I visited Michael Judd’s homestead nursery today, nestled in the woods near Gambrill State Park. I arrived in the early afternoon, in the peaceful serenity of a sunlit, warm spring day. Doesn’t get much better than that.
Michael was on break and offered me a tour of some of his food forest to show me how things were growing. I was not expecting a personal tour and that was exciting. I was slightly caught off guard and wished I had prepared some questions or thought of interesting things to say in advance. I had been there a year ago for a festival, but in the spring — and perhaps it was my state of mind — it seemed there was so much more to see now.
He was quite relaxed, calm, and friendly, and it took me a while to check out of “get it done” mode (my typical Saturday mindset) and slow down to be able to soak in the surroundings as well as sync with him as we walked around.
We passed through an archway of willow saplings. It was like an exfoliating scrub for my soul — or my crown chakra. The design resounded with me — my wife as well, who has seen photos — it was soothing on many levels.
One of the first things I noticed was how soft the ground was. Not at all like my backyard. He had strewn hay from his grass cuttings on the earth and easily walked barefoot. Over the years this had built up a kind of softness to the earth. I felt like I was clomping around in my boots and took care not to crush anything. It was exciting just to admire the life at ground level. Small beautiful things sprung up everywhere, showing off tiny flowers.
I also noticed there were few patches of bare earth in the planted areas. Something grew everywhere. My backyard has lush grass growing, but they grow in clumps, and between are patches of hard earth that get dry and cracked.
Comfrey ran between trees, over swales and raised beds. This was a lovely sight and it was fun to imagine all the nutrients accumulating over time. I sent some positive thoughts to my comfrey at home still in the seed stages: “Little friends, grow up and this too can be your kingdom!”
When it came time to pick things from his nursery to bring home, I of course wanted one of everything. My favorite finds were the goumi, which are fruiting as well as nitrogen fixers — a huge boon and great companion plant, false indigo bush (also a nitrogen fixer), and of course the plants I had come for — Paw Paws.
Sadly my budget did not allow me to take home an entire car load of fruiting friends, but there is always later.
My key takeaways from the visit were that it was completely the opposite experience of going to a commercial nursery, where it’s pick a few items, maybe chat a minute with someone working a day job who may or may not know things, and then go home. Instead, my experience was I got to hang out with an individual in the midst of his life work, in his zone, a person happy to share details and stories, and who helped me feel at home in his surroundings.
