Sometimes there aren't words. Or rather, I'm not the writer skilled enough to string them together. So instead of words, travel along with me today for a tour through my cottage garden.
It's been four years since we started our gardens. Many of them were started just three years ago… and even a handful of them just one year past. Just four years ago, this entire area was grass. My gardens, and tending to them, are one of my very greatest joys. I feel it a great privilege to walk amongst the rows of blooms flowers and fragrant herbs. Many mornings, before the zoo of children awakes, I move through the gardens in my bathroom – steaming cup of coffee in hand – and fill my heart with gratitude for these moments.
For soil to tend. For hands to work that soil. And for the love of flowers that comes to life on this land.
Take the time to scroll through slowly, breathing deep, and pretend we're walking through the cottage garden together – chatting about scattered seeds and soil and sunshine, won't you?
The Cottage Garden. June 2020.
PS: If you'd like to learn how to build your own cottage garden, you can checkout my free issue on that right here.
Lovely and so peaceful just what we need right now
Oh my – how beautiful! What a joy it must be to see and smell and touch this beautiful space every day. A lot of hard work but so well worth it.
Beautiful gardens, beautiful pictures. Great job you guys. Blessings.
Hello Shaye,
Your gardens are so full of life and wonders… I have practically finished to catch up on your videos on YouTube. It is such a nourishment to my soul, inspiration and it really gave me a push in a direction I always fear to take cause I am single mom of two… it’s really like I have find a kindred spirit, and take energy from you and some homesteaders I didn’t know, exist few months ago. It is simple, I no longer feel alone ! So thank you and Stewart for that 🧡
Marie, from France
Absolutely Beautiful! I’m sure that you know that you are one LUCKY lady! When we lived in Oregon, I had hedges of roses and they would bloom 3 times a season! Now that we live in Maine, it’s a little harder to get the “Cottage Garden” look, especially since we live in the mountains, but it’s getting there. Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful pictures and videos with all of us. I always look forward to them. Karen
Beautiful gardens! Thank you for the tour it was lovely.
Stunning.
Our gardens here in The UK are the best ever,is it lower levels of pollution, more time since isolation…whatever it is we’ll take it!
We now have 20 David Austin Rose’s planted and more coming in November as bare rooted specimens.
We live in NC and my husband is building a beautiful garden like this in our yard. We have a long way to go but it keeps us in our yard where we belong.
Such a sight, your garden is such an inspiration!
Beautiful….I love those black lillies
Absolutely stunning! Thanks for all the beautiful photos.
Wow, black lilies – Yum! I’m not a huge lily fan, but if it’s black and moody apparently I am. What variety is that?
So beautiful! I would love to have a cottage garden like yours. We live in the Portland, OR area. Our soil is soaked much of the time. We have a forest of fir trees surrounding our yard so lots of shade. Many different shades of green but not many plants bloom! I love your sunny location!
Beautiful garden. I am sure there are little fairies playing in the garden, in the foliage and flowers.
Oh my – how beautiful! What a joy it must be to see and smell and touch this beautiful space every day. A lot of hard work but so well worth it.
So beautiful and so peaceful ♥️ I wish I had your talent. What a perfect place to just sit and relax.
Thank you for sharing pictures of your little piece of heaven. I really enjoyed the relaxing beautiful virtual tour. You and your lovely family are a bright hope in these uncertain times.
Your cottage gardens are absolutely stunning 🌸🌼🌹
Hello, Dear Shaye! The pictures of your hard work through long hours of planning, sowing and reaping are benefiting not only your immediate family and friends, but the community of friends that FEEL LIKE FAMILY that are following your journey. Inspirational knowing that we can do a beautiful garden for flowers and food and have it be ours, maybe hints if yours, but totally ours. I can’t thank you and Angela enough for paying it forward, with honesty, love, and sass. Long live sass. XO
You have created a masterpiece in garden beauty! Thank you for sharing, Shaye.
So encouraging to see what 3-4 years will bring. It takes work! But wow, what beauty!
Your gardens have pushed me to dream bigger every year. I tackled a larger then me potager garden project this spring. So many times I thought it would never ever get done and I would have to stare out the kitchen window at a construction zone all summer…but the construction is done, yes it is and now I wander the mulched paths and look at all the plants tucked into the beds and I am so much more in love with my potager then I ever thought possible. Thank you for inspiring me to tackle big things