Summer Camp on the Farm in West Simsbury

At Flamig Farm, a summer camp in West Simsbury, the day begins with chores, because the camp is on a farm.

"It's a beautiful thing where we can have parents pay us money to have children do our work.  I love it,” owner Nevin Christensen said.

He said he and his brother came up with the idea many years ago when they realized that they were not making any money by growing food.

Twenty-two years later, the camp is going strong.  It’s open for eight weeks a summer for 5 through 13-year-olds.

"You get to have a lot of fun, but the rules are, you're not supposed to have fun. But sometimes you do," joked camper Lauren Callahan, of Canton.

In addition to typical camp chants, fun and games, some learning goes on.

"We try to expose them (to) as much of the overall operation of the farm as possible,” Christensen said.  “I think it's important for everybody to be able to dig in the dirt and understand how plants grow and just the cycles of nature.”

The children also groom the animals.

"We just brush her hair and get all the hay out of her hair and get the dirt,” camper Kristy Chain, of Avon, said.

They also feed the animals.

"My favorite part here is going to the goat's cage and playing with the baby goats.  They're really cute,” Callahan said.

But Christensen and his counselors, most importantly, show these children that the experience is about enjoying farming.

"I get to go home every day and tell my mom what I learned," Chain said. 

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