If you are a gardener and have not yet investigated the kitchen garden, also known as a potager (in French, jardin potager), I invite you to walk with me a minute.
But, what is a potager (pronounced: puh ta zhay), you ask?
It is a garden where the beauty inspires you, and one designed to be close to the kitchen to bring vegetables for the cooking pot!
Combining both edible and flowering plants, a potager garden design is purposeful and utilitarian as seen in delightful kitchen beds of Europe, but laid out with aesthetic beauty in mind (inspired by lovely compositions of French gardens).
Potager Dreaming
Here are some garden design ideas to grab your imagination:
“A traditional French kitchen garden ~ potager ~ mingles vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs to make the function of providing food for the table aesthetically pleasing. An urban potager uses every inch of available space, growing edibles and ornamentals on balconies, patios, porches and rooftops.” ~Cynthia Brown, the Smithsonian Gardens’ Education Specialist
There are often rustic elements that add to the earthy beauty. Simple and yet elegant.
The rot-resistant DIY cedar trellis for tomatoes is inventive and full of character.
This is what a productive potager can be like in August with foresight and planning…take a look!
Remember that by adding flowers into your plan, by this time of year you will have a non-stop cutting garden as well!
Natural Companion Planting
In her classic book on companion planting, Louise Riotte has taught generations of gardeners how to use the natural benefits of plants and flowers to protect and support each other. For someone who loves growing things, Carrots Love Tomatoes is so much fun to read. I have read it several times and always learn something new.
It may help productivity to keep companion growing in mind.
Knowing that not all of you live in a part of the world where the weather is conducive to a garden, I still must encourage the rest who do. This is not a really large garden. Even one a quarter of this size can be very helpful to your family. Go ahead; dream and plan a little spot right outside your door…
A truly lovely, working garden doesn’t happen over night. It often takes years of dreaming, planning, and hard work. Gardening is, in essence, a creative journey, a miniature picture of God’s design in Creation.
“The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies.” ~Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) was an influential British horticulturist.
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Debbie
You have a beautiful yard. I am getting closer every year.
Jacqueline
Dear Debbie,
Welcome, gardening friend! Oh, I wish I could claim these photos as my own :0 But, they all have links to the real owners for you to see how they do it if you wish. Thank you for visiting.
Lori
Beautiful pictures! I can only dream of gardens like this…since living in TX we have had one (several!) gardening challenges after another. Even our raised beds produced so very little. But, the Lord keeps our dreams alive! I am planting seeds again right now to possibly have a harvest by November. :0)
Jacqueline
Welcome, Lori!
Have you ever seen Back To Eden? I think it might be a real blessing to you. http://vimeo.com/28055108
Do let me know what you think 🙂
Ruth@GraceLaced
Hello! I’m so glad my dear friend forwarded your blog to me. I love your heart behind mentoring young moms like me (I have 5 boys)! I am blessed by this blog, and look forward to getting to know you better. BTW, I have a potager too! http://www.gracelaced.com/2012/07/31/a-birthday-party-in-the-potager/
Jacqueline
Ruth,
Your potager is lovely, and quite mature now! Thank you for sharing it with me, new friend 🙂
Stacey
Jacqueline,
You truly inspire with these photos! Aren’t they just stunning gardens? And so practical too! Do you have a Potager garden? When I do acquire my own piece of land some day, I look forward to having a beauty like these close to my house. Thank you for sharing.
Jacqueline
Stacey,
We do have a small potager. It is not nearly so pretty and rambling as the ones in these wonderful photos, though. Here is a peek for you: https://deeprootsathome.com/?p=17679 That was two years ago, so after the drought, it doesn’t look nearly a nice. Autumn should remedy that 🙂
I am so glad you stopped by !!
Joanie @ Simple Living Mama
These photos are gorgeous. I hope to have a similar garden one day!
Jacqueline
It is my pleasure, Joanie 🙂 just remember, rome wasn’t built in a day. ‘Contented industry’ is how I think of it!
Kristel from Healthy Frugalista
I didn’t know there was a term for my dream garden but now I do. I have a small start on a potager, and I agree it will take time to develop. Our yard is mostly wooded so I plant where I can find sun. I’d rather have it outside my kitchen but I’ll take it wherever I can get it!
I love the rustic elements in many of these gardens. I built a green bean tepee out of branches (you can see part of it at the bottom of this post http://healthyfrugalista.com/2012/06/vegetables-that-will-grow-in-the-shade/ ), but so far that’s as far as I’ve gone with the rustic structures. I have lots of ideas, just no time yet to create them. I liked the cucumbers growing up the ladder in your photo.
Jacqueline
It is difficult with so much shade. I agree, Kristel. I will head over to take a look at your shade post 🙂 I hope the photos aren’t making anyone discontent with the Lord’s provisions, rather to give a vision for something achievable over time. Many blessings to you.
sahmpaw
Quick question – and I hope you are well! Are potagers best done on a flat surface? We have a yard with a slope in back. A landscape architect recommended we put a garden with four plots on an angle in a corner of our yard. We were so young and naive and went with it. Now with three kids we can’t keep up the weeding on the brick pathway and it’s near difficult to grow anything on this slope (zone 5, clay soil but even with amendments it is a struggle) in the ground. My husband built a raised bed in one plot but soil would escape with any amount of rain because it’s on a slope so we gave up. We have level ground closer to our house. Would that be a better place to put a potager? Before we rip out the brick pathways surrounding our weed beds. 🙂
Jacqueline
Hi, Sahmpaw!
I’m sorry that you were steered wrong. It is hard to start over.
Yes, I would prefer flat(ish) ground if at all possible, because the water will sink in and not tend to run off in rainfall if it comes quickly.
Of course, raised beds do require a bit more watering if it gets very dry, but we have found that the weeding is much less. If you grow plants a bit more tightly, they will canopy faster and keep the soil from drying as fast.
If you look at this post, you can see one possible way to have almost NO weeds in between boxes. https://deeprootsathome.com/planning-the-family-garden/
The stones are granite “quarters” and the bit more expense has more than paid for itself in extremely low care/maintenance. They are 4-5″ think and will not grow weeds if debris is removed at the end of each growing year.
If you let stuff drop and don’t keep it relatively cleaned of debris, it will turn to soil over the years and that will allow weeds to grow! That is just 1 way, but heavy wood chips are another. We have heavy clay in most spots and are zone 5, too.
This post has what we used as soil in the boxes if interested: https://deeprootsathome.com/building-4-8-box/
I hope that has helps a little!
Whatever you do, enjoy that backyard. Having one is such a blessing!
Blessings, J