By Cameron Burke
This article ran last fall in the Herkimer County Cornell Cooperative Extension newsletter.
It was written by Cameron Burke, an advocate for nutrition security and sustainable food systems.
With the long winter almost, maybe, behind us, we reprint Cameron’s article with permission to provide a glimpse of spring to come with this story about a garden on Fairgrounds Road, West Winfield.
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Nothing drives me to plaster down words faster than an encounter with excellence in human spirit.
My meeting with Sue Carney was such an encounter, and so I am delighted to share this story with our readers.
Sue Carney is an interesting character.
As I wrote this, I imagined she would smile upon reading it, and those that know her might even give a hardy chuckle.
She saw a need in the community and met it with free bouquets, as suggested by the name of her project: On the House Bouquets.
In a small roadside stand shaped like a tiny house are bouquets prepared for anyone who may feel welcome to take one.
Wanting to learn more about the inspiration behind Bouquets on the House, Sue kindly obliged.
I pulled up beside a red house utterly engulfed by blossoms.
Sue led me through the maze of gravel pathways segmenting her yard, the entirety of which had been transformed into a forest of flowers. The space was restorative and inspiring.
So many varieties of green lifted a plethora of buds and blossoms.
Inviting me into her home for a cup of coffee, Sue sat me down at a sturdy table surrounded by even more green things.
Rehydrating green things, she informed me. A stem ...