I will start with myself.... My name is Mary, I garden in sunny Austin Texas. My current loves are desert 4'o clock and Sugar Baby watermelons. I am fickle though, last month it was the Scarlet runner beans and blanketflower!

I found this site about two months ago and am glad y'all have posted so much to inspire me. You see I have been working on creating my potager since '01, but am only about 75% there. So there's my confession, I'm the world's slowest gardener!

GGG

(Hi GGG)

I garden in central South Carolina and like just about everthing. Lots of tropical plants like banana, canna, ginger and elephant ears.
Fruit trees; although I'm giving up on the peach I'm still going to try to make a go of it with the pear, plum and apple trees.
Veggies; my squash have filled my freezer and I'm not really sorry that powdery mildew is starting to win - we have had enough squash and zucchini to feed every neighbor and co-worker.
Next year my main veggie garden is being moved to raised beds behind my husbands shop and my potager is going to be reserved for the apple trees and some more well behaved herbs and veggies. Some small sweet pumkins are currently having thier way with the entire potager.
I may plant some cabbage there over the winter - I think rings of cabbage around the circle might be pretty - haven't decided yet.

My potager is about 5-6 yrs. old. I grow various vegies in it, as well as seeds and propagated plants. Right now it mostly holds toms, peppers, squash, beans, carrots and berries - blueberries, my favorites. The hollyhocks have seeded all over the beds so I am constantly pulling them. Some I've let grow and some just come back every year without fail. You can see pics in the link below.

I also grow apples and apricots. I will soon be adding plums, thanks to a little enabling from a cottage garden friend. And I grow gourds and mini pumpkins up a portion of fencing behind the potager, where they're more easily trained and don't take up as much space.

Other interests are quilting, major league baseball and home decorating. We are in the midst of remodeling our downstairs and I go to bed every day bone tired and wake up the same. lol! The kitchen demo is getting close so I'm sure there's a lot of take out in my future. Any quick recipes that will keep in the frig/freezer and not need more than a warm up in the microwave are gladly welcome!

Diana

Michelle

I tried my hand at veggies last year, and loved it. So
I put in my potager this spring, and can't wait for it to look like the ones I've seen here. I'm also really into cottage gardens, so I've been working all spring and summer
putting in flower beds.

We also grow grapes and peaches. So I've been a sponge for knowledge.

If I'm not in the garden I'm logged on to the Garden Web Forums.

Haziemoon

I am Almendra from the East Bay area of San Francisco, Ca. I have been gardening since 1992, but I have taken brakes while pregnant, nursing and toddler care, which is when I stuck to indoor plants.

My Potager/Cottage garden is only about 3 yrs. old, even though I have lived in this home for 6 1/2 yrs.

I am trying to have a beautiful garden that doesn't need much water, and the plants that do, I am training them to adjust to minimum amounts of water. My focus now is to minimize the lawn which I have achieved in the backyard, now I am focusing on the front yard.

I am currently growing apples, peaches, cherries, grapes, figs, raspberries, blueberries, lemons, limes, oranges, strawberries, sage, mint, currants, various edible native plants to this area, sunflowers for attracting beneficial insects, yarrow, nasturtiums, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, thyme, roses, armeria, rockroses, society garlic, rudbeckia, coreopsis, indian blanket, etc., etc., etc. I mostly have one each of the big ones such as apples, unless there is a need for a second one for cross pollination.

I grew an avocado from seed but beware of the roots. They take over your land and even go under your concrete sidewalks, so we pulled it out.

Most of these plants are 3yrs. old or younger, so I am very excited to see the outcome yet to come.

I love this forum as well as the cottage garden one. Thank your for everything you share.

Almendra

I'm Jen and I am just starting gardening in WI. I am mostly working on hardscape right now, but hoping to get plants in the ground late summer.

I have an area set up as my potager and am slowly gathering everything I need to make my raised beds. I have to have a potager because I have two wee westies that think if it's green it's a treat, if there's dirt, it's the perfect spot to nap or roll in(especially when wet!), if it's mulch, then that must be the perfect spot to bury a bone.

I should have pictures soon!

Jen

So what did I do... I married a farmer/teacher and built a house in the middle of a hay field.
Our plan is to create beauty and be able to eat it. Hopefully before we keel over. Starting from scratch is tough, no shade, no secret bowers. So the little red hen said "I'll do it myself".

