They learned about the fire on this day.

Youngsters at the weeklong Garden Joy Camp took a hands-on approach to learn about the various elements.

Fire is a natural part of the ecosystem when it comes to gardening. On Friday – the last day of the Garden Joy Camp – the campers used fire to make s’mores.

The previous day, they used another element – wind – to harvest sound and make music.

Prior to that, they took soil from the earth to create the mud used for mud painting and other art projects.

“All of these elements show how this garden is all tied together,” said Jenna, who was one of the helpers at the non-profit Ripon community garden located behind Studio Joy, 929 W. Main St.

Originally known as Oak Valley Youth Garden when it was founded in 2016, the name-change occurred two years later after organizers moved to the current one-acre public garden on Main Street while partnering with Studio Joy.

Garden Joy is funded via various donations along with events such as the annual Ripon Farmers Market, held Thursday evenings from May through September.

Besides the children’s education program held on the third Saturday of each month, Garden Joy has been a destination for field trips among the area schools according to Sarah Dirpinian.

She’s the president and founder of Garden Joy.

Dirpinian indicated that this first-ever Garden Joy Camp consisted of 40 young campers.

“This was their end of the summer fun before school starts up again,” she said.

In addition to the STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics) activities, the young campers learned how to take fresh produce and turn it into a tasty snack.

To learn more, log on to www.GardenJoyCA.com.