Devil's Gulch Gardens, Vineyards, Fruit Trees and Wild Berries

Gardens

The ranch gardens supply residents with much of our produce during the summer and fall. Campers and staff alike love working in the gardens! Campers take part in weeding, planting, and harvesting, and of course enjoy eating the fresh vegetables they have helped to grow.

I was
determined
to know
beans.

—Henry David Thoreau,
Walden

Vineyards

The 20 acres of vineyard provide grapes for high-quality wines and a venue for older students to learn the craft of viticulture. Campers of all ages weave baskets from the grapevines. We graze chickens and sheep here, to the benefit of both the animals and the vineyards.

On a rise in the vineyards stands the windmill, which was erected with the help of campers in our Agricultural Mechanics camp and which supplies half of the ranch’s electricity. This clear, open spot is excellent for stargazing in our very dark night skies.

The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.

—Galileo       

Fruit Trees and Wild Berries

Scattered throughout the ranch is ample fruit to can, crush for cider, or make ice cream or pastries. The connection between farm and kitchen is never clearer than when children pick fruit and use it to make dishes enjoyed the same day. In the later part of the year, adept climbers gather the most apples!

If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.

—George Bernard Shaw