This Spring my potager plans got put on hold while we attempted a daring rescue mission of our fledgling, waist high maze. I DO have a potager, it's just planted all over h***'s half acre.
Next year when we get our patio/potager in will be exciting. And I'll be retired and pulling all projects off the back burner.

On a positive note...my flower beds are half full.
georgeanne

Anyhow. My family returned "home" to the Heart of NY last summer, after 3 years in GA. I am happy to be back here, but find things that I miss about our brief Southern sojourn, and am certainly re-adjusting to the much shorter growing season...

Where we lived in GA there were not anywhere near enough existing homes to house all the newcomers to the area, so we bought an 8 year old house in a subdivision, and got to experience our first Homeowner's Association. Luckily, the rules were not strictly enforced, but there were certainly many raised eyebrows when I planted SUNFLOWERS in the front yard (only place on the property sunny enough), and TOMATOES behind my morning glories, and--horrors!!--cucumbers in between the phlox and zinnias.

Our "new" home is 96 years old, and I've been discovering some of the perennials here as the year has unfolded. The veggie garden was very small, being overrun by out-of-control herbs, and in a weird, angular shape. It just didn't inspire me, at all. So, while I'm in the process of recovering from a stroke at age 46 (just this past fall, after we moved back to NY), I'm using my gardening to re-build muscles and stamina!

I absolutely love round and curved design elements, and the gardens here were very much straight beds. Whilst driving along on a PA road when visiting Mom, I saw a garden that immediately registered as "my dream garden!" (Luckily noone was tailgating, because I practically stood on the brakes!) I had just started a round garden in GA when we decided to move, so I filled it back in. I went back to the PA garden with my digital camera, and took a dozen or more shots. On returning home, I adapted the design to the space we have. In the interests of not putting myself under too much pressure (this is supposed to be fun, right???!!) I have committed to planting only 1/4 of the circle this year. So far: sugar snap peas are curving around the outside border, with lettuces enjoying the shade they provide. Next come heirloom tomatoes: Big Rainbow, Green Zebra, Glacier, Italian Beef, and a pink French one, can't remember the name. Fin de Bagnol beans are not germinating well, but there are some volunteer squash and cucumbers that I'm delighted to have, since my seedlings of those failed. Basil's in with the tomatoes, and some marigolds are on their way. A few sunflowers are on the border, but I'm probably not going to have as many flowers this year as I hope to have in the future.

Sorry to be so long-winded, I'm just so happy since I finally got my classroom packed up today (everything's taking me a little longer these days...), and can spend lots more time on the gardens now, if it stops raining, that is!!

Mountainsong, in the Heart of NY

I check it twice a day! and this has been the most active
post! Thanks manzomecorvus! you brought life here again!

Keep the posts coming!

Fern

I'm not sure if I'm making a true "potager", since my theory is that if it looks good, and does well, leave it alone. I've got chives next to my roses, tomatoes in between the Phlox, Mexican Heather, and Ganzia, and peppers in with my daisies. My grapes are surrounded by Marigolds and Dianthus, and my Blueberries and blackberries form the border to the children's gardens. Mint growes in a couple of toliets in my front yard, with mums and some small daylilies. I've also got some rosemary in my strawberry bed, and another mixed in with the roses, zinnias, and various others. I let my onion go to seed, just because it looked neat, so next year I'll probably have onions coming up everywhere. =0)

I'm redoing the "veggie" garden this year. My "plan" is to use tires to raise the beds and plant in them, and mulch in between them. It will probably not be very formal, and flowering plants will be mixed in with food producing plants according to what my children and I decide looks good. I'm looking at the possibility of painting the tires in bright colors. I have no formal layout planned. When working with circles (tires) I have a feeling that no matter that the plan IS, the tires will dictate the actual shapes. =0)

The only hardscape I have is my compost bins (made from old palllets), and a garden shed (simple metal shed with a pebble floor). Unless you count the old dog kennel, which now houses my chickens, and moves all over the side yard.

It may seem like chaos to some, sometimes it is =0). But the kids and I are having a blast (even if I do get less help with weeding, than I do for planting!). Veggies and flowers everywhere. So does that make it a pottage/cottage garden or a cottage/pottage garden? Informal pottage? Slightly formal cottage? *LOL*

Mil

I have been reading everyone's posts and I can just picture y'alls gardens. I am really lusting after fruit trees right now, and I love imagining what some of these potagers look like with all the flowers and veggies nestled among the fruit trees. I do have one fruit tree.

