Our purchase of the fields next to the farm came with a secret garden. We started our farm garden - the garden you see around the hayloft - from scratch. The apple trees and the roses are still young, still not full height. It will grow to have shadows and the deep scent of old plants, but it isn’t there yet. On the other hand, we now have a secret garden, a short walk from the farm. There it is very quiet. There are roses reaching high up in the trees, fuchsias sprawling ten feet across, hydrangeas lush among the canopy. The garden was planted twenty years ago by a Pescadero neighbor long gone from town. She edged her borders with rocks that are now covered in moss. Her day lilies, ginger lilies and cannas are vast patches of color. Her box hedges are mature, with that distinctive strong smell of boxwood leaves in the sun. We have cut back some of the canopy and weeded the borders, and this autumn we will add cuttings and new plants. It will be the most exquisite secret garden.
Through the bean fields to the secret garden
