Let's Reframe: By Degrees

Healing in the Garden

8/27/2020

 
Picture
Monarchs on Joe Pye Weed, September 2020 Photo by ERSwett
It's true!
If you plant it,
they will
come.

Picture
Raised beds, 2010. Photo by ERSwett
At first,
back in 2010,
I loved straight lines &
beds high enough to deter
our ​new puppy. All I wanted was to
grow lots of food as efficiently
​as possible.

Picture
2013 view looking south with rain barrel experiments in view. Photo by ERSwett
By 2013,
the compost had
moved out; 
Three layers
were too hot & dry; And a new
north-south alignment 
just felt better.
Picture
2015 view into the garden with grapes finally taking off. Photo by ERSwett
Over
time, the ideas in Toby
Hemenway's book
 Gaia's Garden, 
transformed my thinking, inviting experimentation
with fewer paths, more curves & the
integration of pollinator-
friendly plants.
Picture
2016 experiments with mounding and soft edges. Photo by ERSwett
My family
thinks it's crazy to
redesign the garden every
few years as each one seems pretty
cool, like this rounded mounded central axis
filled with a mix of annual vegetables and perennials.
But for me, these changes reveal how this garden was becoming
more than just a space to grow vegetables. It was
a safe place for me to connect with and
explore the power of the
earth herself, this
thing called
Gaia.
Picture
2018 abundance. It turns out, though, that I prefer bush beans. Photo by ERSwett
By 2018,
cucumbers emerged
from beneath pole beans, borage
invited pollinators, and there was hardly a
need to water, as the composted and well-shaded
soil sustained itself throughout the summer. I had finally
created my own 'Gaia's Garden' paradise.
So it seems strange that I would
take it apart & essentially
start over.
Picture
Garden redesign in progress, September 2018 Photo by ERSwett
But
that's just
what I did, creating
a circular space aligned with
the quadrants of a compass and based 

on historic herb garden designs.
I didn't know what this
new space would
be like...
Picture
Completed garden redesign, end of September 2018 Photo by ERSwett
...until
I planted the
echinacea and finally
understood that gardening is not
about how many peas I harvest. For me, it's
about how I can heal myself so that
together my garden and I
can help heal the
earth.
Picture
Abundance 2020 Photo by ERSwett

Summer Reading

In addition to re-reading Gaia's Garden, these others books have also captivated and inspired me this summer. It feels as if the earth is in all of our hands right now. Digging deeper is the only way to go.
​

Drew, Sarah Gaia Codex
Hemenway, Toby Gaia's Garden
Jewell, Jennifer The Earth in Her Hands
Kincaid, Jamaica My Garden (Book): 
Penniman, Leah Farming While Black

Energy & Edging

8/16/2020

 
Picture
Our 'new' front yard garden, August 2020 Photo by ERSwett
Welcome.
When I walk into
our 'new' front yard, it's
like magic. The granite pavers
guide me past the front
door and around
​to the back,
Picture
Our 'new' side garden, August 2020 Photo by ERSwett
where ​pungent
SummerSweet and cheerful
purple Coneflower (echinacea) beckon.
"Come," they say. "You are
​safe here."
Picture
Echinacea (Coneflower) Photo by ERSwett
And I am.
Bees frolick and
I feel a warm embrace
not just from the plants, but
from all the people who guided
me to this time and this place. It seems
hard to believe that in the midst
of a global crisis, I have
​found such joy in
​the garden.
Picture
Calvin lounging in the sun, early May 2020 Photo by ERSwett
Just
three months
ago, Calvin and I sat
in our front 'yard.' Still early
in the COVID crisis, we were eager
to be outside. For me, though, this space
between our house & the road
was not a calming
​place.
Picture
The front yard, early June 2020 Photo by ERSwett
In fact,
it was unsettling.
Perhaps it was the abrupt
contrast 
between the lawn & the
trees or maybe it was 
the way the lawn
just headed off 
into our neighbor's
property, 
carrying my
energy 
with it --
away.
Picture
A work in progress, June 2020 Photo by ERSwett
But with my
son ready to help,
we gave new form to this
part of our yard. By mid June
there was a layer of
healthy soil &
​mulch.
Picture
Gro-Low Sumac, Detail August 2020 Photo by ERSwett
By mid July,
I had planted the
hillside with a cool mix of
native plants, including Gro-low
Sumac and Joe Pye Weed. In the process,
I co-opted some more of the lawn,
which really is just a nasty
water hog that 
has 
​no nutritional
value.
Picture
Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum) August 2020 Photo by ERSwett
The more
I walked among this
increasing variety of plants,
the more grounded I felt in every ​way,
not just because a formally neglected place was
getting attention, but because it was
coming to life - the winged
creatures were
showing
​up.

