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soggy6_2006

The crude beginnings. . .

soggy6_2006
18 years ago

Not quite sure I can call it a potager just yet!

Last years 2'x5' plot has been increased to 3'x6', I've raised the stone wall and added a second planting bed just behind it, about 1'x7'. I'm going to bury the terracotta pots a little more and plant strawberries there. I'd like to do lettuce if it's not too late or kale inbetween the pots. Directly behind that carrots. In the 4x6 plot; pole beans, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, herbs and daisies.

I still have to figure out where to put the pumpkins, squash and zukes! I could put them on the slope under the willow tree. The tree is ese of plot and only shades in early morning.

That's my gnome just to the left of the plot and right of the stairs leading to the potager, he's there to welcome everyone up. There are five roses at the top of the stairs (just behind the bird house).

I'm so tired of looking at dirt, but I think it will be YEARS before our hill has plantings on it ( so many other priorities!)

I'd love to enclose my potager somehow, I just can't come up with any good ideas? Would I include the willow and roses? Any suggestions would be appreciated!


Full view of "potager". Willow on right, stairs on left

View looking south back at the house

Janna

Comments (10)

  • georich5
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Janna,
    You've got a great place for your potager. It naturally lends itself towards dividing up the area. Wonderful curves and levels. And everyone needs a gnome!! I'd love to see different colors of lettuce, parsley planted in soft curves.
    And good luck with rebar. I can SEE IT!!!

    georgeanne

  • little_dani
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I see a wonderful beginning for you. What a great site!

    I have suggested wattle fencing before, and it is so simple that I cannot imagine that it isn't everywhere1 But it is so seldom seen, that it is still unique and charming. These instructions are not mine, I did copy them for you, but they are so simple to follow.

    HOW TO BUILD A WATTLE FENCE

    It is quite simple to build one of these fences.

    MATERIALS NEEDED.
    Wooden stakes or straight branches [2.5cm to 6cm in diameter]
    Freshly cut straight branches [canes] 2.5cm� in diameter and at least 1.5m in length
    TOOLS
    Pruning saw
    Mallet
    Secateurs
    Crowbar or pointy stick

    STEPS ONE: draw a line where you want the fence to be, dig a shallow trench [5cm] along this line.

    STEP 2: every 30 cm place a stake, do this by marking the spot then making a hole with the crow bar or pointy stick, hammer the stake into this hole with the mallet.

    STEP 3: choose some of the thicker branches [as you go remove any side branches and leaves] weave them into the stakes, alternate the branches in the same way you would weave a basket. Keep doing this until you reach the desired height. [mine is about 80cm high]

    STEP 4: when you have finished this go through and weave smaller branches into the gaps. Trim off any branches that stick out too much.

    You now have a wattle fence that can be used as a backdrop to an herb garden or as a fence to keep out small dogs or children .The more uniform the branches are, the more even and formal the end result will be.

    NOTES ON CONSTRUCTION
    This is based on the fence I have just built, mine is made from shrub clippings from around the garden and I have used eucalypt branches for the stakes. I found that rounded branches perhaps even slightly green are the better than tomato stakes as they bend rather than break when put under pressure.
    Almost any shrub or tree with long straight branches is suitable; the quicker growing it is the better as you then have a fast growing self-replacing source of fencing. Some shrubs that could be used are ...Hibiscus [including the deciduous hibiscus], fruit tree stems, willow [possibly the easiest to work with], wattle, privet, and lots of others.

    I buy a bundle of short surveyors stakes to start, as they will last in the ground for a long, long time, and they are easy to work with. Once you have your wattle on, you won't realize they are cut stakes. And if you want a taller fence, you can get taller stakes.

    The link shows several different wattle fences. If you do a Google Image search for wattle fence, you can see a lot more.

    Janie

    Here is a link that might be useful: Wattle fences and other pretty things

  • wolfe15136
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow! An albino gnome!

    (Sorry. I couldn't resist.)

  • BecR
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Janna. Very nice job with the rocks. I really like the rock wall and steps, and your welcome gnome. You have great beginnings for a wonderful potager. I can envision it lush with all kinds of herbs, veggies, fruits and pretty flowers.

    I have not grown squash or zucchini, but the idea of it on the hill sounds perfect as they need plenty of space to spread out. I do believe there is a variety of zucchini that is bush form, but I am not sure.

    If you want a rustic look, wattle fencing would be beautiful. Or you could do some type of picket fencing & maybe a little gate or arbor in there too. From what I can tell in the pics, I don't think I would enclose the roses or willow tree.

    Another type of fencing would be the 3 foot long sections of low (about 2 foot), decorative wire fencing you can find at Lowe's in the garden section. Just push into the ground and done (each section can stand alone or link with another section). There are many styles to choose from, from very simple coated wire to more elaborate Victorian styles. They come in black, dark green, and white.

