Colonial Plantation Summary

Colonial Plantation was a huge success and everyone, adult and child alike, had a great time.  Everyone loved the plantation and suggested we camp there again.  Due to the positive response, the great experience had by all, and the hospitality of the plantation we are strongly considering making this an annual camping trip.  It is also a very conducive environment to new campers and would serve great as a fall camping trip to introduce new scouts to camping.

So what did we do?

Friday afternoon/evening the leaders and webelos scouts began to arrive. We selected the campsite, the location for the campfire and then began setting up out tents and the kitchen area.  Bob, our period correct guide from the plantation, instructed the scouts on various plants to avoid while at the plantation and took us down to the tool shed where he handed out period correct tools with an explanation of how they were used on the farm and the importance of each. He then gave the boys a lesson in how to dig the fire pit using the colonial tools in the colonial fashion. Interestingly, this was one time every boy was eager to dig the fire pit.  We then sat down and had a lesson on fire safety, how to prepare a camp fire and how to light the campfire, after which the boys started to collect tinder, kindling and firewood.

After the fire was going strong, we started prepping for dinner while the scouts ran around the open fields playing games and coming over to assist late comers getting set up. We had hot dogs, sauer kraut, and macaroni and cheese for dinner. Once everyone was set up, we gathered around the camp fire for songs and smores.

Saturday morning we woke up, got the fire going again and had pork roll, egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast.  The boys set off exploring the farm or playing an assortment of games such as volleyball, kickball, Frisbee, and catch.  As the cubs began to arrive, the older boys offered to assist them getting squared away. After which the boys got a tour of the farm, got to meet all the animals, and volunteered to assist the farmer/gardner with their chores.  The boys spent the morning, of their own choice, weeding, gardening, feeding the animals and before you knew it lunch was upon us.

For lunch we ate beefy macaroni and then headed up to the farmhouse to begin our workshops.  The work shop was supposed to be a 2 hour workshop broken down into 3x 40 minute sessions.  The first session was colonial toys and games.  The scouts learned about a wide assortment of toys and games from the colonial era and got to try, play each of them. They also got to make their own colonial toy.  The scouts had so much fun with this that what was supposed to be a 40 minute session was easily an hour and a half.  From there they moved into a split session of farming and chores.

The first segment started with the well. The scouts learned all about the well, how they were used and how they were cared for. They learned how to retrieve water from the well and the various tools used to do so. They also learned how to transport buckets of water from one place to the next using a shoulder yoke.  Each scout and sibling was then given the opportunity to retrieve a bucket of water and try carrying buckets on their shoulders.

After the well they moved over to learn how to saw wood using a 2 handed saw.  First they learned what the saws were made of, how they were made and how they were used as well as what they were used for.  They got to see home made saw horses and then got to saw their own wood with an explanation on what a cord of wood was.

Once finished with the saws, they moved up to the barn where they were introduced to a series of hand tools used for rudimentary wood work, primarily to make other tools such as a maul. Then they moved outside where they learned how to split rails.  They started by learning how to inspect the log, strip some bark, read the wood and then begin splitting it into rails.

Needless to say after all this hard work the boys were tired and hungry.  We got back to camp and had some hamburgers, leftover hotdogs, and chili made in the dutch oven.  After clean up the boys got back to playing games, exploring the farm and playing with the farm animals.  until the sun started to set.  We gathered around the campfire  had some smores and peach cobbler and before you knew it the boys were heading to bed on their own.  Not surprisingly as they got into their tents, within 5 minutes they were silent, out like a light.

After a nice long good night’s sleep, everyone awoke for pancakes (plain, blueberry, or chocolate chip) and sausage. We began to break camp, fill in the fire pit, and canvass the area.  Finally, scouts got to say goodbye to all the farm animals and feed the pigs one last time. We were out of there by 11:00 and word is that most scouts were fast asleep less than 10 minutes into the ride home.

Note: We are working on mapping the sxperiences the scouts had with the requirements from their books. We will list what they were when complete and give the scouts credit.