Courtyard Potager Garden Design ~ Revised

Well Folks, I'd like to hear what you think.

So Far!

From the time I was young and dust was new,

I was taught that you don't show incomplete projects.

For the most part, I've kept pretty true to that teaching.

Where it originated?  and why?

Maybe it's one more effect of media showing us everything from start to finish

 in 20 minutes or a 4 page spread.

I know not.

This was taken the first or second year we had the garden back here.

In the last post, I mentioned that we usually have one or two larger projects going at any one time as well as multiple smaller projects.

That got me to thinking.

So many little, huge, ginormous pockets of our time are spent on these projects, not sharing seems wrong.

After all, life itself is just one big unfinished project.

Isn't it better to show the progress and set backs and share encouragement, joy and sorrow then to hide it all away to the end?

The string lines are difficult to see but that's how much the paths migrated.

With that said, I'm throwing caution to the wind, breaking the rules, and

showing you one of our unfinished projects.

When I initially laid out our current garden design,

I used a traditional courtyard layout with grass paths.

I loved it for maybe that first year.

After that, it became a nuisance to mow, and 

the grass wouldn't stay out of the garden plots.

Over the course of a few years, the paths "migrated,"

so the plots were no longer square and even.

Back to the drawing board I went.

We had a huge pile of salvaged regular red bricks.

It couldn't be just a red brick road.

The artsy side of me can't do that.

This is as far as we got last fall.

I came up with a design and worked 16" pebble covered grey bricks into the path with the red bricks in a basket weave design to fill in.

We began last fall, then it froze and sat all winter incomplete.

And here I must mention,

I have an absolutely wonderful husband.

He has done this project for me.  

Other than packing a brick or two or fetching a tool, he has done the work.

I draw up a design and he builds/constructs etc.

Tilled the whole thing in order to cut the path.

All the full bricks are in place and he has been cutting bricks to fill in the edges.

That part is a slower, more tedious process

which is why most folks don't do it.

I figure if we are going to do it, we might as well have something we really like.

And yes, he likes it too.

So now, even though it's not complete, I'm loving it.

Can you see how nicely those bricks follow the string line?

I'm also looking forward to not having to mow around a circle while trying not to run over lettuce or beans, etc.

I am excited to be in the garden again and have planted a few things, but

it's only April, and weather can be sketchy so I'm trying to mind myself

and be good.

But oooh, those winter, store-bought tomatoes are disgraceful

and make me want to plant early. ~but I digress~

There is a bed of gravel under the bricks.

I'll keep you posted and share when the filler bricks are cut and in place.

I would love to know what you think - do you like to see works in progress

or prefer finished projects?

                                                 

PS~ These first two books are in my home library.  The Courtyard book is wonderful and offers great inspiration for various styles.

A New Path

It is seldom that I show much of our home

in the way of big pictures.

In this case, it's a little difficult to avoid,

but I wanted to share something with you 

in hopes that it might inspire you to 'keep faith.'

For about 7-8 years now we have had a "temporary" back step.

I won't go into all the details as to why,

but here's what it was looking like.

I know, nothing says class like the barbecuer that doesn't work

and the air-conditioner that's going back out to the shop.

My photo op. timing is impeccable.

But back to the point.

The large pallet was beginning to decompose back into the earth.

We want to add a porch on back here, but when we do,

we want it to be a good one - no cutting corners,

which is partly why we still have what we have.

We had been pondering whether we could pour a concrete slab

so that we could later add a porch, or build just the deck portion,

or . . . you get the idea.

Patience and not settling do pay off.

Mr. LB's work acquired a town lot complete with whatever was left

sitting there for the past 10-15 years since the old fella left it.

His boss asked if we had any use for a bunch of bricks

so he didn't have to haul them to the dump.

Sure!

Last weekend after canning corn, I unloaded 4-5 pallets of bricks.

I am the brick mover, and Mr. LB is the brick layer-downer:)

The bricks/blocks we used for the patio portion are 3 sided.

It worked out great for paving the way between the house and the shop.

Then there were the short cinder block type bricks.

When Mr. LB first laid them down, it looked like train tracks.

I told him I wouldn't be able to handle it.

It needed a curve, and I also went and grabbed a few red bricks 

that we already had and started playing.

This is what we came up with.

I am standing at the wood shed to take the picture.

This way, we won't have to track through a muddy path to get wood this winter.

Never mind the piles of rubbish we are working on removing

 and the brown grass and lack of grass.

(Actually, some of that is now picked up.)

We are going to get a few more of the 3 sided bricks to finish out

the rectangle shape over by the BBQ & make a more normal step.

That will be a very do-able sum to afford for what we've gained.

Nothing seems to happen quickly, and from what I hear,

it's not just around our place that it works that way.

I can't tell you how thrilled I am not to be dreading the mud on the floor.

It looks nice - or will once we finish cleaning up-

and it's functional and practical.

If/when we decide to add a porch, we can simply pull the bricks

and use them elsewhere and that's okay.

We haven't thrown money towards something that is not 

in our long term plan.

We still have another pallet and a half of backer stone.

We're not ready to tackle that project yet.

It's still canning season, so this alone is a huge accomplishment.

Wherever you are on your journey, keep faith.

It'll happen, sooner than you think, later than you want.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches