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.

Using Borage

What is borage?

That's usually the first question people ask when it's mentioned.

Some folks have it in their "butterfly" gardens since it has beautiful

purple flowers that bees and butterflies alike are drawn to.

Attracting pollinators in itself is a worthing reason, but there's more.

It's edible!

Believe it or not, those prickly leaves are the secret ingredient

to so many delicious dishes.

You can of course use it fresh during summer months,

but you can also dehydrate it to use during the cold months.

And, how do we use it?

Around here, I try to keep a couple of quart jars of the dried leaves

in the pantry.

We add it to spaghetti - chopped up, in addition to your regular herbs.

If you are making a pot roast, toss a couple whole leaves in

on top of your usual seasonings.

A couple leaves added to the crock pot of stew sure doesn't hurt anything.

And, our latest favorite is -

Mr. LB chopped some up and added it to his homemade sausage.

I think he has just about perfected his recipe - Yum!

What it does~

Some claim it tastes like cucumber.

I can't imagine eating it in a salad.  The leaves are furry/prickly.

When cooked, it's similar to most greens and is no longer prickly.

When used in addition to your favorite herbs and spices,

it seems to meld and enhance the flavors.

It's like the sound of an orchestra when the members are

warming up individually vs. the sound when they play together-

only in flavor rather than sounds.

It doesn't seem to add it's own distinct flavor, 

but brings out the best of all the others.

How it grows:

In our garden, it has become a blessed weed.

We love it, but it drives us crazy.

The first time I planted it, I (foolishly) planted a row in the garden.

It was beautiful, but we had way more than enough.

So, the next year, thinking I was smart,

I planted 4 seeds.

When they came up, so did a bunch of "weeds" that looked identical.

Yep - borage. 

For the past couple years?? I've not planted any borage seeds.

We have beans and borage, tomatoes and borage, chives and borage-

you get the picture.

Plant a couple seeds somewhere you need a whole patch of 

pretty purple flowers, but probably not in your garden.

Borage is one plant we will probably always have around.

We can't imagine cooking without it.

Maybe give it a whirl and let me know what you think.  

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches