Nomadic living means adapting to an ever changing set of circumstances and making the most of what is available. This time I'm blessed with access to a nice, well equipped site and have many plans to make it better.
Maintaining trails, planting herbs, and putting the finishing touches on the campsite are a few of my daily chores, would you like to come along and see my work?
The Campsite
Besides admiring the night sky and watching wildlife there is a lot to do for this little clearing in the woods. Before the tent could be placed I had to flatten a 8 foot circular clearing to fit a 7 foot tent comfortably.
As darkness began to fall and the mosquitos swarmed I settled with getting this are to be "flat enough". Once inside the tent I oriented my head at the highest point and my feet where the tent sloped down which worked just fine.
Then the personal touches. I brought my basket of clothing and my backpack with a couple of books in the tent. As this spring has been rainy there are a lot of mosquitos about so I spent parts of the evenings indulging in my sci-fi and fantasy books while I avoided their bites.
The natural beauty of this spot inspires me so. I feel really grateful to be able to spend a few weeks here each year. And as a token of my gratitude towards the land and my family who purchased this land, I have many ongoing projects to make this little homestead better.
Maybe instead of saying better I really should say "more functional". Rarely do humans make a natural landscape better. Rather, we can make it more apt for human habitation. As a lifelong student of permaculture my hope is to improve this place while also beautifying.
Besides the garden (which I will get to in a bit) my main focus of the years has been this bench. I have shared ALOT about this bench, the construction, failures, and successes here on Hive. Particularly about my multi-year attempts to seal the earthen interior to the elements in this post >> My Many Attempts at Lime Wash Paint if you are interested in the whole story.
As the bench dried slowly I added a circle of stones to create a small campfire area. I can't believe I hadn't done this sooner! The fire helped dry the earthen bench, the smoke kept away the mosquitoes in the evening, and generally the campfire made a lovely atmosphere when other friends and family came to stay on the weekends.
In the evenings I sat beside the fire and in they days I would rest beneath the blooming buckeye trees that were at the height of their bloom. Aren't they beautiful?
The garden
If you have been following along for a while now you will know that one of my main passions in life is herbalism. From growing herbs, to harvesting, to making medicine, to writing herbal profiles here on Hive I am all about the power of plants.
It may seem strange to some that I would spend my travel/vacation time working on the land. But, to me this is a wonderfully relaxing activity. I love herbs and imagining this place full of both native plants and my tried & true herbal allies are what my dreams are made of. A few years ago I spent a couple of weeks digging and forming a terraced garden on a gently sloping section just between the outdoor kitchen/trailer area and the outhouse. This year my goal was to do more decorative landscaping and connect these two zones.
From a little nursery that I work at seasonally I was gifted a handful of herbs to add the already established terraces. Rosemary, sage, thyme, and aloe can be seen here.
Besides making this place a beautiful oasis of medicine we are also thinking of the wildlife when making plant selection. My mom and I also picked out a few interesting native plants that are both decorative and habitat for local birds.
And as this land is also habitat for an extended family of deer we also have to consider them when planting. We water the grasslands and have fresh water year-round for them to sip on. And in return we ask that they not nibble on our herbs. Sadly, they haven't gotten the message and we must resort to physical barriers like the hoop & nets seen in an image above as well as these cages we put around the young lavender plants.
Well, that is all for my little home under the oak and buckeye trees. In these last few days of my journey to my homelands of California I will be watering in these herbs before the summer heat sets in and saying goodbye (for now) to this beautiful forest and my temporary home here.
Top notch camping site, love the way you're planning out your balanced interventions on it
This isn't the typical "travel" post. But, to be honest, I feel very strange not being involved in gardening no matter where I am. Thanks so much for reading & your comment.
Sending Love and Ecency Vote!
thanks so much!!
Wow, looks like you really enjoyed it. it's really an amazing thing, I really like camping and exploring nature. it can make us relax and peaceful❤