VintageGardenGal Notable: Last month I mentioned getting a jump start on purchasing your heirloom tomato seeds, and starting them for spring. I'm not the only one with tomatoes on my mind.

In the March 2010, "Special Gardening Issue" of Martha Stewart Living magazine, Martha features an article on "Winners From Our Tomato Tasting". Martha and a panel of "Heirloom Tomato Experts" weigh in on their heirloom tomato favorites from last summer.

VintageGardenGal's heirloom tomato seed sponsor, TomatoFest, happens to carry three favorites: Big Rainbow, Black Cherry Tomato, and Green Zebra, mentioned from Martha's article, and about 600 more varieties to choose from.

If you want to have beautiful mouth-watering delicious tomatoes this summer, and maybe your own "tomato tasting party", click on TomatoFest, or their ad on the right-hand side bar and order your heirloom tomatoes seeds for this year. You're in for a treat.

Please share an heirloom tomato story with us. Please comment if you grow heirloom tomatoes every year.

Remember my dear friend, Kathy Lafleur, who has the incredible mosaic-decorated chicken coop? See VintageGardenGal's related post, Chicken Coop FAQ. Well, she has been working hard on her potager, and has allowed us to catch a glimpse.

If you recall in a previous post,7 Elements of a Potager I emphasized that you must create a potager in your personal style. Kathy has done an amazing job of emphasizing her potager elements in her personal style.

Kathy's entrance into her potager is a newly designed archway "welcoming" you to come in. A work in progress, she has made and grouped clay bluebirds and mirror squares, as her beginning mosaic design. On the opposite side of this arch she has planned a surprise for those entering her potager, two espaliered fig trees, whose structure and design will eventually echo the curved archway.

Look closely through her archway and you can see two tall focal points, the first one, a towering Spanish three-tiered fountain, replacing water with heat-loving spilling succulents. More of Kathy's artistic ceramic birds adorn its top and pay homage to the "goodness of the garden." The second towering focal point is her genius "totem" pole, created from her inspiring collection of European vintage watering cans. A straight rod anchors each watering can, and keeps them precariously in place. Kathy's watering can "totem" pole, is an excellent example of repetition. See VintageGardenGal's related post, "Repetition is Design". The simplest things in repetition can create fabulous design.

The heart and soul of any potager are the plots or raised beds. Kathy has several raised beds painted in a vibrant green, to show off each season's vegetables and flowers. Ample gravel pathways allow easy access and working area for each raised bed. Her entire potager is enclosed by a low clay brick wall, enclosure another important element of the potager.

Kathy Lafleur's potager is so inviting, so artistically well-done, when you are in her potager you don't want to leave. It is as functional as a kitchen garden, as it is artistically beautiful to enjoy. When planning your potager, create it in your personal style.

Have you thought of mixing art with functionality in your potager? Do you have a favorite collection you can create something with?

These pumpkins were started by seed back in June in my potager. By fall, they are mature and ready for harvest, marking the symbolic end of the fall potager. It is much more economical and fun to grow your pumpkin varieties by seed. Save seeds from your favorite pumpkins, dry them, and store away till next year.

Experiment and grow a variety of pumpkins next year in your potager. There are specialized pumpkins for eating, decorating, carving, and especially miniature, as well as massive pumpkins that children love.

For all of you pumpkin fanatics, in 2004 Amy Goldman, author, and Victor Schrager, photographer, wrote this comprehensive "must buy" book, The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower's Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes, and Gourds. In the back of her book, Amy shares with her readers an incredible selection of squash-based recipes. One of my all-time favorite soups, is her Southwestern Winter Squash Chowder.

Southwestern Winter Squash Chowder Serves 8. Amy writes, "You'll never miss having clams in this thick, hearty, and pungent chowder. To reduce the calorie count, use milk in place of half-and-half and eliminate the cheese." I say, if you're making this soup once or twice a fall season, "go for the works."

2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 cups coarsely chopped onions 1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped 1 large green bell pepper, finely chopped 2 tablespoons seeded and minced jalapeno pepper 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth 3 cups peeled, seeded, and diced squash, cut into medium dice 2 cups peeled and diced potatoes, cut into medium dice 3 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels 1 1/2 cups half-and-half 2 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese 1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander, for garnish Croutons

Heat the oil and butter in a large, heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium high heat. Add the onions and peppers and saute until the onions are transparent, about 5 minutes. Add the flour, salt, and red pepper flakes and stir until blended. Stir in the broth, squash, and potatoes. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the potatoes and squash are tender, about 20 minutes.

