*UPDATE: okay, just stumbling back to this after taking most of the year off. I will be updating this website (and hopefully continuously updating) with Camp 2015 news and info, as well as reaching out to our amazing camp from last year for .pictures and memories to save in our gallery diary. Stay tuned for more!

If you found your way here it's probably as the result of a conversation we had. This blog, just like the camp itself, is a work in progress. It's where I'm keeping thoughts and notes for myself as I work through how the camp will work and at the same time sharing them with anyone who has expressed interest in the camp. Absolutely everything contained within this blog is subject to change due to us having a way better idea pop into our heads or because we ran out of time and couldn't finish something.

Strange Gardens Bear Magical Fruit is our camp. Or, as (fingers crossed) it's listed in the Burning Man placement guide, Strange Gardens Bear Magical Frui. There is a limit of 33 characters for the camp name, and I committed to a name which has 34. I'm alright with the missing T, though.

The goal of Strange Gardens is to create a garden of fantastical, creative, imaginative, bizarre shelter pods. These pods should be as practical to use as camping quarters as they are whimsical to look at. We aim to start small and gradually grow over the years.

This first year we are seeding the garden with three pods of our own; La Lupa, I Dream of..., and Cloud. All three are made out of poly Iso (that foil lined rigid insulation that you see the hexayurts made out of), have decorative lighting on the outside, functional lighting on the interior, and are cooled by the famous figjams swamp coolers. They have lockable doors. These are collapsible and reusable, and designed to be erected and broken down with the minimum amount of effort as possible on the playa. More in depth description of the shelter pods below. 

In upcoming years, as the camp slowly grows, we would like to establish a fund to support the creation of more interesting shelter pods by those who have the imagination and the ability, but not necessarily the funds. There are details about this process here.

In addition to providing resources for those who may have ideas but also financial limitations, once at BM we hope to inspire people to think about creatively different ways to shelter themselves.

For now, the sleeping pods are made available on first come first served basis for camp members. In addition to the pods we provide some basic camp amenities. Find out more here.

Here are the pods that we have in the works, pictures will be posted as we progress and if we remember to take pics (I forgot to take them of Cloud and I Dream Of... when we had the initial foamcore models complete and  we disassembled them to make the more precise 1/4 scale models now in progress)

La Lupa

The wolfs head. Approximately 9'x12' by 13' tall (including the ears) with additional space in the snout (the entrance). Minimal external lighting, the eyes only, possibly the fangs if we have time to make that happen. Internal LED lighting, two camp beds, clothing rack, swamp cooler (to be maintained by occupant) provided

I Dream Of...

For anyone whose ever wanted to live inside an giant opulent perfume bottle. Approximately 12' in diameter and 24' tall with extensive multicolored decorative LED lighting on the exterior, potentially a shower of fiber optic decorative lighting on the interior. Bubble windows around the circumference . Two camp beds, clothing rack, swamp cooler (to be maintained by occupant) provided.

Cloud

A smaller, friendlier, happy bright cloud...an extruded 2 dimensional cloud with cool and warm white LEDs brightening the exterior. It's approximately 16x8 and 9' tall at it's highest point. Two camp beds, clothes rack and swamp cooler provided.