Turning the Soil
Stories spin themselves. But when Samuel Forrester gets hold of them, he adds sparkle. The twinkle in his blue eyes tells of the joy he feels when the dirt runs through his fingers in the spring. The satisfaction he feels when he digs up potatoes in the fall. He had been on the land and of the land since he was a boy. But he has never told his own story. As a boy, he walked beside his father as often as he could. It was from his father that he learned the story of the land and how precious it was to the Beaufort family. Now, he had come to believe that all land was precious to the wider world. Not just on the Estate, not just the city of Hartley, or even the country of Canada. He didn’t talk much about world events. “Don’t need to. Just have to watch the birds, the sky, the weather and all the changes. We’re not so special that just our little corner of the world has been messed up. ” He claimed he was an old farmer. “No chemicals touching this ground. Organic they call it. Just like my dad and his dad before me. The old Mr. Beaufort and Grand-dad planned it all out. When horses, cows and chickens ran this place, this garden was the healthiest its been. The manure pile is long gone, but when it was here, they had a system worked out. Rotated the fresh cow manure with the composted manure. Same for the chicken pellets. Don’t know whether they ever mixed the two.”
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Samuel, Matt and Dez had spent the day going over the needs of both orchards, the apiaries and, of course, the Beaufort garden. Matt and Dez wanted to do as many things the same as possible, to reduce their work load and align their expenses. Samuel was the best resource for what was needed on the estate. Matt and Samuel believed in much the same manner of farming. So much so that Dez was doing a lot of listening, with little to contribute. So, like a good student she took notes. When there were discrepancies in the plans they were stuck on, she was the arbiter. The Beaufort land had been organic for generations; Matt’s land had been non-organic. He had been working with a Land Board, but was still in the stages of conversion to organic. A time-consuming and expensive project. Until the conversion was complete, they would not be able to mix their fruits or anything used on Matt’s farm. “Put a hitch in your plans, Matt. We’ll work it out.” Dez was already doing some research about how they could work.
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“Let’s call it a day, you two. Elizabeth’s making us supper at the Estate kitchen. Should just have time to clean up. If I don’t, she’ll have my hide.” Samuel cleared their coffee cups from the table. “Guess we’d better clean up too. She’s not any gentler with Matt and me. See you up there, Samuel.” The couple pushed their chairs up to the table and set out for Dez’s place. Matt was still looking troubled. “Matt, it will be ok! It’s just going to be more work than we planned. We’ll get your place organic and this place growing fruit again. It did not bad last year but unattended as it had been, it’s been struggling.” She squeezed his hand gently. “It’s just that I don’t want to damage your orchard.” Then he let go of her hand and put his arm around her shoulders as they walked. “You’re right. We’ll just get to work and keep the guidelines from the Land Board so at least our corner of the world has special treatment. Let’s get ready for supper.” He kissed her forehead. They smiled at each other, stopped their walk home for a quick hug. “Race you, Matt!” He was already ahead of her with his long legs, but she grabbed his belt loops and pulled herself past him. “Last one there has to serve Elizabeth her supper!”
“Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful
and most noble employment of man.”
~ George Washington