Add the corn, half-and-half, and cheddar cheese to the chowder and stir them in; cook for a few minutes until the cheese has melted. Adjust the seasonings to taste, garnish, and serve with croutons.

Enjoy!

Do you grow your own pumpkins? Please share your favorite type of pumpkin? Please comment on your favorite pumpkin/squash recipe.

There are many different sizes and styles for a potager, or year-round kitchen garden. In fact, it is important to create a potager in your own personal style. Generally, a potager is a small plot, large enough to feed a family with daily fresh vegetables, accented by fruit and flowers.

Choose your site wisely. A potager is a permanent year-round growing plot which is functional, as well as beautiful. As the months roll into years, you will spend a lot of rewarding time in your potager. Enhance your personal potager by where you locate it, what you grow, how you enclose it, how you adorn it, and how you manage it.

There are many wonderful elements which embody a potager such as enclosure, pathways, borders, structure, order, chaos, beauty, small trees, garden ornaments, the intertwining of function and beauty, and the romantic mixing of vegetables and flowers rotating through their seasons.

Elements That Define A Potager

1)A potager is usually defined by some type of enclosure. Enclosure can be defined as walls, fences, thick hedges. Some of these enclosures can be a working surface for your potager, for espaliered fruit trees, support for tall plantings, and heat retention. Enclosure protects from competing critters and forces such as wind.

2)Pathways are important to divide your plots, create travel pathways, and working space to care for your potager. Pathways may be made of materials such as coarse mulch, gravel, bricks, cement, or even bare soil.

3)Borders can be of a permanent design, for instance growing a low boxwood hedge, a "wood box" edge, or a stone border. Borders may also echo seasonal plantings such as a marigold border, or ornamental cabbage. Like borders will create a formal design in their repetition.

4)Structure is the bones of your potager. Structure can be vertical in the shape of an arbor, small trees, a garden ornament. Structure is also walls, gates, and even terraces. Structure adds interest, and further defines the personal style of your potager.

5)Order versus chaos. You might prefer a very formal potager, set out with boxwood borders, and neatly confined rows of planting. Your potager might start out with order, and as it grows becomes chaos, or a more romantic mixture of vegetables and flowers. Or your plantings from each seasonal beginning may by more informal, such as planting wildflower seeds.

6)Center a focal point in your potager such as a small tree, garden ornament, urn, statuary. In my potager I have planted a bay laurel tree trimmed into a two-ball topiary. A focal point might also be an impressive artichoke plant, which renews itself year and year. More examples of possible focal points are a sundial, bird bath, obelisk, or a planted arbor.

7)Place a convenient tool shed or small building where you can keep all your tools, seeds, perhaps a potting shed, and your other potager resources at hand.

Divide your potager into plots, or if you have raised beds, begin dedicating each plot or raised bed with specific seasonal vegetables you would like to grow. Remember to plant your tallest plants to the north of your potager or in the back plots of your potager.

You can start your potager with any season. Whatever season you start with plant about 2/3 of your potager, and leave 1/3 free to be planted later. For example, create a 9' x 12' plot. Divide your plots in to four rows of three plots each. Begin your potager by planting 9 of your plots, leave three of them empty. Another example, if you have 4 existing raised beds, plant 3 with seasonal vegetables, and leave 1 free to start planting when appropriate for the next season.

Eventually, your potager will slowly move into the next season, as your vegetables mature, are harvested, each plot is tilled, and replanted for the next season. Remember to keep a portion of your potager empty in anticipation of the next planting season. It will take a while to get the "ebb and flow" of it. Eventually, your potager will become fluid.

Everyone has their own timing with the four seasons and climate-specific vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs they can grow. Adapt your plantings to your own seasons, and your own preferences. Classic perennial favorite herbs for a potager include rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, and tarragon. Other classic plantings for a potager might include strawberries, melons, annual herbs, espaliered fruit trees, and then of course, the rainbow of seasonal vegetables.

Do you have a potager now? How do you plant and manage it? What is unique about your potager?

Do you wish you could extend the "fresh vegetable concept" of summer throughout the year by growing your vegetables year-round. Well, you can, and it is much easier than you think. It is an age-old concept borrowed from the French, called the "potager" or literally translated "soup garden".

In France, a potager may be very formal and considered a jewel on an estate or situated on the succinctly elaborate grounds of a chateau. A potager may also be very humble, next to a small farmhouse in the countryside, by railroad tacks in the suburbs, or in urban plots outside a nearby town. Wherever they are located or however they are designed, they have been a foundation for French food culture, and the French tradition of eating seasonal fresh foods.

