Gardens are chock full of stories and here is a delightful one that I learned while walking around Paul Mercier’s garden with him and the previous owner, Janice Vien. Janice told us the story of the poppies that grow there in abundance. 
 
In 2003 Janice’s friend Pam Hanson gave her a plant grown from some poppy seeds that Pam found in an old olive jar that was marked “1984.”  Pam is certain that her grandmother Ruth Avery French had collected those seeds. Pam lives in the house where her grandmother had lived from 1957 to 1987. 
 
Everyone who drives through the main road in Grantham has seen the red clapboard farmhouse with pretty white trim and its beautiful garden. The house was formerly the parsonage for the Methodist Church (and Ruth’s husband Rev. Hollis French occasionally preached there in his retirement.) Pam has kept up her grandmother’s tradition and cultivates and maintains a gorgeous garden which every passerby admires.
 
The French family lore is that Ruth believed that hers were the illegal opium variety of poppies so she only told close friends about her suspicion for fear she would get in trouble with the law. Back in those days, Grantham had a population of fewer than 400 people. I can picture Mrs. French chuckling whenever she waved from her garden to the local policeman who would be oblivious to her criminal activity.
 
Pam showed me an article entitled Grantham’s Ruth French that was published in Newport’s Argus Champion’s April 5, 1978 edition. The article mentioned Ruth’s “ultra-exotic poppies” which means that descendants of her poppies have been growing in Grantham for at least 43 years.
 
In 2005 Janice planted the poppy seedling that Pam had given her.  Within a few summers, her land was peppered with poppies, all from that one gifted plant. They not only grew on the tiered garden where Janice planted that first one, but some of them managed to find their way across her dirt driveway and start their own colony there. Because they are self-seeding and with a little help from the wind to disperse their tiny black seeds, more show up every year. When Janice sold her place in 2018, she brought some of the poppies with her and now enjoys them at her new home.
 
Year ago, despite their age difference, Janice formed a close friendship with Ruth based on their mutual love of gardening. (Janice was in her 20’s and Ruth in her 80’s). Ruth often had Janice over for tea and cookies. They spent many afternoons chatting about flowers. Janice told me that when the poppies blossom, she always thinks of Ruth.
 
Paul Mercier is thrilled to have the poppies growing in his gardens and has given some plants away to other garden club friends—a common practice among gardeners.
 
Pam wonders what her grandmother would think if she knew that her illicit poppies have spread way beyond anyone’s control and now are on the loose in Grantham and probably beyond. I’d like to think it would make her chuckle.

When I drive out of Eastman’s main entrance, I often notice the pretty field with the impressive cairn directly across the street. Imagine my pleasure when, through serendipity, I met the owner Janice Vien, and she invited me to tour her land.
 
Janice recently retired after 32 years as a yoga instructor. To prepare for retirement, a few years ago Janice decided to sell her home of 18 years where she maintained beautiful, but labor intensive, gardens. (She sold the home to Paul Mercier.)
 
On her acre of land, Janice has a tiny apartment in the same building as her yoga studio. “At first, I thought I wouldn’t have a garden at all, just a field. Then I had second thoughts. I felt I had plant allies that I didn’t want to part with. So I dug up about 20 plants and started a small 4 x 28 foot garden. Some feel special to me because of their blue color like the Gentians. Others I love because they attract pollinators. Others, I just enjoy being in their presence.”
 
For those plants in the field outside her well cared for garden, Janice has a very “New Hampshire” philosophy about them: Live Free or Die. From what I saw first hand, the purple chicory, maroon cosmos, black-eyed Susan’s, daisies, goldenrod, pink phlox, thistle, coneflowers, and Queen Ann’s lace are not only living but thriving. Along with the sight and smell of flowers, we enjoyed the buzz of bees near her “Pollinator Work Zone” sign. 
 
Going from her fairly shady property to an open field has had a dramatic impact. For example, in 2004 she bought 10 white cedar trees from the NH State Forest Nursery through the Sullivan County UNH Extension Service. They were bare root cuttings which she planted around the frog pond in the woods beside her previous home. Those that survived grew only a few feet in 10 years. Since being transplanted to her sunny field, they’ve grown 6 feet in as many years. 
 
Janice had an unsightly, five-foot high, plastic septic vent pipe in her field. She built a wire cage with 4x4's and turkey wire to keep it vented and wanted to build a rock structure around it. Luckily her son Gabe and some of his friends visited and energetically went to work on it. First they moved all the rocks from a rock wall Janice had built at her other house. They then trucked the rocks to the site and erected the cairn.  According to Janice “They were just what I needed for this project: young healthy males trying to outdo each other. It was built in less than a day!” Now when you spot that large cairn as you drive on old Rte 10, you’ll know the rest of the story.
 
When I asked Janice about a tree that was decorated with shiny metallic bows, she explained that she tied 32 bows in memory of all the students she has taught with each bow representing a year. What a wonderful legacy for Janice. Not only has she helped so many plants stay healthy, but so many human beings as well.

​Paul Mercier describes his home as “a portal to a wider universe:  While the interior offers modern conveniences and protection from the elements, it endeavors connection to the energy of the planet. Flowers and woodland plantings produce a peaceful, natural setting; reduces maintenance; encourages native species; and provides for the local wildlife.”
 
Because of the prevalence of deer in Eastman, Paul doesn’t plant ornamentals that they like to eat (hosta, lily, and sedums). His little orchard is fenced in for that reason. Paul has been creative when it comes to keeping deer from eating his flowers and vegetables. Deer can jump very high so it’s more the distance between barriers that deters them. Thus, his two fence lines are four feet apart. As a further deterrent, every six feet or so, he has hung bars of Irish Spring soap on the outer fence line plus socks with blood meal, both of which seem to smell lousy to deer. Paul also hangs tin plates on bushes and has motion sensor plates that will light up and emit a high-pitched sound that doesn’t bother humans but drives deer nuts. The difficulty with deer is their intelligence. One morning he watched a convention of four deer standing together looking at his tiered garden, specifically at his netting. He imagined them discussing strategies to get past this barrier and eat some of Paul’s yummy vegetables and flowers. As the deer learn, Paul will come up with new gadgets to keep those ‘hooved locust’ out. Paul likes a challenge.
 
Besides the deer, Paul and his fiancé Sandra Gagnon have seen bear, bobcats, groundhogs, foxes, and porcupines from their cozy Yankee Barn in the woods. Mallards have taken up residence in the little frog pond on their property.  Their house is heated with wood in a soapstone stove with electricity provided by solar panels.
 
They put up a lot of their vegetables either by freezing, canning, or dehydrating. They grow companion plants to deter pests and to enhance the main vegetable crops. For example, marigolds are said to deter soil pests while basil enhances the flavor of tomatoes.  Alliums and dill are good companions for brassicas because they deter the cabbage looper moth and nasturtium repel squash bugs.  Radishes are simply planted everywhere because they are a broad-spectrum deterrent.  The same is true of garlic.  Also, when companion plants are left to flower, they not only look nice, they also attract pollinators.  Many have self-sown year after year like poppy and feverfew while annuals such as zinnia, cosmos, and snap dragon are added for a “cottage” touch.  Common weeds such as lambs quarter, and purslane are left to grow as nutritious edibles to be added to salad.
 
Sandra showed me some huge rhubarb plants and told me that she uses in pies and cake and also to make simple syrup. Paul added that she makes a mean rhubarb margarita. When Paul was describing the ratatouille he makes with his tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, and onion; I must have looked envious. To my delight, Paul gifted me a jar before I left (yum!)
 
According to Paul “A garden is a living creature that grows and matures as it will . . . all we can ever do as humans is to respect and nurture it as best we can.  I am merely the successor caretaker here with a little latitude to work within the bounds of nature as the pendulum swings . . .”

​After visiting Paul Mercier’s garden as part of the GGC Mystery Garden Tour, I went back to get more of the story about his intriguing property. I learned that the buildings were built in 1975 as a camp for a family’s summer vacation. It had neither electricity nor running water. Eventually those modern necessities were added. Janice Vien bought the place in 2000 and added lots of trees, shrubs, flowers, and plants (including 100 Christmas ferns) until she sold it to Paul in 2018.
 
Janice hadn’t been back until this day, and was thrilled by what she saw. She and Paul walked all over the land discussing each plant. It was a pleasure for me to see their excitement as they strolled through the land they both love.  

Paul explained that he is using the knowledge he learned from books, and the internet, and experiences with others as a volunteer at NOFA-NH and Cooperative Extension and the Grantham Garden Club. He has interesting ways of protecting his plants that I hadn’t seen before and mixes vegetables and flowers along with his fruit trees. Paul practices permaculture which emulates a natural eco-system, avoids the use of harmful chemicals, conserves resources (like water), maintains soil biology and thus fertility which has the win-win of producing nutrient-dense food.
 
Paul has worked hard to make his home and property self-sustaining. To water his large gardens, Paul repurposed four 275-gallon IBC tanks that formerly held balsamic vinegar or avocado oil. He covered them with six mil black plastic to protect them from the sun to prevent algae growth. One sits under the gutter on his garage where the rain water is first collected and is then pumped to the other three which sit at the top of the tiered garden. The plan/hope is to use gravity feed and a drip irrigation system for the garden. Paul added a heavy mulch of salt-marsh hay furthering water conservation. He uses salt-marsh hay instead of straw because it contains no pesticide residues and seeds won’t sprout since they are would not be native to the soils here.  He also uses wood chips, which further supports soil biology. While rain has not been an issue this summer, when droughts like last summer reoccur, Paul is ready.
 
Stay tuned for next Friday’s blog for the rest of the story…