mutually healing relationship with tending to nature and gardens.
- Things might not always go to plan when growing plants or composting, caring for the earth involves a lot of patience and love.
- No garden is too small to bring joy and create a lasting positive impact.
- One thing you can always harvest from your garden is teachable moments.
For more information and resources feel free to contact our Garden Manager Emkat at farmgarden@campstevens.org
How to start your own garden
- How to construct your own compost bin – Solana Center
- Composting basics – Solana Center
Saving Seeds
- A practical seed saving guide – Native Seeds
- Guide to seed saving, seed stewardship, and seed sovereignty – Adaptive Seeds
Organic gardening techniques for beginners
- How to start a garden in 3 steps – Black Girls with Gardens
- Information about indoor gardening – Kids Gardening
- How to grow south western wildflowers – Native Seeds
- Companion planting basics – Farmers Almanac
- How to turn your yard into a garden and your neighborhood into a community (free online book) – Food Not Lawns
