So I’ve been quiet this summer largely because I have been busy and have been also trying to reframe my goals for this site. I made the decision to return to Maine from France in early June to be with my family and take on the challenge of managing a garden at the farm my friend bought in Harpswell. I am beginning to realize I can’t be completely happy living so far from the people I love. I have come around to a hybrid model which I am calling “transatlantic” living whereby I shoot back and forth to spend time in both of my homes. This year it seems I will primarily be in a Maine but will spend all vacations and holidays in France. I am apprehensive about the change and fiercely miss my new friends there. I’m going to give it a try and tell you about what I’m doing on this side of the pond.

My friend Jenn acquired Live Well Farm in Harpswell, Maine. I have admired the property as long as I’ve lived in Brunswick as it has outstanding plantings and once was home to Patrick Dempsey and his family. Now it is a gorgeous event space complete with farmhouse accommodations, a beautiful barn, orchards, and vast perennial gardens. When I arrived in June the landscapers had just dumped mulch on top of weeds in the perennial beds and the raised garden beds and vegetable gardens were languishing under black fabric tarps with grass and wildflower seed. I took a deep breath and jumped in. My first goal was to clean out the fenced garden. The website for the farm advertises a cutting garden and herb garden which needed very quick establishment.

My daughter and I set to work removing the fabric, weeding out the soil and then amending all the raised beds with compost. The vegetable garden had not been planted for a few years so my sweet husband agreed to rent a rototiller and cultivate the area so I could plant. Given my late start in getting things in the ground, I used seedlings for all my plants save the beans.

This is what it looked like before I started

This was progess.

This is what it looks like now.

I spent most of June in the dirt and I loved it. I get such satisfaction working with plants and making things beautiful. It is a tiny slice of the world that I feel I can control and it is calming for me. I was able to watch the beautiful perennial gardens reveal their continuous changes. Lupine, peonies and iris dominated June and then came roses, lavender, shastas, and hydrangeas as the summer clicked forward.

The drought, nasty uninvited rodents, and blights have challenged the garden but overall it has been a success. Nature has a way of taking care of itself even when presented with unexpected hurdles. Just like me I guess.