Monday, August 03, 2009

potager garden-giveaway

pve design artwork-cottage with potager garden
A "potager garden" is one that is traditionally located outside the kitchen full of non-edible and edible flowers and herbs.  This lovely cottage has a small but plentiful garden, full of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Do you have an herb garden? What "herb" or "spice" do you find yourself using "thyme" and again?  (sorry, I could not resist the play on words)
Leave me a comment by mid-nite tonight and I shall randomly select a winner and send this little work of art, matted and framed to you.  Surely this will add a bit of spice to your wall!

53 comments:

Debra said...

I LOVE this. A sweet, aromatic little door-side garden. A cute, quaint, little abode- I see someone tossing together a salad of fresh herbs, tomatoes and fennel. Lunch is ready!

Kate Coveny Hood said...

I saw the picture before I saw the title and thought, "Oh, I SOOOOO want that one!" Keeping my fingers crossed...

Julie Caves said...

What a lovely little place you have created, a dream.
I would plant lots of basil because I use it so much in cooking. And in making tomato, Camembert, garlic and basil baguette sandwiches in the summertime. Yum!

pve design said...

Julie-
camembert, garlic and basil...sandwiches sound tasty.
hmmm.
pve

Purple Flowers said...

I love herbs. Their lemony, minty, woodsy scents waif into our front door. I strategically planted herbs by the front so the spillage of their scents, baked by the sun would find their way in our home.
Your illustration is so cozy and sweet. It pays homage to the herb life.

Pretty Neat Designs said...

Such a pretty image! I have a basil plant on my deck. I kept meaning to plant more herbs but my disaster with growing vegetables had me so frustrated I stopped with basil this year.

Kalee said...

Oh what a charming image! My mother has a potager garden and if I win, I am going to give it to her as a present. I know that she would truly cherish such a lovely image. Great giveaway and have a wonderful Monday!

The Blushing Hostess said...

Rosemary and basil. My two forever favorites, they have been planted in each of our yards as each move occurred.

Joan said...

Oh, I would love to have this! I love all of your work, but this just might inspire my own potager!

svelteSTUFF said...

DREAMY!! My herb garden is my favorite - full of dill that readily reseeds itself and makes a yummy boursin dip/spread and the ever hardy Mint - so tasty in brownies (used boiled mint 'tea' instead of water recipe calls for). PLEASE include me in your giveaway!!

Maurie--GraciousInteriors.blogspot said...

You had me at the cottage door...Cottages evoke mental images of a warm hearth, a happy mother and father, contended children, and a sleeping dog. Ah, that life were so perfect. Marcia

pavlova said...

Oh, what a beauty -- nothing better than summer herbs at your doorstep! I use LOTS of fresh basil in the summer ---- with heirloom tomatoes (almost ready here in NH), in pesto, on sandwiches,in vases around the kitchen....
xo Michelle

A Gift Wrapped Life said...

Such a welcoming illustration Patricia! I love mint (on my watermelon) and arugula (for my homemade b'que pizza. Hope to have a little garden again next year.

Mindy Lockard Etiquette said...

Oh how I would love a potager... We do have a small veggie/herb garden just down the path from our kitchen. My little girls love to be the ones to fetch an herb or two when I am cooking. Our family favorite is basil, it can be put in everything from pesto to lemonade. Happy Monday pve!

Jo said...

This is simply lovely! I have the perfect spot for this beauty in my home.

I love my herb garden and cook out of it almost daily. My favorite herbs are rosemary and basil ~ oh so delightful.

Jo

jae said...

i have a couple of galvanized buckets filled with herbs. love to add dill to my salads and thyme or rosemary to almost anything.

Kwana said...

How nice. Right now I only have basil out front and keep saying I'll add more. I must do that. What a sunny illustration. My fingers are crossed too!

jacqueline said...

Delightful! As always!

Dana said...

I have a little potage that is much neglected right now, but overflowing with herbs and nastrutium. Oh how I would love to win one of your paintings! I adore your work.
Fingers crossed... :)

Sarah said...

Adorable! I've never commented on your blog before but bookmarked you months ago on my google reader once I heard you were from Louisville, which is where I live. Someday, I would love to commission you to draw my home... someday when the economy allows me to do so!

Lori said...

I think I missed the deadline on the comments but wanted you to know this print is so great! It reminds me of Europe... makes me want to go back.

ArchitectDesign™ said...

Oh what a beautiful sketch! I personally LOVE lavender but it won't grow in pots in my apt unfortunately (not enough sun). So I make due with Mint which is great for drinks, making tea, cooking with fish and great in summer salads!

Living Life in the Lowcountry said...

When we lived in the country, I used to have a HUGE herb garden just off the back deck from my kitchen. Now that we are in town, I have a few herbs growing in pots on my deck. I absolutely have to have basil, mint, lemon thyme and parsley!

Jen | Our Life Accounts said...

Oh what a lovely picture! I would plant lots of basil, cilantro and mint. Basil for a tomato, basil cheddar panini, cilantro for some fresh bruschetta and mint for some fresh mint chocolate chip icecream!

Karena said...

Darling illustration Patricia! I use Italian Basil over and over again. At my parents for Sunday dinner we had Caprese salad with the lovely basil leaves atop the homegrown tomatoes and mozzarella slices.

Karena said...

Stephen, I forgot about another favorite you mentioned, mint, so refreshing in summer drinks.

yvonne said...

I would love a little herb garden like this. We have to keep our herbs growing in planters on our deck to keep the deer from eating them. I couldn't live without fresh basil to add to sauces, sandwiches and salads!

