A Gardener's Year celebrates the joy of cultivating gardens and reflects upon a life working with plants. It's not a record of horticultural activities through the seasons, rather it's a metaphor for having a dream and making it real. For Fennel, who has spent half his life working in gardens, it's about cultivating a cottage garden where he can aspire to a self-sufficient lifestyle. The Journal sees him sow the seeds of this future reality.