A potager is a French-style kitchen garden composed mainly of seasonal vegetables and herbs. A potager may also include a few fruit trees, and even seasonal flowers. The sole purpose of a potager is to provide a year-round supply of fresh daily produce for a family or a small group of people. It is usually a small and manageable plot of 10' x 10', or 9' x 12' in size.

A potager is divided up into plots that are individually managed and rotated as the seasons unfold each year. It requires some planning, management, knowledge of your specific growing seasons, and knowledge of what you are growing, on your part to be successful with a potager.

In America, generally speaking, our traditional backyard vegetable garden consists of planting the garden in the spring, reaping fresh produce over the summer, and sometimes utilizing the abundance of the harvest by freezing or preserving for use over the winter, or for another time.

Americans, unlike the French and other Europeans, do not normally have a vegetable garden year-round. This might be changing now. One of the hottest food trends today is "growing your own vegetables". Gardeners such as yourself, want to keep the "fresh produce concept" alive after the summer has waned. We all know that fresh strawberries out of a morning garden for breakfast, or fresh green beans harvested still warm from the sun, are a delight to the senses and incomparable.

We are also being influenced by active local organic farms supplying restaurants and farmer's markets with new and exciting types of produce to explore and enjoy. Their underlying message is "eat locally".

This is an introduction to the concept of the "potager". Follow along as I discuss further the elements of the potager, how to implement a potager, how to manage, and what you might want to plant throughout the four seasons in your potager. For a related post on vegetable gardening basics at VintageGardenGal see, 7 Basic Steps of Successful Vegetable Gardening.

Do you have a potager now? Where did you first see a potager? What is your motivation for vegetable gardening year-round?

For me, the prize out of our kitchen garden each summer is always heirloom tomatoes. In the spring I plant as many different types as I can, and baby them along through August. I seek out tomato plants I have read about, tomato plants that have funny names, tomato plants that bear certain tomato colors, and even tomato plants with a story behind them.

Heirloom tomatoes have so much color and character. They have fun names like Mortgage Lifter, Green Zebra, Mr. Stripey, Purple Cherokee, Pineapple, and Abe Lincoln, to name a few. Heirloom tomato names rival in stature the gifted quirky race horses names we all love like Dolly Daggers, Platinum Stiletto, Wink and Nod, Bling Star Dream, and Six Pack Abs, (borrowing a few horse names running at the Del Mar Race Track this season).

Heirloom tomatoes have longevity, these seeds have been passed down from generation to another, and with their genetics intact. They come in a rainbow of colors, and at first glance, an heirloom tomato is usually never perfect, but characteristically funny with bumps, creases, and what some people might call blemishes. I call them perfect, and absolutely heaven to your taste buds.

Heirloom tomatoes are so perfect in taste, slicing and adding a pinch of sea salt is all you need. If you would like to go a step further, slice fresh heirloom tomatoes, place on top of sliced fresh mozzarella cheese, add a few leaves of your summer basil from your garden, and lightly drizzle fabulous fig vinegar on top. Delicious. Of course, heirloom tomatoes are a cook's bonus to summer pasta, pizza, salsas, sauces, as well

Some of my heirloom tomato plants do not always grow well for me. I am the first to admit, living close to the Pacific coast might make me tomato-challenged. But I have persevered, and now our heirloom tomato harvest is usually abundant.

The last two years I have tried growing the "Julia Child" heirloom tomato, and with no luck. The plant grows, but does not produce many tomatoes.  Yes, besides a rose, and probably many other unknown treasures to me, Julia Child has an heirloom tomato named after her. Wouldn't you know it, this tomato plant is unusually tall with potato-type leaves and with pink 4" fluted tomatoes at harvest. How appropriate for Julia. Guess I will try again next year, because I'm sure the tomatoes are "Bon Appetit" tasty.

I usually purchase my tomato seedlings locally, but I noticed on the web a nice heirloom tomato website, Tomato Fest, with a wonderful selection of heirloom tomato seeds, including "Julia Child".

What heirloom tomatoes do you grow and recommend? What do you think is the biggest difference between heirloom tomatoes and commercial hybrid tomatoes?

Imagine, it is August, and summer vegetables are at their peak. You are reaping all the benefits of your time invested, and steps taken to ensure a bountiful vegetable harvest. It gives me so much satisfaction to harvest these beautiful and flavorful vegetables.

If you have never had a vegetable garden before, or would like to review what it takes to have a successful vegetable garden, please follow these simple basic steps.

