Lou Annabell
Lou has been working with us at Siema Organics for over a year. Lou was a welcomed treasure of 2020. Throughout Lou’s time here she has helped us achieve so much in the orchard whilst also enriching the life of our tamariki and our whanau. When my mum met Lou she told me that Lou and I have been ’cut from the same cloth’ referring to the similarities that Lou and I share. This really spoke to me as I feel a kinship with Lou so dear and so deep, we speak a similar language and share similar values and beliefs. Over Lou’s time here Lou has become a dear friend.
I remember one of the days in the beginning of Lou’s arrival when I walked around the orchard with a baby in my arms sharing the permaculture vision with Lou. She quietly took it all in and set about sprouting those ideas. Companion plants got planted under fruit trees, the vegetable garden was fed, planted, harvested; seaweed fertiliser began brewing. Together we preserved, picked, dehydrated, baked. Our lives wove together around the orchard enveloping the children, dog, chickens and ducks. We held the space together. Shared laughter, stories, silence.
Lou took our family meals to a new level. ‘Weeds’ are now a daily feature in our salad and we enjoy a weekly dish of ‘Lou lentils’. Lou’s cooking amazes me. She has a talent for taking those ingredients that we have grown and preserved and adding to them our everyday dishes, bringing a new taste sensation and experience. These additions have been welcomed and enjoyed; although we did have to rein in Lou’s creativity one day when Lou added preserved lemons to our trusty broccoli and potato soup!
Lou is a natural at engaging with the tamariki in a gentle manner and we all have been upskilled and inspired by the way Lou interacts with our two tamariki. Lou has a great ability to truly listen, to ask open, inquisitive questions when speaking to them. The children have thrived in Lou’s care and have developed a loving relationship with her. Lou has become a part of their whanau. A constant stable presence, a second mum. They will both greatly miss her daily company, but I look forward to seeing the relationship develop in new ways, in new spaces as they grow.
Lou has pick so much fruit during her time here, preparing orders for the organic shops and OOOOBY boxes. Come rain or shine Lou would be there making sure the orders were perfect for our customers. She was always the one to notice the first of the ripening fruit and the seasonal changes happening in the orchard. This attention to detail made Lou a pro at spotting self-sown natives and saplings, moving them to the nursery and supporting them until the got planted in their new spot. And planting is what Lou did……from the vegetable garden to the food forest, to the natives along the boundary. Lou has left her legacy and we are still eating the harvest from Lou’s care, attention and love.
Thank you Lou for all that you have done for us here at Siema Organics.
We wish you all the best on your next adventure and look forward to meeting up and sharing our stories along the way x
