After Greg Brown bought the old farm of Burnett’s circle of relatives in South Knoxville, he wasn’t sure what to do with it.
“It would take a lot to build on it; it’s downhill, there’s no big house, it’s literally a piece of land,” said Kat Bike, who manages Brown Bike Farm’s communications and oversees a little bit of everything.
“It’s a lovely meadow and I just tried to do it.”
Bike had a rental cabin in Gatlinburg that was destroyed in the 2016 wildfires. “I enjoyed connecting with other people,” he says. “I saw a list with only one shed and other people were renting it. People rented outdoor spaces everywhere, but not in Knoxville.”
As an avid mountain biker, Bike said the farm, located two or three miles from Mead Quarry, the Forks of the River, Helix and Transfarms mountain bike trails, is the best position to establish a base.
“I’m looking to figure out how to create the best property and Greg is contemplating promoting the farm,” he says. “That’s when we made an agreement for other people to come and camp in.
Four-acre D-shaped personal assets are delimited through Burnett Creek and Burnett Creek Road. In addition to camping in tents, there is an option for camping in hammocks, especially near the creek.
Brown Bike Farm has assigned and numbered camping sites in primitive streams and camping sites of remote organizations. “We have water in the city and a marina, so this may be more primitive,” Bike said.
Some consumers spend the night in their changed vans, in the back of their trucks, and others have small cars built for camping.
“I camped in my hammock through the creek,” Bike said. Last year, he helped run a motorcycle packaging workshop at TVB (Tennessee Bicycle Valleys) where other people talked about the gadgets they were and to give him an idea.
“Then, in July, we met at TVB and 25 of us packed everything up and headed to the camp, preventing us from swimming in the Mead quarry.”
The meadow is full of local flowers and changes the color with the seasons, according to Bike. “In spring, there is a diversity of white, yellow or purple flowers. In season, the total meadow turns purple with ironweed. This season, the cotton odiversity attracts butterflies.
A nest of turkeys and bunnies was also spotted in the distance. “We’ve had other people camped out and we noticed otters gambling and serpentine turtles lurking,” he says. “You can be close and soak up nature while you stay close to the city.”
Bike said it was an opportunity to revel in a primitive camp without walking with all its gadgets for 24 miles.
For the additional expenses of Brown Bike Farm, Brown is a beekeeper and its business partners distribute honey.
“Raw honey is smart for allergies. Lately we are promoting spring honey on our social networks. We ship to Knoxville; you can pay electronically or leave cash outdoors and deposit the honey. Small pots weigh 0.75 pounds for $10; the larger pots are twice as large and cost $16 each.
Reservations can be made via https://www.hipcamp.com/discover/tennessee/brown-bike-farms or Airbnb. “We’re not a classic camp,” Bike said. “Hip Camp has started to allow campers to request more accessories and we rate a payment and install them.”
Brown Bike Farm, for protection commands, accepts reservations for only five or six of the 10 sites by the creek and limits the organization’s sites to six to 8 people.