Notice I say fruit tree here. I vowed not to buy fruit trees until I finished the beds (y'all know how THAT is going). Last year a neighbor thrust a pot in my hands and told me to take it before she killed it. I looked at the stick with drooping yellow leaves and asked her what it was. She told me it was a peach, plum, or pear....she couldn't remember what! So I replaced the tiny pot with a much bigger pot, replaced the adobe with real dirt, and gave it some bulbs to tickle its roots. Now I have a beautiful thriving.....fruit tree. And darn if I could tell you what it is....at least y'all sound like you know what you are growing!

I am in the Sacramento Valley (CA) where we have long, hot summers and pretty mild winters; though not mild enough for things like hibiscus.

I will be doing veggie gardening in my suburban front yard; so, I gotta make it look good. That is why I am here.

I already have a bunch of fruit trees jammed into a small space in my backyard. I surrounded them with flowers and I had no idea it actually was considered a potager.

Looking forward to further posts!

I was a major advocate for the creation of this forum last year, pestering the good people at GW on numerous occasions. I thought it would never get created, and in the meantime I got sidetracked for a few months when I changed jobs. When I finally had a few moments to check in with GW again, lo and behold, there was a potager forum! I check in here from time to time and offer what I can, and learn what I can. We seem like a great group, all.

-Diggity

One of the greatest skills a child can learn is to grow food.

GGG

Haziemoon

I've only been able to check in every week or two the last couple of months, glad to see everyone is well, and this forum is picking up!

My name is Janna, been gardening in NorCal for 4 years, socal for many years before that. My potager is growing each year, this year I have a 10'x5' raised bed, as well as a couple raised rock beds.

I have a sports photography business that is keeping me very busy, my four kids (11,8,5,2) do a pretty good job also. I am also a lifelong Angels Baseball fan (Diana, I went to two games this past week :) ), and I love to scrapbook our family memories.

Happy gardening everyone!

I'm Happy -- gardening in the great state of Texas near Ft. Worth. Land of black clay, fire ants, and heat. lol

I've gardened all my life, starting at my mother's side with a little quality time with her father also. Dh and I have lived in several places. Where we had dirt, we've left trees, shrubs and perennials when we moved on.

For a time, we lived in Belgium. European gardens inspired me! Not just the big public ones, either. The small, precious ones on the way to the grocery store were the very best.

These days the veggie garden is becoming more and more potager like with the addition of 'pretties.' I judge the success of the year's veggie garden by how well the tomatoes do. (It is tough in this part of Texas.) Antique roses, daylilies and other colorful flowers populate my gardens.

Currently, I'm a homeschool mom of a bright, busy, baseball playing, teenage son. Our older son lives on his own (mostly....sigh.) Horses, dogs, cats and other critters are or have been a part of our lives.

In a former life, I was a professional portrait/wedding photographer. Retired to homeschool. :) I satisfy my craving for art by gardening these days. I've been married to my best friend for almost 29 years. He is a pilot and general handy man around the house. You have to love a guy that will dig holes, haul mulch and exterminate weeds. Not to mention purchase new rose plants even when you can't explain quite where they will live.

All you Angel fans, beware. I'm a major Texas Rangers fan!

Happy

I like the potager concept because it seems to allow both more freedom and more design than cottage gardening. I'm redoing much of my yard to put permanent plantings such as berries and figs along the fence or house, then perennials backing lower edibles such as squash. mountainsong, your comment about tomatoes made me laugh, as most of mine form a loose hedge between my house and my neighbor's (we don't have a homeowners' association, thank goodness!).

Mostly, I put things where they work, and then try to make them look good. I use strawberry Tristar as groundcover beneath an ash (soon to be replaced by a serviceberry), and those are backed, also, by daylilies and iris (which are backed by peonies). (The Earliglows get a regular strawberry patch - I'm too lazy to try to incorporate them into a design, but have arranged for snap beans to climb strings behind them.)

As you might guess, I have a good many birds competing with me for the fruit, but there's plenty to go round now. I also deliberately plant things which will draw more of them into the yard - have a hummer coming to crocosmia and calibrachoa, and possibly to some of the salvias and agastaches, and we always have goldfinches feasting on the coneflower seed heads.

Apart from my garden, I work full-time (wish it were otherwise), sing, write, and take dance classes.

Nice to meet you all - thanks, diggity, for pushing for this forum!