Does the phrase, ‘I’ll know it when I see it’ have meaning in your life? It does in mine. In 1996, my husband and I closed on an amazing little house with an acre and a half of un-landscaped meadow…flat…From our promontory position, land undulates over 9 ridges before rising to the summit of Mt. Washington to the west, and you realize, this is where the sun sets every night…Oh! The magic of it. The purchase included an almost daunting amount of sky…We knew it when we saw it…In that instant, our lives were forever changed, and the most remarkable adventure had begun.

It could be that the first shovel-full's of dirt, and puny plantings were the hardest in the face of such grandeur…Those 4 trees were the first friends I invited onto the property, and the organic apple harvest 12 years later is indescribably delicious and abundant For years, I dreamed all winter and designed a large planting project for each of the following springs.

The goals were physically challenging, decidedly fascinating. This very special property would be solely planted with edible landscaping…some for the table, some for the larder, some for the birds and some for the bees. You see, initially, there were no birds that could stand being in the open, and there was nothing here for them to eat.

The spring planting projects went like this: 2 apple trees and 2 pear trees 2 weeks after moving in. Next came 39 high bush blueberries, divided into 3 hedges on the property.
Ten elderberry bushes were tucked in, in ’98; three cherry trees and holly bushes went in the next year. Garden beds had been increasing each year, little snuggly ones here and there, a long bed was coming along in colorways that were pleasing from spring thru fall…ahhh…life was good.

Evergreens were now necessary for tea and wreathes, and the plugs were tiny, but potent choices of Colorado Blue Spruce, Norway Pine, Witchita Juniper, placed in very pleasant clusters. The insurance policy on the value of my property was realized in 2 planting projects of Black and Carpathean Walnut Trees. 34 of these notoriously slow-growers have survived, and the sawmill value at maturity is $2,500.00/tree.

For balance, a planting of 8 cherry trees was necessary, and the following year, hawthorn trees, thornless, came to live with us, planted in memory of Dad and Therese…(In fact, all of the trees are what I refer to as memory trees’, planted for loved ones who are no longer with us. I commune as I tend; …. my soul is refreshed.)

Pine Balsams, Pencil-Point-Junipers, espaliered heirloom apple trees and the Purple Smoke Trees all have their parts to play.

There are 135 trees and shrubs planted here, all planted, watered, weeded and harvested with the unwavering love and loyalty of my faithful shadow, Mel Tormay-noble retired greyhound, grandson of the fastest greyhound that ever lived (Downing) at the end of my leash…His enthusiasm carried me…

What do you do with the gifts that your garden produces? Do you make things? Gifts? Larder? Value added products to sell? I decided that I would make the most experimental and creative products possible…Mint hawthorn jelly for heart strength, yarrow and lambs ears in the herbal tradition for binding a wound on man or beast, wreathes for winter tea, herb butters, elderberry jelly, herbal skin fresheners, raspberry shrubs, vinegars and brownies, strawberry tarragon marmalade, apple wine jelly, tomato-orange marmalade, skin moisturizers and salves, green tomato pie, pain relievers, herb salads, sun-dried tomatoes, blueberry ‘raisins’, infusions for the bath, herbal sachets, wreathes, balsam pillows…………Oh! The list goes on, depending what is needed and what books I am reading at the time.

Make no mistake, books change lives. Upon reading Marilyn Abbott’s Gardens of Plenty, my husband and I erected 54’ of 8’ high Medieval styled trellising, adding a whole new dimension to the gardens. Now that lent scope for the imagination!!!

Can you get the sense of progression and preparation for the greatest adventure yet? The foundation of an organic, hand-made skin care business seems inevitable, in hind-sight. All the homework had been done.

Pat and I organically grow, between our two gardens, 75% of the plant material that goes into our products. Herbs loom large here, and they are such a pleasure to be with. We never stop reading, researching, or experimenting with them. As I head outdoors each day, I wonder,’ What will the garden teach me today?’ There is always something to learn, to observe, to remember, to treasure….

Have you ever seen monarch butterflies mate? I have. It is the most romantic thing I have ever witnessed….the stuff dreams are made of….There are many who think unicorns frisk and frolic here on the lawn when darkness falls…I believe them to be correct.

