Family Camping Is the Bst time Ever!

Family camping is one of the best ways to bring your family together. 

Family camp is the experience that will bring awesome memories and pictures that will make you smile for decades.  

 What are some of the family stories that you like to tell again and again?  Are they around family vacations you have had?

 When you are out in nature, with the most basic style, you are able to see one another in a new way.

The simple rituals of camp are great reference points for life.

Food, clothing, shelter, communication, relaxation, these are the basics of life.  Smiles, free time, fresh air, sunshine, stars in the sky, trees, birds.  

These are the cherry on top that so enhance your experience of life.

You will love having those here.

There is time for all of these in camp, without rushing off to find the next thing to distract you.

When my grandchildren come to the land that my sons grew up on, they are overjoyed.  Their dads live and work in town, and they have those same types of limitations. Suddenly, they are able to see vast areas of open country, to move around as freely as they want!  And there is plenty of fun stuff to do.  Small pleasures go a long way.

We spend time around the camp fire, going into the house as little as possible, and they eat like warriors.  Running around and playing, walking up and down hills, making up stories instead of watching videos, they are having a great time.  And their parents are, too.  By the time the few days we have together are over, everyone has gotten a recharge and ready to get going on the next thing life has to offer.

It just all looks new again.

Other children come and visit for some of these family visits, too.  It’s so great to watch a pack of kids finding a lizard!  They all naturally form into a relationship structure that makes sense for them, sharing and talking to one another about what’s important to THEM.

The adventure unfolds and they make up new ideas as they go along.

The parents and grandparents, meanwhile, have a chance to compare notes on life and parenting, and give one another support.  It builds strong friendships.

Being in Big Sur together as an annual adventure while the children are growing up strengthens relationships between family members in every way.

How would you like to have great camping stories that don’t involve work and disasters that you might have when you set out on your own? That only involve sitting back and relaxing in nature while others take care of the hard work part?

Get in touch with me to plan a trip that your family will always remember with such joy.

Don't worry, it's not going to be a hassle.

It's all set up, and there is nothing I love more than watching a family get happy in nature.

Welcome video
http://youtu.be/XmcVpeYVL3E/

Come and visit!

Three ways to visit me:

www.bettyofbigsur.com  My web site, where you will find information and updates about events and my work,

www.etsy.com/shop/bettyofbigsur, a shop to showcase and sell examples of my art and fashion designs,

www.retreatcampchecklist.com, a checklist about camping retreats, to let you know what is here, and let me know what you would like to have, and to do, in Big Sur!  Fun, quick, instant feedback!

 

 

  

Big Sur Wild Forage Foods in Mill Creek

Here in Mill Creek there are an abundance of plants which can be harvested at various times of the year for food and medicine.

The ferns in this drawing are bracken ferns, which grow to  large size.  They are shown in the fiddle-head stage of early spring, as they are forming little curls that can be harvested and eaten.  In earlier times people picked these and processed them by leaching them in wood ash to be used as early spring vegetables.

At the same time of the year, small greens pop out in abundant patches in places where there is shade and moisture.  They are a fine pantry of nourishment with high vitamin content. 

Shooting starts make clusters of tiny rounded leaves, low under their purple, yellow and black flowers.

Miner's lettuces have heart-shaped leaves and stems, resembling spinach in color and flavor.  Wild roses have bloomed and set rose hips, glowing orange in the forest when they are ripe.  In some places, wild watercress grows.

Alpine strawberries form mats of miniature leaves and make tiny berries that have an exquisite taste.
And there are vast numbers of acorns.  The early settlers would have learned how to use them in the same way the Native Americans had before them, leaching them in creeks before roasting and grinding them for flour used in soups.

Madrone and manzanita berries are edible and high in vitamin C. They follow the lovely cream-colored flowers with red and orange hues.

Many types of wild herbs grow here.

Plantain, mother of herbs, serves as both food and medicine.  The flowers were gathered for flour and can also be eaten raw. 

Herba Santa, with its pretty purple flowers, is strong against infection.  It has dark green foliage with leatry texture and serrated edges.  Steeped in hot water with honey, it is used as cough syrup.

Herba Pasma, having needle-like leaves and blooming in light yellow, thrives in areas that have been burned.  A tea made of it is delicious and nourishing.  Many people have used it as a remedy for clearing the blood or as a poutice on wounds, to good effect.

Vervain grows, known for its cosmetic uses.  It has long branches of dusty lavender color, growing low in a spreading habit.

Wild rosemary and mountain sage are here, feeding the bees and the hummingbirds.

Mushrooms including chanterelles grow in quiet dells in years when rainfall is abundant.  Boleta mushrooms also appear, and chicken of the woods with its bright colors pops out of the sides of oak trees.

Native American people harvested grasshoppers in summer and brought shellfish to the mountains for feasting as well.  They camped here a lot during acorn season to gather the rich source of protein, and to hunt.

Game teems through the watershed, including deer, pigeons, quail, and squirrels.  Those who lived off the land would have a lot of work, but sure ate well.  Of course these wild foods were supplemented with those grown and domesticated.  Yet the bounty of nature would sustain those who were able to persevere.


Come and visit!

YouTube!
http://youtu.be/XmcVpeYVL3E/

Three ways to visit me:

www.bettyofbigsur.com  My web site, where you will find information and updates about events and my work,

www.etsy.com/shop/bettyofbigsur, a shop to showcase and sell examples of my art and fashion designs,
www.retreatcampchecklist.com, a checklist about camping retreats, to let you know what is here, and let me know what you would like to have, and to do, in Big Sur!  Fun, quick, instant feedback!