Author: Zoe

As a kid, summer camp was the thing I was always looking forward to. The end of school meant I got to leave home to spend an entire month in the dreamy San Juan Islands with some of my closest friends in the world; it was the best part of my childhood. I never fully expected to come back and work at my childhood summer camp, but I knew if I ever did, I would want to be the gardener, tending to the garden plants and leading garden-based activities for future campers just like me.

That dream came true this summer when I applied for the job of gardener at my childhood camp, Camp Nor’wester. Camp Nor’wester provides a month-long summer camp experience for kids aged 9 to 16 and is located on John’s Island in the San Juans. Working for two 1-month-long sessions, my summer will be almost entirely spent on John’s, which I am super excited about. Follow along on this website as I document my work as camp gardener through hand-written journal entries and readings from the book, The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature by David Haskell.

*All photos taken by Zoe DeWitt unless otherwise listed*