Herbs, flowers and edibles are mixed freely throughout the plantings. They like it this way, and I like it this way. Colors, textures, height, bloom-time, insect life, harvest time, watering requirements, insect and bird preferences are all figured in…

The back yard and garden is 2/3 acre, (The meadow, hedgerows and front are a whole different category) fenced in so a greyhound, in this case, Fleet Street Joy…(0-40mph in 3 seconds, thank you very much..) can spend as much time as possible with us. There is water every where for birds. A skunk came under the wire one night and a dog ended up smelling very bad, indeed. In the midst of the panic and watering eyes, I paused to ask, ‘Why did Stinkie choose to come under the wire tonight? What was missing for her in the rest of the world?’ Well, the answer was water placed low enough for her to get a drink. It was late August and dry that year. I immediately placed a low basin out front for her, and Stinkie claimed it for her very own…Moral of the story? Do your best to keep the creatures comfortable…be a thoughtful host or hostess…really give it energy.

Bird boxes are appropriately spaced…and the holes all face the mid-summer sunrise, as directed by my feathered friends, and we now have over 60 bird species that use the property at one time or another annually…Ask how special it is to watch baby bluebirds fledge and take their first bath on the same day?? Bird numbers, sadly, were down by about 1/3 here in 2008. Are any of you noticing changes in bird populations?

I hope you enjoy the photos; I hope you try our tender products. They are historic, and unbelievably effective. We have taken pride in their research, testing and preparation. If you like the web site and/or the products, won’t you share them with your friends and family? A lot depends on it… Lastly, I hope you are dreaming big for your self and for the planet, and I hope you follow those dreams………….

My Native Way gardens meander along the curves in my fields and forests, surrounding my home. Overlooking the pristine Pleasant Lake to the south and with snow capped Mt. Washington peeking above Nutting Ridge to the northwest; I have a perfect location to raise or ethically wildcraft the herbs and flowers we share with you in our skin care products. The shapes of my gardens, or rather the extension of the woods and meadows, mimic the shape of the lake’s shoreline in the near distance. To use the phrase “work in my gardens” is such a misstatement. To work my gardens seems like moments of worship or mediation. The sights, fragrances and sounds in this indescribably beautiful place can be nothing less than a relationship with Mother Nature herself. I often say to my husband, “This isn’t weeding, this is Zen.”

How did I get to this wondrous place that I call home? The place where my creativity, curiosity and zest for life gives birth. A few years ago when my small naturescaping (I will tell you all about naturescaping in a moment) business was hired to reforest and vegetate after a new house construction had devastated the site, I fell in love with Powhatan Road. When I mentioned this to the new home owner, she said lets take a walk across the road and up the hill and I will show you the land that has been in my family for generations, it is being sold. To say I was awestruck is such an understatement that I hesitate to describe it as that. The old farmland spoke to me that day. The remnants of the once thriving farm were grown up with trees a foot thick. The cut granite foundations of the buildings and meandering stone walls all remained as a memorial to the hard working farmers who had kept this land bountiful in a time long forgotten. I now found a calling to bring this place back to a productive new-day farm. The 33 acres of well kept fields and timberland are not just home to me but a wildlife habitat and refuge to an amazing assortment of birds, bugs and animals that we enjoy every day.

Naturescaping, you say? Because gardening does not fully describe my business, nor does the machinery filled landscaping fit right either, we coined the word naturescaping. The philosophy is to design landscapes using indigenous plants, local materials and neighborly labor. Foremost keeping wildlife and natural habitat in mind, I specialized in the sensitive and often fragile DEP protected shorefront areas around lakes and rivers. Now that our botanical skin care company has grown my time is spent nurturing the plants in my own native way gardens that we use in our products that we bring to you.

Formerly, I was a MOFGA certified organic grower of medicinal and edible herbs and flowers on my small farm on the coast of Maine where I supplied natural food stores and select restaurants with my bounty. A life transition brought me to the foothills near Sebago Lake, in western Maine where I began again to reestablish myself in the natural world that speaks to my heart. My belief is in a small carbon footprint, leaving little trace, clean air, good water, lots of sunshine, cooperative living, slow food and quiet, dark star-filled nights.

The spirits of farmers who long ago toiled here must ride my shoulder as I work my fields. All I need to do is dig a hole, drop in a plant or a seed and they thrive here on little but the natural rain and plentiful sunshine. The winter snows cover like a protective blanket and bring me those weeks of introspection so welcome to those of us who work and love the land.

Over time, I will bring stories of my Native Way and Holly’s Medieval Magic gardens to you through the blog site. Please join us on our journey. Our friends come from our global community of folks concerned about the toxins used in our present day cosmetic and skin care products. Being beautiful is a dangerous thing.