Wet, hot Sacramentan summer

The American tradition of sending kids to summer camp is a strange one in hindsight: Pubescent kids run around in an isolated landscape learning to shoot bows and arrows and ride horses, eat food of questionable edibility and are generally desperate to make out with someone (a.k.a. anyone) so they can tell their friends back home. But now that your camp years are behind you, doesn’t chilling out for a week making crafts with friends whose family also needs a break from them (and vice versa) sound awesome? Put together your own summer-camp-for-grown-ups itinerary with the following this week:

At the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op (1914 Alhambra Boulevard), go the classic all-American route with the Summer Pies class on Monday, June 6, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. or else up your artisanal-everything repertoire with The Art & Science of Cheesemaking: Beer Washed Cheese on Thursday, June 9, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Classes are $65 and $49 respectively and you can register at https://sacfood.coop or by calling (916) 868-6399. Alternatively, Soil Born Farms (2140 Chase Drive) is offering The Art of Home Cooking: Cookouts Veggie Style on Wednesday, June 8, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. so you can refine your campfire-cooking methods. Admission is $25; find out more at www.soilborn.org or by calling (916) 363-9685.

And speaking of the arts, if you never got to make one back when they were cool in the ’70s, you’re in luck: Verge Center for the Arts (625 S Street) is hosting a Macrame Plant Hanger Workshop on Saturday, June 4, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets are $60 for members and $75 for nonmembers and include all materials. Visit www.vergeart.com or call (916) 448-2985 for more info.

Lastly, cap it off with an outdoor summer hang at Gather: Oak Park, which takes place every second Thursday of the month through October from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Broadway and Third Avenue. The next one is June 9, so plan ahead to grab some food and craft beer from local vendors to eat at a communal table. Plus, there will be arts vendors and live music; a big step up from the camp cafeteria, no?