MY VEGETABLE GARDEN - A STORY BY TIM THE GARDENER - SAMUEL LEWIS

"In fact, we need nothing; everything we need is offered 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 instructive works, illustrated by Samuel Lewis, the stories of Tim the Gardener. These works, entirely hand-drawn with great economy of words, are fully self-published and printed in Brittany. In fact, they trace Samuel's life, his daily work to live in total self-sufficiency, because he needs nothing; everything is offered 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 retraces, month by month, the life and work in his garden and his house.

BRINGING THE EARTH BACK TO LIFE: This book traces the entire setup and installation required to make his land a living earth. Starting from a deserted 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 LIVES AGAIN: The result of land that has become alive again, with themes covered such as fruit trees, grain cultivation, how to build an oven and make bread, buckwheat, beans and potatoes, how to build a cabin, 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 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 him with all his food, he makes his bread, builds his furniture, weaves his baskets, carves his wooden tableware; 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 grains: "When the plots are too large, it's discouraging... Because we do everything by hand, with a hoe (a lot), a hand hoe, a scythe, and a flail"

"I don't draw for pleasure, I draw to pass on a message"

In his books, he wants to talk to people. With great poetry, he shares his techniques, his history, his daily life, and his discoveries. With 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 stay free and autonomous, and he wants to share all of this. He loves people, he loves to communicate; he publishes his drawings on Instagram, writes a monthly newsletter, 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 revive other species, it goes together. I work on it every day"

Samuel sells nothing of what he produces. He lives in self-sufficiency thanks to his land; his sole income comes from the sale of his books and the monthly publication he writes with his father and sister Bethan, the "Central Brittany Journal," aimed at the British community in his region with a print run of 2,500 copies. He refuses social welfare.

"If you liked this little book, I'm telling you to come and see my micro-bocage. It's so much more beautiful than the drawings!"