Maid To Garden

In The Garden Of Good Living - August 2010 - Golden Quarter
by Pat Hendrickson

I first started helping out at Golden Quarter in 2003. My friend, Stevik, was living at the guest house there exchanging some upkeep work for a consideration on the rent by owner Sandra Frazier. It was March when I found out that Stevik had a bit of an aversion to weeding. I don't think he minded the act of weeding, but was having more of a problem with how much weeding the property actually required. Stevik was also helping to plant trees to convert farmland back to woodland.

Stevik made it sound like as long as he could do it when he wanted to, which was hardly ever, he could handle it. But apparently, it was something that needed to be done often. Weeding wasn't all that needed to be done, and Stevik was hoping that I might relieve him of this one annoying thing that he just really didn't want to do. So, thanks to him, I began to work for Sandra at the Golden Quarter Farm. She has a vision of what this farm could be: a place to celebrate the natural world and enjoy its' peace.

It's an amazing feat to take an old farm with its open fields of tired soil and turn it back into the lush habitat it once was. Uplands are once again dotted with native trees and grasses, lowlands returned to the marshy savannah that birds and fish depend on. Owls, osprey, quail, fox, muskrat, snakes and turtles, to name just a few, are always within sight.

The land seems to know exactly what to do to return to the old days. It reminds us of this whenever we leave a patch of ground alone for more than a few weeks. The green takes over, and any semblance of human control is quietly squelched.

Instead of fighting for control, there is a human acceptance of this natural beauty; one that I find refreshing and inspiring. Sandra keeps at this dream of hers and shows no signs of letting up. It seems that, for her, every day offers another opportunity to grow, to learn, to teach.

The transformation is miraculous and is the result of a temperate soul. Always looking forward to the next opportunity for growth and health; always offering the opportunity to go another step further to anyone who would like to join in the journey.

My greatest hope for Golden Quarter Farm is an eternal relationship with those who want to learn what nature feels like.