BRINGING THE EARTH BACK TO LIFE - A STORY BY TIM THE GARDENER - SAMUEL LEWIS

“Actually, we don't need anything; everything we need is provided to us by the earth. And if we cultivate it properly, then we can live in a beautiful environment, a beautiful house, a beautiful garden, with good food.”

Discover here 4 poetic and informative works, illustrated by Samuel Lewis, the stories of Tim the Gardener. These works, entirely hand-drawn, using a great economy of words, are completely self-published and printed in Brittany. In essence, they retrace Samuel’s life, his daily work to live in total self-sufficiency, because he needs nothing; everything is provided to him by the earth. His goal is not to live reclusively, on the margins of society. His goal is to live free, in perfect harmony, and to be able to share his knowledge and experiences:

A YEAR WITH THE EARTH: Samuel's first book, written during the lockdown. It retraces, month by month, his life and work in his garden and home.

BRINGING THE EARTH BACK TO LIFE: This book traces the entire setup and installation process to make his land a living earth. Starting from a barren field and a ruin, how to create a true place to live: rebuilding hedges and embankments, building a house, setting up a vegetable garden (with its failures and successes).

THE EARTH COMES BACK TO LIFE: The result of land that has become alive again, with themes addressed such as fruit trees, cereal cultivation, how to build an oven and make bread, buckwheat, beans and potatoes, how to build a cabin, thatch...

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN: A work more specific to the creation of a vegetable garden, the cultivation of vegetables, the role of embankments, natural soil amendments, competitors, tools...

“WELCOME TO MY MICRO-BOCAGE. TO MY LAND, AND TO ALL THOSE WHO WORKED IT BEFORE ME”

The Lewis family settled in France over 30 years ago. The parents chose this place in Brittany, not for the house, which was in ruins, but for the quality of the soil.

The children did not go to school; they learned in the morning, and in the afternoon they played or helped in the garden. It was in this freedom, connected to nature, that Samuel was shaped.

Samuel is rich and free. He has everything he needs to live. He only works his land with manual tools, rediscovering the knowledge and techniques of the ancients. In addition to the earth, which provides all his food, he makes his bread, builds his furniture, weaves his baskets, carves his wooden tableware, and his sister spins linen and wool, weaves, and knits...

The 3 hectares of land were divided into 35 small fields, all separated by embankments, to recreate a micro-bocage, in which he grows vegetables, fruit trees, and cereals: “When the plots are too big, it’s discouraging... Because we do everything by hand, with a hoe (a lot), with a hand hoe, with a scythe, and with a flail.”

“I don’t draw for pleasure, I draw to send a message.”

In his books, he wants to speak to people. He shares his techniques, his story, his daily life, and his discoveries with great poetry. With Tim, his character (in reality, Tim is Samuel), he recounts all the tasks and events that happen on his land, throughout the seasons, his successes and his setbacks.

Samuel is the dreamer of a world he has built; he sees all the limitations of modern society and protects himself from them in order to remain free and autonomous—all of this he wants to share. He loves people, he loves to communicate; he publishes his drawings on Insta, writes a newsletter every month, offers free training, organizes open houses, garage sales, puts on concerts, etc.

“Ideally, I would like this place to become a living space. For the moment, there aren't many humans... but there are many insects!” - “Life calls to life; to bring humans back, we must begin to bring other species back to life; it goes together. I work on it every day.”

Samuel does not sell anything he produces. He lives in self-sufficiency thanks to his land; his sole income comes from the sale of the books and the monthly paper he writes with his father and his sister Bethan, the "Central Brittany Journal," aimed at the British community in his region and printed in 2,500 copies. He refuses social welfare benefits.

“If you liked this little book, I tell you to come see my micro-bocage. It’s so much more beautiful than the drawings!”