Starr said...

What a charming little cottage. It's beautiful.

Prairie Girl Studio said...

lovely lovely ~ little cottages like this simply make me smile ~ like a gentle hug!
i have herbs in ground and in pots between the house and studio ~ lavender isn't too keen with our winters, so i have a bit in a pot by the door just to touch and smell ...
basil is a must for tomato season ... fresh tomato, basil, ground pepper and havarti on pasta is heaven for me ~
thanks pve ~ fingers, toes and eyes crossed!
prairiegirl

Unknown said...

One of the classes I took for my interior design degree was landscape drafting and my assigned final was and English cottage garden. Doing the research was a thrill I loved it.

I would love this piece of artwork
I plan to add a kitchen garden soon.

Bette

Silver Spoon said...

I can not live without mint, possibly because it returns each year, forgiving me for often forgetting it during the long days of summer.

My kitchen door garden, albeit small, brings a smile to my face as I day dream about all the wonderful things it produces.

Emily said...

What a darling garden illustration. What a nice give-away. I have some family in Cardiff, Wales, and their garden is delightful. Thanks for the fun chance to win something you've made!

Swetha said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Swetha said...

wow!! i like this painting!!Your art reminds me of my Drawing Sir and his painting classes!! Its so sweet to think about that!!

Shani said...

What a lovely picture! We had a lovely little herb garden next to our home for 3 years. Then, the year I was pregnant with our son, our elderly neighbor was unable to keep up with her garden, resulting in weeds climbing the fence. I was to big, hot, and tired (and nauseous!) to deal with the invading weeds, and I haven't had an outdoor herb garden since! :(

tag said...

That picture is so beautiful! My "garden" is basil, mint, and rosemary. My favorite drink in the summer is frozen limeade blended with chopped mint- the perfect icy, refreshing drink!

home before dark said...

Love the line from the musical The Secret Garden, "a piece of earth." Food grown with love tastes better, don't you think?

Joyce said...

Stopping into say Hi. I have already been blessed with some of your beautiful pieces, so please don't add me to you generous drawing. Ohhh.... did I really say that?! Seriously- I know the lucky winner is going to be thrilled to own one of your beautiful art piece. Thanks Patricia for sharing your beauty! My fingers are cross for the lucky winner out there. xoxo

PS- I have pineapple sage, mint, lemon verbina, chive, parsley, mojito mint, lavender and calantro (both sad looking).

Joyce said...

oops, almost forgot- basil too!

Simply Mel {Reverie} said...

Oh to have a beautiful illustration by one of my favorites, PVE!

Just returned from "Green Jeans", my local organic nursery, with more herbs to add to my urban garden: thyme, cilantro, basil, and arugula. They join my parsley, rosemary, mint, and sage.

KricketM said...

Ahhhh, this time of year? MINT MINT MINT! it's a must for a tall glass of iced suntea!

gina said...

simply beautiful!!

Grenada Munro said...

This is a wonderful picture..reminds me of the dreams that dance in my head.

Chic Coles said...

Would love to hang this beautiful painting in my home! We have a large flower garden in our home in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and this cottage reminds me of ours! Thanks so much!

Jane said...

I have just planted out a real herb garden hopefully it will thrive. A lovely work of art, my daughter would love it. My favourite herbs are coriander, basil and parsley. Use them in cooking all the time.

M. Denise C. said...

How pretty! Rosemary grows well in my neck of the woods. Or plains . . .

Renae Moore said...

I love fresh herbs but only have basil and rosemary right now. Beautiful garden painting.

Debbie Harris said...

What a lovely piece of artwork, and what a generous thing to do. I long for the day that I could create something like this.

Debbie

Formerly known as Frau said...

I loved having fresh basil. But seems like it grew faster then I could eat.

Anonymous said...

Your painting is lovely, and by now I already know that "Gift Wrapped Life" has snagged it! I'm enchanted by herbs. In the early 90's we were cartakers for an 1898 historical house, and I was able to plant an herb garden there. It was a huge circle shaped garden and was fun to look at from our second story bedroom window. However, there were giant live oak trees (hundreds of years old and stunning) on the property that cast an excess of shade later in the day, so some of the herbs never took off as they should have in our Mediterranean climate. I had catnip there out of curiosity, but the neighbor's cat kept it "pruned" back and squashed! After that we lived in a 1947 cottage with lots of sun in the back yard, and I planted a smaller, spiral shaped herb garden that grew happily all the time we lived there. This time I put in catmint, thinking it would attract less attention than the nip, but once again neighbor cats were drawn over the fence and rolled luxuriously in the plants. I finally had to put wire baskets over them. I also had a checkerboard thyme garden with alternating squares of brick and thyme. Oh, I had so many different varieties of thyme, and once you start you can't pass one up! I also grew wormwood, again just out of curiosity, and the odd frangrance of it reminded me of a cross between Lysol and Coca-Cola. Since 2002 we've been busy trying to freshen up our 1977 house, so the outdoors hasn't much to offer at this time. However, I do have 5 very happy lavender plants growing around the front patio beside some olive trees. Until I can plant my next true herb garden, the lavenders are blooming, attracting bees, and calming my senses every time I see them.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah! There's another fun word: potager!

pve design said...

Thanks to each of you for your lovely comments and for reading my blog. Your comments are one part motivator and the other just pure ego! (at least that is what my husband tells me!) lol.
pve

Unknown said...

I just finished did a potager and featured pics on my blog. Take a look when you have a chance. It was a few weeks ago... BTW... I finally figured out how to post comments to your wonderful blog. I visit often.... adore your work!