A YEAR WITH THE EARTH - A STORY OF 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 with a great economy of words, are fully self-published and printed in Brittany. In fact, they trace the life of Samuel and his daily work to live in total autonomy, because he needs nothing; everything is provided to him by the earth. His goal is not to live reclusively, on the fringes 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 traces, month by month, the 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 real place to live: the reconstruction of hedges and embankments, building a house, and installing a vegetable garden (with its failures and successes).

THE EARTH LIVES AGAIN: The result of land that has become alive again, with topics addressed such as fruit trees, cereal cultivation, how to build an oven and bake bread, buckwheat, beans and potatoes, how to build a hut, thatch..

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN: A more specific work on the creation of a vegetable garden, vegetable cultivation, 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 more than 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 do not go to school; they learn in the morning, and in the afternoon, they play or help in the garden. It is in this freedom, connected to nature, that Samuel was shaped.

Samuel is wealthy 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 land that provides all his food, he makes his bread, builds his furniture, weaves his baskets, carves his wooden tableware, while his sister spins linen and wool, weaves, and knits..

The 3 hectares of land have been 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 large, it’s discouraging… Because we do everything by hand, with a hoe (a lot), with a hand-weeder, with a scythe and a flail.”

“I don’t draw for pleasure; I draw to convey a message.”

In his books, he wants to talk to people. He shares his techniques, his story, his daily life, and his discoveries with great poetry. Through Tim, his character (in reality, Tim is Samuel), he recounts all the tasks and events that occur 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 to remain free and autonomous, and he wants to share all of this. He loves humans, he loves to communicate; he posts his drawings on Instagram, writes a monthly newsletter, offers free training, organizes open houses, garage sales, holds concerts, etc..

“Ideally, I would like this place to become a living space. For now, there aren’t many humans.. but there are a lot of insects!” - “Life calls to life; to bring humans back, you have to start by bringing other species back to life; it goes together. I work at it every day.”

Samuel does not sell anything he produces. He lives autonomously thanks to his land; his only income comes from the sale of the books and the monthly paper he edits with his father and his sister Bethan, the "Central Brittany Journal," intended for the British community in his region and printed in 2,500 copies. He refuses social welfare.

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