This week has been a welcome chance to reflect on the backyard, as in everyone’s backyard. We have discussed how anyone’s backyard is a place to teach a youth outdoor skills.

This is also the place to put up a new family tent for the first time. The family would be wise to assemble it first at home instead of at the campsite. This would assure all of the parts are in the original package.

It would also give the family a preview into what is involved in setting up this particular tent. Setting up the tent in the backyard would/should make the campsite work easier.

The backyard is the proper place for a young family, new to camping, to work on the skills of campsite cooking. Meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner, can be cooked using the camp stove and utensils which will be used at the campsite.

Consider making these meals as practice or a chance to experiment with different recipes. Although, these are a chance for cooking training, they are also fun for the entire family to spend time the afternoon or evening in the backyard preparing a meal. This would be similar to a barbecue, but it is a camping meal preparation.

The backyard is also a great place for a family to learn about cooking with a Dutch oven. This is another tool to use at a campsite or in the backyard. Basically, a Dutch oven is a cast iron pot with three small legs, which hold the bottom of the pot above the ground.

The oven is operational when there are coals under it and on the lid. This creates an oven, instead of just a skillet to cook what is inside. Camp Chef, the makers of Dutch ovens and other cooking tools, has made Dutch oven cooking even easier.

They have developed the Dutch oven dome, a tool which will fit over the oven to create a convection oven. No coals are needed to use this oven, as it is placed on a gas stove, such as a camp stove.

A heat diffuser plate is placed on the gas burner, the Dutch oven is placed on the diffuser plate and the dome goes over the oven. The dome is the only way to cook with a Dutch oven, when fire restrictions are in place around the state.

The backyard is the beginning of many outdoor ventures, from cooking to learning about camping, to educating youth about building a fire, survival skills, well, we have covered many of these topics this week.

Still, the backyard in a great place to begin any outdoor adventure.