All I want Le Petit Potager to be when she grows up – Part 3
The progress continues on my first vegetable garden as an adult. I am hopeful Le Petit Potager will be all she can be. I see success in her future and in ours as her caregiver. Aster has been watching the tiny strawberries each day in amazement as he runs to me saying, “Mommy, mommy, you should see them now.”
Lily has decided making sure Le Petit Potager is watered when needed will be her job this summer and even my teenager (although just) has committed to pulling weeds when she is up to it. I’ll accept that.
I have the lucky job of designing it. If you have been following this series, Part 1 and Part 2 below took the reader through my design process. One thing I failed to tell you, and many designers often do, is share with you my inspiration. That is the purpose of this post.
Each year, I attend the Davidson Horticultural Symposium and have enjoyed it for years. One of this year’s speakers was Robin Ripley, co-author of Grocery Gardening and blogs at Bumble Bee. Her lecture was on the Artful Vegetable Garden. I knew I wanted to attend this session, passing up two other speakers I also wanted to hear, but I was looking for inspiration to not only making my potager productive, but good looking too.
One row back, I watched in amazement at the good, the bad, and the ugly. I knew I wanted the good. What really struck me with her presentation was the amount of beautiful, gorgeous vegetable gardens that were presented. Nice rows, study trellis that were not only pretty, but functional. There was plenty of access, and situated in good sun. Robin had examples, from coast to coast, that inspired me to want my Le Petit Potager to be all she could me.
Recently, Robin posted on Garden Rant a tongue and cheek rant about pretty vegetable gardens. Not all agree with Robin’s goal of an artful vegetable garden. But, alas, this gardener was inspired by Robin’s talk at Davidson and her rant and looks forward to creating not only beauty, but a productive garden my family will enjoy all summer long. Thanks for being my inspiration, Robin!
Helen Yoest is a garden writer and coach through her business Gardening with Confidence™
Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenYoest and her facebook friend’s page, Helen Yoest or Gardening With Confidence™ Face Book Fan Page.
Helen also serves on the board of advisors for the JC Raulston Arboretum
Tags: gardening, vegetable gardening
March 19th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
I’m with you. I want the good. Very nice essay. Can’t wait to see your petit potager when it’s finished.~~Dee
March 19th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Can’t wait to share! Thanks, Dee. H.
March 20th, 2010 at 7:05 am
We keep contemplating how to tie in a potager here on acres. You’d think that would be simple, but every design comes up too disconnected and out of place. Still dreaming about it.
In the meantime, I sowed my herb seeds yesterday.
March 20th, 2010 at 7:21 am
It is hard C. We want all our gardens to be beautiful; a vegetable garden is no different. Finding the perfect spot is important. And, of course, you have the added burden of feeding the hoof traffic.
We are having a lot of fun with ours. It has been a great experience for me and the kids. H.
March 21st, 2010 at 8:42 am
[...] at Gardening with Confidence is putting in her own potager and was at my talk at the Davidson Horticultural [...]