BEAUTIFUL SPACES FOR A BETTER LIFE
BY CAMERON BEALL
Maxing Out Your Plot “When you have dirt that is exposed, some plant is going to grow there, so if you don’t add something, it’ll likely be a weed,” says Pourciau, who opts for intensive planting over pristine rows.
"WHEN THEY’RE done well, gardens feed our bodies and our souls, knitting us together with the people we love,” says Kathleen Pourciau, who discovered gardening’s therapeutic properties four years ago. Sick with COVID-19 in March 2020, she was gazing out the window of her Baton Rouge home into an empty yard when her eldest daughter, Bonnie Kate, suggested planting something there.
As Pourciau considered the undertaking, she remembered the 2-acre plot her grandfather had tended until he was in his nineties, sharing the fruits of his labor with the community. “He didn’t sell anything from it; he just gave out of abundance,” she reflects. “I suspect he knew the power of growing things, of having your hands in the rich dirt, and how that changes you.”
Pourciau was intimidated by the notion of a kitchen garden but then learned about companion planting, where specific vegetables and flowers are grouped together to maximize efficiency. The promise of colorful blooms, combined with memories of her grandfather and her daughter’s encouragement, pushed her to pick up a shovel and get elbow-deep in soil.
The mother-daughter duo devised a plan to build raised beds. Pourciau began by taking apart an old wooden structure in the yard (it had just the right number of boards required for the task) while her daughter handled the research. It became an effort that spanned three generations, with Pourciau’s mom digging in the soil alongside her and Bonnie Kate. “Since planting that spring, I’ve stayed outside as much as I can to marvel at the life, growth, and healing beauty of the garden,” says Pourciau. “It was a foundation and catalyst for change that helped me get back to my roots and move toward a reconnection with myself, my children, and God. I had no idea how much I needed that.”
About two years after falling in love with plants, she began thinking about how she could turn her experience into something more. She came across a course on Instagram to become a certified gardening consultant and completed the 12-week program. “Somewhere inside me, I felt a tug toward this adventure to help others enjoy the rich pleasures of an overflowing garden like I did,” recalls Pourciau, who started her own business, This Thyme Gardens, in August 2022 with the support of her family.
While becoming an entrepreneur pushed her outside her comfort zone, Pourciau dove headfirst into designing and installing raised-bed kitchen gardens for clients. She creates aesthetically pleasing, easy-to-maintain plots where vegetables and flowers thrive side by side and there is a plentiful harvest year-round. “To me, it’s a space where beauty and function can come together. I like the contrast of silvery cabbage with textural bright green romaine and ruffled red lettuce next to pops of pink, yellow, and purple flowers,” she explains.
But for Pourciau, This Thyme Gardens is about more than the generous bounty. Her efforts also yield a healthy dose of perspective. “Our lives can be peppered with difficulties,” she says. “But there’s a sweet mixture of goodness offered to us if we’re paying attention.”
Rules of Attraction Keep your vegetables happy by surrounding every bed with low flowers or placing taller ones within. This will help your plants stay healthier and make them less susceptible to pests.
photographs by CEDRIC ANGELES
