A monthly diary of activities in Susan’s Garden.
Photo heavy, text light, following a natural timeline.
A year plucked from the continuity of iife in Susan’s Garden, an arbitrary start and an end 366 days later (thanks for that extra day - it must have made a difference somewhere along the line). Inevitable though it was, its arrival seemed abrupt. Following the trail left by nature and its gentle improvement, wrought by Susan, time has been called on this year of exploration.
The Chicken Run
As in ‘Run, Chicken, Run!’
Free range chickens are good animal husbandry. When the chickens running free and eating your lettuce belong to your neighbour across the road they are a pest. Having lost most of her salad to such incursions last year, in the ever inventive, recycle and reuse, pitch in and help ethos that is Susan and her garden, she found a use for some so-far unused materials left over from a previous building project.
Enter the organisational genius of Lori, the well-equipped Mark (I’m talking about his tools here) and the sparks begin to fly.
Two hours later, there’s a smile on Susan’s face and the problem has the appearance of being contained. Time will judge its success, when the salad days are here again.
Its Heart Beats On
In an earlier entry in this diary, I characterised ‘le mazet’ as the heart of the garden. It is only fitting that, on the last day of the project spent actively recording its life, I should spend a few reflective moments there, taking its pulse, and reporting back to our loyal reader(s) on its health.
The odd potato left in the ground reappears, ready to multiply, the carrots got rootworm, but in ‘le mazet’ and in the house, there is abundant evidence of the health of the garden and its mistress.
There remains only the pleasure of thanking Susan for her generous access, creative inspiration, patience and limitless energy. Take a moment, if you are so inclined, to step back to the first of these diary entries and revisit her progress through the year. From that first coffee round her kitchen table, to the final conversation as I asked her for a closing portrait (and yes, she kept talking to the end!), it has been a rewarding journey.