Portrait of a Garden

Coming to us from the Netherlands, this documentary follows a gardening crew around while they busy themselves with the horticultural activities proper to the season, engage in friendly small talk and wonder about the vagaries of the weather. The garden they're working in produces a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, many of them grown according to centuries-old techniques. Nestor of the group is a very old gentleman called Jan Freriks, who is an expert on tree pruning and espalier constructions. He is eager to share his admirable skills with the youngsters, a number of whom look old enough to be parents or even grandparents themselves.

As the documentary progresses, it becomes clear that the opulent harvests stand atop a mountain of work : cutting, pruning, writing, cleaning, watering, chopping, planning, measuring, planting and so on. And on and on and on : the list is endless.

"Portret van een tuin" moves slowly but purposefully, depicting the evolution of the garden through all twelve months of the year. It's an enjoyable documentary that can be used as a starting point for a wider discussion about topics such as the cost and yield of vegetable gardens, the financial effort involved in maintaining a large property, the production of locally-grown food and the value of crop diversification. The gourmets and gourmands among us will also wonder what these delicious-looking dishes taste like.

Sadly enough any serious discussion will have to include climate change, the ever more detrimental impact of which also affects the Low Countries.