Harrowsmith Fall 2019 | 29Fallis a universaltimeforreflection,
and memoirs like Lands of Lost
Borders lend well to the shift in
seasons. Maybe it’s an internal
twitching that is instilled by the
start of the school year (no matter
your age) and a need to explore
something new. Why not hop on the
handlebars of Kate Harris’s bike?
Her formulative years were spent
in “a few acres of cedar forest and
swamp north of Ballinafad,” near
Erin, Ontario, but her head was
already in the stars—in particular,
somewhere on Mars. Her galactic
ABABOUOUTTAAWHWHOLOLEEBUBUNCNCHHOFOFSSTUTUFFFFLands of Lost Borders:
A Journey on the Silk Road
by Kate Harris
(Penguin Random House, 2018)
productive but not tidy garden of
currant bushes and apricots that
she showcased.
Ever the entrepreneur, Potter
introduced spinoff merchandise and
designed toys, china and wallpaper
to fund her garden efforts. She sold
conifers to Christmas tree dealers.
By the 1920s, she owned Hill Top,
Castle Farm and the fruit orchards
of Courier Farm, growing Worcester
Pearmains and sour crabapples for
preserves. She bought Troutbeck
Park Farm (2,000 acres) and
tended to a Herdwick sheep herd.
Potter was even elected president
of the Herdwick Sheep Breeders’
Association.
As much as this book serves as
a seasonal notebook informed by
Potter’s writing, art and photos, it’s
also a gorgeous documentation
of her accomplishments and
curiosity. She was an activist
and protested the proposal of a
local airplane factory and a road
widening through daffodil fields.
She died in 1943, at age 77, leaving
a legacy of words, images and land
(she donated 4,000 acres to the
National Trust).
Her gardens, and the plants she
loved, appear in her passages,
and for those keen to recreate
those fabled pages, you’ll find the
checklist you need. From sea thrift
and Candelabra primroses to orchid
cacti and Queen of Bourbons roses,
you can have your very own Hill Top
Farm. Or enjoy the meandering,
colourful and historical walk through
Marta McDowell’s literary garden.