1) Make your plan first on paper, what you are going to plant, where your vegetables will be planted in your garden plot, and when to expect harvest for each. Read and follow seed packet directions or seedling instructions, for planting, spacing, and thinning.

2) Plant the vegetables that you and your loved ones like to eat the most. If you're not interested in a certain type of vegetable, than don't grow it. I always plant an assortment of heirloom tomatoes and squash each year. For fun, I always try and plant one or two new vegetables that I have never grown before. Don't be afraid to experiment with some of the exciting heirloom vegetable seeds available.

3) Pick a nice sunny, level, location away from trees and shrubs that might shade, and compete for water and nutrients. Make sure this location has a convenient water source. Starting out, don't make your garden too big. A 10' x 10" plot will feed a family easily, with lots of vegetables to share. Plant your tallest vegetables to the north, so they don't shade the shorter ones, and continue on down your plot with your shortest plants on your south side. Generally, it is wise to surround your vegetable plot with a fence to keep out critters like Peter Rabbit.

4) Work your soil first before planting. Ideally, you want loose, rich, well-drained soil for a vegetable garden. If you have finished compost, or the ability to add nutrient-rich amendments, add to your soil, turn over well, and mix in. Level your ready-soil before planting.

5) Mark off your vegetable plot in "one foot segments" using two stakes tied with string the width of your desired vegetable plot, to provide a straight line for planting. Some of your seeds might require rounded mounds, allow room for them. Adhere to the types of vegetables that are planted in the spring, summer, fall, and even winter.

6) Regular weeding and hoeing is a must. This keeps your soil loose for water penetration and air. Weeds if left unchecked, can rob nutrients from your growing vegetables. Water requirements vary according to your particular soil type and zone. Plants generally need 2" of water per week. Some plants have specific deep watering requirements, like tomatoes.  If possible, water your vegetable garden in the morning.

7) Know when and how to harvest your vegetables for optimum flavor and harvest. This will help your vegetables retain their maximum vitamin content and flavor. Mark it on your calendar beforehand, the approximate time frame your specific vegetables should be harvested, and observe your vegetables closely approaching this time.

Add your thoughts, do you have other tips you have used for successful vegetable gardening. Do you plan on continuing your vegetable gardening into the fall, and throughout the year. Do you have a favorite heirloom vegetable you planted this year to share.

It's a national phenomenon happening from the White House to local schools to your own backyard. It's one of the hottest food trends happening now in our country. I'm speaking of the "interest spike" in growing your own vegetables. There are several reasons for this mass appeal of vegetable gardening and growing your own food:

One, the current economic landscape has many people with extra time on their hands and looking for ways to save money.

Two, we are looking for green ways to improve our lives and environment.

Three, it is very rewarding to be outside, in touch with mother nature growing something great.

Four, you have control over how your food is grown, picked, and raised before you ever take a single bite.

Five, food from your backyard is simply as fresh as you can get it. You can pick it at its optimum ripeness, when you like. It doesn't have to travel by states and countries to reach you.

Six, home-grown food, cultivated and tended by you tastes like no other. Flavors are incredible, and scream "delicious".

Seven, chances are you will be eating and cooking healthier.

Eight, growing your own food sets you up for eating seasonally, which further creates many other wonderful ripple effects.

Nine, growing your own food will enhance your entertaining, cooking, baking, and dining experiences-- taking them all to another level.

Ten, did I forget to mention it is just "plain fun".

If you have children, gardening and vegetable gardening in particular, is an especially great way to teach them many of life's lessons. You must first "plant the seeds", be patient, and watch your dedicated efforts grow into fruition. Sometimes "less is more" when it comes to thinning your seedlings. Never be surprised if your best efforts far exceed your wildest imagination. Even your best efforts may be a failure sometimes, but look for the "something positive" that will come from it. Some of the best things in life are "free". Many hands lighten a load. Sharing with others is a beautiful thing. Mother Nature is awe-inspiring and incredibly unpredictable. Want to engage your children with enthusiasm. Instead of buying pumpkins this October, why not plant pumpkin seeds now of several different varieties and watch them evolve.

The rewards of growing your own food are many. It is certainly an important part of my life and lifestyle. Many of you are probably veteran vegetable gardeners, if so, what got you started? What was your motivation? If you have space constraints, don't let that stop you, think containers. This mass appeal of vegetable growing is fueling wonderful and very creative ways of vegetable gardening, like going vertical, hanging tomato containers, use of buildings and their accoutrements. The sky is the limit.