    What roses do you have back there? Do tell (I love roses).

    I am looking forward to seeing more pics of the progress in your garden.

    Becky

  • Annie
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Your Gnome looks like a "Swedish Garden Gnome" to me.
    Here is a picture of one of the happy little guys with his garden rake.

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • soggy6_2006
    Original Author
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Annie,

    I like my Swedeish gnome even more now! I am 1/2 Swedish, my grandparents were born in Sweden, and it's my favorite country to travel to! Now, I'm not a world traveller, but of the few countries I have visited, Sweden is definaetly the one I would choose to see again and again.

    Back on track, I should have updated pictures of my potager in the next couple of days. We're expecting a little rain over the weekend, but I'm hoping to have my veggies in by then.

    Janna

  • Annie
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hej, Janna!

    My great-grandfather was a Swede from Stockholm. He came to "Amerika" as a young boy with his father and younger siblings and step-mother in 1868. I have never gotten to go to 'Sverige', but would like to someday. I have an open invitation to come for an extended visit with ALL my ancestral families all over Sweden. Such friendly and hospitable people! I would love to go to Gamla Stan (old Stockholm) and go to the cathedral of St. George where my GGGG-grandparents were married and visit all the places where they lived.

    The Swedes have a special word 'Trgårdsland', "which is a 'garden plot' or a 'patch of garden' - it is the very nicest part in your garden where you grow carrots, potatoes, flowers, herbs, etc..." (- quote from a friend in Sweden.)

    - sounds like a Potager, now doesn't it?

    As for Gnomes.
    There are all kinds of Gnomes - house gnomes, forest gnomes, barn gnomes, garden gnomes, farmer gnomes, woodcutter gnomes, shoecobbler gnomes, & etc. They are very industrious little folk, but very tempermental. If you happen to displease one, for any reason, they are likely to do something in retaliation, like kill your favorite flower or eat your nicest cabbage. They have even been known to steal eggs, chickens or even take a young suckling piglet if someone did something to anger them. They might caus a tree to fall down on your roof, or set your barn on fire! To stay on their good side, it used to be common for country folk to fix them a 'special' bowl of food every evening. It was set out wherever a gnome might find it, like on the table or OUT on the porch. If the gnomes liked it, it would all be eaten by morning, and they would LIKELY return the favour by helping the country folk in some way or another. But, if the gnome did not like it, then something bad was sure to happen. It was best to stay on the good side of gnomes!

    ~ Annie

  • soggy6_2006
    Original Author
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hej, Annie!

    What fun! First the Gnomes; mine is gaurding the entrance to my potager, so if I have a bad crop, I'll have to fix him a bowl!

    Gamla Stan is so wonderful. The journal enrty from my first visit there in 1989 reads that Strandvagen is like a fantasy, the main street with all the perks of one, yet with cobblestone, no trash, friendly people and amazing buildings.

    My most favorite spot in Sweden is on an island called Boskar, outside of Soderhamn. My great-aunt and uncle have their summer-house there, not too far from their home in Sandviken. On the shore are the most amazing large, smooth rocks that you can climb out on and watch the sunrise. This is quite easy to do in the summer considering the summer solstice. This is where I spent my first morning in Sweden. That was 1989, ten years after my aunt Carmen had put me in touch with my second cousin Anna. We became good friends in that time, so you can imagine how wonderful it was to finally meet! We have relatives all over Sweden, as far south as Stockholm, as far north as Lulea. I was the first of my family to visit, now my parents go every other summer, and we have relatives here the off-years. The Swedes are amazing people. They are relaxed and fun. I have not visited since my first was born in 1994, I am anxious to get back!

    I was not familiar with "tradgardsland", but now I must have a sign made to place out at my potager!

    BTW, my license plate reads "CASVEDE", my front entrance reads "valkommen," and I have to go to IKEA every now and then for a "gingersnap" fix!

    Janna

  • Annie
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yup,

    gingersnaps and pasties.
    I really like your license plate name. Clever! I'd have to put OKSVEDE on my license plate, now.

    Oh, and it's Trädgårdsland not Tradgardsland. Make sure you spell it correctly or it might be some entirely different word with a very different meaning altogether! Yipes!

    If you really want to please your little Garden Gnome, make sure you plant 'jordgubben' near him, or better yet, a 'smultronställe' filled with tiny, sweet 'smultron'. He epecially likes them served with lots of sweet cream on 'sockerkaka'. Me too!

    I think it is just so cool to find out that we share that unique heritage, of CASvede.

    ~ Annie

  • Annie
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yowsers!

    Apparently, the GW cannot read the Swedish letters and did they ever mess them up! Bummer!
    Sorry.

    SweetAnnie4u

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