Country Gardens – July 2019

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COUNTRY GARDENS // FA LL 2019

That’s Bill Elliott’s short answer for how he and his

wife, Eileen, find themselves surrounded with a spread

of bountiful food and beautiful plantings. And when

you consider that their 2 acres of gardens set within

25 acres of densely wooded land were once too poor

to sustain anything but sheep, it’s clear only smart

choices and absolute dedication could accomplish the

transformation. When the Elliotts acquired the land

in 1979, it not only was seemingly worthless, but it

also was 2 miles from electricity and a mile from the

nearest neighbor. Bill and Eileen had little money and

were raising two teenage boys. Still, inspired by the

revived back-to-the-land movement, they wanted to

make homesteading happen. “We were going to create

paradise,” Eileen says of the couple’s broccoli-or-bust

attitude. They built a house, cleared land, amended

“You see, we’re both really passionate people.”

PLAN FOR PLANTING

“Bill is the record-keeper, making sure that beans are planted where a root crop

grew last year, for example,” Eileen says.

Bill keeps a meticulous journal with lists chronicling exactly what was grown

where in the previous season to avoid disease issues that might occur when plants in

the same family grow in the same spot year after year. Before planting, he creates a

plan for the current year.

Following 15 years

of hard labor in their

vegetable garden,

the Elliotts rewarded

themselves with an

ornamental herb

garden. Laid out with

an armillary sundial

at its center, the

formal garden houses

the first French sorrel

sprigs of spring as

well as a host of

flavorful plants.