Picture
Scented Geranium, August 2020 Photo by ERSwett
But
even with
this beauty, there
was something missing.
The more time I spent in this
place, the more I realized that it had
​something to do with the
flow of energy.
Picture
The original brick edging, July 2020 Photo by ERSwett
From prior
experiments, I realized
that it was all about 
​edging and
the clear definition of boundaries. T
he
bricks that had been in the front of the original
bed for decades were not strong enough
to contain the power of what
​
this part of our land
was ​becoming. 
Picture
Granite pavers - getting started, late July 2020 Photo by ERSwett
So,
it was with
great enthusiasm that
during the last week in July, I
carried one hundred pavers from a pallet
at Gardener's Supply in Lebanon, NH
into and out of the car, slowly
laying them into the soil,
and in the process,
transforming
this place.
Picture
The edging in place, August 2020 Photo by ERSwett
Our
initial design
did not include edging
material nor did it include this
connection between the front and back
yards. But this mix of stone and
diverse plantings created
an increasingly
​dynamic
space.
Picture
The view on a cloudy day, edging and all, August 2020 Photo by ERSwett
Power
emerges when
when there are natural
connections among people, plants
& place. Earlier today, 
I could almost hear
the 
conversation between the two varieties of
SummerSweet, one in the front and
​the other 
along the north
​side of the house. 
Picture
Summersweet, Ruby Spice, Photo by ERSwett
Picture
Summersweet, Hummingbird Photo by ERSwett
It was
as if Karen
who introduced me
to "Ruby Spice" in 2016
was actually talking with Kelsey,
who, working off what we already had,
integrated "Hummingbird" into the
front design in 2018. Together,
in 2020 they provide a
mid-summer
​banquet.
Picture
First Monarch of the year in the Hummingbird Summersweet, August 2020 Photo by ERSwett
I love
​how these various

groundcovers, shrubs and trees
embody the positive spirits of the many
plants people throughout the Upper Valley who
nurtured them so that someone like
me could come along and
use them to create
a garden.
Picture
Various rocks, August 2020 Photo by ERSwett
And
now that
garden comforts​
and inspires because of
how a few 
small stones in various
shapes and sizes can contain a mix of plants
while also enabling 
life-giving
energy to flow.
Picture
Our front garden, August 2020 Photo by ERSwett

Local Resources

At one time or another, Kelsey & Karen worked at Henderson's Garden Center in White River Junction, VT. The Garden Center is run by Sylvia Provost, who always has amazing ideas and plants for any project.

Permaculture Solutions, LLC Karen Ganey shares her creative gifts through consultations, design and installation. 

Gardener's Supply, Lebanon, NH A friendly place to find native trees, shrubs, perennials and vegetable starts.

E.C.Brown's Nursery, Thetford, VT A welcoming place to find native trees, shrubs and perennials. 

Ongoing inspiration from friends at the
Hanover Garden Club and colleagues on the Sustaining Landscapes Committee in Hanover. 
    Picture
    Lyn Swett Miller
    ​
    reframing the narrative, one day, one image at a time
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     Let's ReFrame: By Degrees
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