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Homestead Cottage Gardening
Adding Beauty to Your Homestead
Homestead cottage gardening and the beauty it provides has an important place in your homestead.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the practical things, we forget that we need beauty in our lives as well.
A beautiful garden provides serenity to our souls.
Nothing brightens your day better than walking in a beautiful garden.
But I Have to Admit
Cottage gardening was one of the last things I thought about when I first considered self reliance.
Usually when it comes to gardening, if I can't eat it, I'm not interested in growing it.
But in the past year or so, I've come to realize that natural beauty has its crucial place in self reliance as well.
Yes, we should focus on self reliance, but we should also enjoy the journey along the way.
That's where cottage gardening, or more specifically, homestead cottage gardening comes in.
The Origin of Cottage Gardening
The term "cottage garden" originated in England and was a way for the working class - who typically lived in cottages - to have access to fresh fruits, vegetables and meat.
It was old-fashioned self-reliance the English way.
Because they typically did not have much in the way of acreage, cottage gardeners would take advantage of every square foot and plant as many things as possible.
They would use hardy plants that were native to the area and easy to grow.
The design would be informal and they would use whatever materials they had on hand, much like we would in homestead cottage gardening today.
Different Classes, Different Cottage Gardens
In a peasant's cottage garden there would likely be chickens and herbs grown for their medicinal use.
Those in the middle class would have a few more luxuries, such as a family cow, some pigs, a beehive and flowers.
Then during the late nineteenth century many of the English, in reaction to the formal estate gardens, reinvented the cottage gardens, mixing both ornamental and edible plants, and eventually leaning more toward flowers. The result was grace and charm in addition to functionality.
What We Can Learn From Them
We, who are pursuing self reliance today, want a mixture of all three.
We obviously want to grow the practical things, such as vegetables and fruits as well as the medicinal plants in our homestead cottage gardening.
By keeping a beehive on our property, our gardens become
much more productive.
If we keep a few pigs, goats or even a cow on our land, their manure goes into the compost garden.
The following spring we have a far more productive garden.
And finally, flowers add beauty to our landscape, but best of all, those flowers can be a practical part of our homestead cottage gardening as well.
The Beautiful, Edible Flower
Violas add a sweet, delicate beauty, roses provide fragrance and charm, and marigolds bring sturdy, cheerful color to your homestead cottage gardening.
But even better, these are all examples of edible flowers that you can add to your salad and even use to make jam.
More Homestead Gardening Links
Thinking about gardening the organic way? Follow these simple steps first.
Want to save even more money when gardening? Purchase bulk seeds for cost savings and self reliant preparation.
Get an early start on your gardening by starting your seeds indoors. Here are some tips.
Ready to grow your own vegetables, but you're not sure where to begin?
Learn which vegetables are the easiest to grow by clicking here.
Are you thinking about putting in a garden? Follow these tips.
For healthy strong plants, put in raised beds.
Or avoid the digging altogether and put in these easier raised beds.
For truly rich, healthy soil, learn how to make your own compost.
Protect your plants and keep down weeds by mulching. Here are some mulching tips.
Build up your soil, and you'll keep pests down to a minimum, but what happens if pests do attack your garden? Here are some pest control tips
Gotten into poison ivy lately. Learn how to treat that awful itch. Here's how.
Do you have limited space? Consider growing your organic garden in containers.
Ready to have your own container garden? Here are some tips on finding the right garden container
Gardening can be much more than a hobby; it can also be a way to raise most of your food. Here's how.
If you want the richest humus for your gardening, consider composting with worms
Want to have fresh greens for your salad all winter? Then build this easy, effective cold frame.
Get your garden off to the right start with strong growth and an early harvest. Learn how you can germinate seeds.
So why should you pursue organic gardening? Learn the benefits by clicking here.
True self sufficiency means being able to produce your own excellent-quality seeds. Here's how.
To save seeds, you must start with quality plants. Learn why you should purchase the seeds of heirloom plants by clicking here.
Have you thought about organic gardening but don't know where to begin? Try these tips.
As homesteaders, we primarily think about gardening to raise food, but beauty is also important.
Learn the importance of cottage gardening.
When planning your garden, don't forget to grow herbs. Not only do they smell nice and add flavoring to food, many also have healing qualities.
Learn more.
Got a bumper crop of potatoes or other root vegetables this season?
Learn an economical way to store them to keep them fresh all winter by clicking here.
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You Can Build a Chicken Tractor Provides you with step-by-step instructions on how to build a chicken tractor and also provides helpful information on how to get free wood and how your chickens can pay for themselves.
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