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New Hampshire - Ecuador Semester
Life at Marlow’s Farm Base Camp, September

For the first few weeks of this semester our home will be our Farm Base Camp in Marlow, New Hampshire. Each day begins with early morning chores: cutting and splitting wood, carrying water, caring for the farm animals and preparing and cooking our breakfast over an open fire. Then in peaceful silence, weather and nature observation will follow. Generally, academic work happens in the morning. We will study New England’s past and present. We will learn through interviewing local people, observing phenomena in nature, and reading, writing and discussing relevant topics regarding New England.

Studying Spanish will be an integral part of our daily lessons. Geography, nutrition and first aid, as well as music and visual arts, are part of the curriculum. Many afternoons will be spent working on local farms, harvesting vegetables and preparing the earth for the cold months ahead. We will then preserve our harvest by making sauerkraut, pickles, and jams and drying meats and vegetables.

During this time in New England, we will make backpacks and knives for our travel to Ecuador. Biking to the neighboring farms, running, swimming, paddling, caving and rock climbing will be some of the activities to help prepare our physical bodies for the expedition ahead. By October, our community of students and teachers, now a strong and close knit group, will embark on our journey south.

“Your teaching team has given our son alternative stratagies to deal with the confusions and frustrations of his world. Surely some of the issues will persist, and he will struggle with them, but now he has a different frame of reference. There are signs of progress everywhere we look. Hard to imagine where we would be right now without you all and your efforts and hard work.” –Parent

Ashandra harvesting apples.	Marion sharpening her ax.
Ari emerging from the “Squeeze.”

"I farm the dust of my ancestors, though the chemist’s analysis may not detect it. I go forth to redeem the meadows they have become." – Henry David Thoreau