summer 2011
DG Educational Services
Farm and Nature Camps 2011
Devil's Gulch Ranch
Nicasio, Marin County, CA
Thank you for checking out DGES' camp programs. All of the camps offered by DG Educational Services (DGES), including our Summer Day Camp, Holiday Vacation Camps, and After School Camps are focused on achieving our mission to connect children and young adults to agriculture, nature, outdoor recreation, and our ancestral past.
We are now accepting registrations for Summer Day Camp for 2011. The attached registration form will give you the schedule and costs for our summer sessions. Our Summer Camp starts at 9:00 am and ends at 3:45 pm every day (Monday through Friday). The summer session begins on June 13th. Devil's Gulch Ranch is located in Nicasio, Marin County, California.
Please take a moment to review our Documentary of Summer Camp at Devil's Gulch Ranch.
Because Devil’s Gulch is a working ranch specializing in the sustainable production of meat, children and their families have the very unique opportunity to experience agriculture in a manner that is not readily available in other camps. Campers can participate in real everyday ranch chores from tending to the livestock to helping to maintaining equipment and caring for ranch’s garden. Children are able to get a first hand experience of the work that goes into producing the food that they see in their super markets and on their dinner tables, and to develop an appreciation for the delicate balance that must be maintained in order to produce food in a sustainable and responsible manner. For more information on Devil's Gulch Ranch please see www.devilsgulchranch.com.
At DGES Camps, we feel a special connection with the natural world. We are blessed to be located on the edge of the Golden Gate National Seashore Land and Samuel P. Taylor State Park. Once you step out of the ranch’s back gate you are immediately in the midst of West Marin’s natural beauty. The surrounding area has an abundance of forests, meadows and creeks. This special place gives campers the opportunity to experience nature first hand. We at DGES strive to provide a framework that guides children to the wild, and yet allows them to meet it on their own terms. They are able to explore the natural wonders and to satisfy their own curiosity, while benefiting from the guidance and mentorship that our knowledgeable staff gives. What they will come away with is a transformative experience that will change their perspective for a lifetime.
Along with teaching children and their families about agriculture and nature, we are also dedicated to the teaching and preservation of agricultural and ancestral skills. These include tanning hides, felting, making soap, basketry, bone and antler tools, jewelry, welding, photography, pottery, just to name just a few. At DGES we encourage creative exploration of old technologies. We find that by participating in these traditional activities, campers gain new perspectives on nature and mankind’s relationship with it. They are able to learn how to make the original counterparts of many of today’s prefabricated, factory produced items, thereby gaining a deeper, more nuanced understanding of our culture and history.
Please explore the rest of the web site and see what other activities and programs are available that might be of interest. I welcome your inquiries and look forward to talking to you.
Joe Barr, Director of Domestic Programs
joebarr.dges@gmail.com (415) 662-1099
