a sunday spent in the garden

Sunday’s the perfect day to take a little hunk of time and reserve it to spend in the garden. Whether it’s 20 minutes or all day, time spent outdoors enjoying a garden is beneficial to the mind and body.

Earlier this year, I discovered two Netflix shows that kind of changed my life. The first one is English gardening master "Monty Don’s Big Dreams, Small Spaces".

Believe it or not, watching folks in London or in smaller British towns transform their small gardens into fantastic spaces got me soooo motivated to dig and totally enhance my own backyard.

Now that summer’s here, I can actually go out to the garden and gather hydrangeas, old-fashioned roses, lavender, herbs and even some vegetables from my garden.

Just like everyone on Monty’s show, I had a “Big Dream” of what I wanted my garden to look like, and it’s literally come to fruition! My vision was to have a relaxed English cottage garden or French potager that incorporates pretty flowers intermixed with vegetables.

Now I’ve got my tomatoes and flowering sage growing under my apricot tree. I’ve got beautiful eggplant growing amongst the roses and hollyhock. My garden has truly been transformed and it’s so rewarding!  

So, in honor of “time spent in the garden”, I’ve gathered a few pretty garden snapshots from pinterest and combined them with some of my favorite inspirational garden quotes.  

“A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.” –Gertrude Jekyll

“There is no real need for decorations when throwing a barbecue party - let the summer garden, in all its vibrant and luscious splendour, speak for itself.” –Pippa Middleton

“I have an organic garden and love being able to say, 'I'm going to see what I can pick to throw in my salad.'” –Christie Brinkley

“It gives you a good feeling. Each year, you rediscover in a garden the magic of life. A flower arrives, and it is a miracle. The leaves fall in the autumn, and it looks fantastic. There is a tenderness about a garden, and you can't help but be sensitive to that.” –Hubert de Givenchy

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”― Audrey Hepburn

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”  ― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

“Gardening adds years to your life and life to your years.” – Unknown

“If you have a garden in your library, everything will be complete.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Life begins the day you start a garden.” – Chinese proverb

I have yet to photograph the favorite parts of my garden but I’d love to share them with you soon. You may have caught a little glimpse of it during my magazine photo shoot with Cottages and Bungalows. Check it out here.

And if you’re wondering what the second Netflix show that changed my life is, it’s “The Paleo Way” with Australian Pete Evans. The amazing recipes are what got me hooked, and yes, I’ve been eating Paleo since February 1. More on that later!

ciao! fabiana

photos:  pinterest

Here are some of my favorite new garden books...

      

5 favorite new garden books

With the addition of my new potager garden that I designed and installed in January, I have a lovely variety of garden books to share with you. 

These are brand-new books that have proved to be great sources of information and inspiration for me in my own garden.

 

There are six new raised beds surrounded by gravel and filled with edible delights! I did reserve one of those beds for cut flowers, some of which, like Calendula and Pansies, are also perfect for decorating a salad with their pretty blooms.

 

Check out my video of the potager garden from last month:

And this NEW VIDEO.

Now here are the books that helped me in a big way while planning and planting my new veg garden…

 

1. The First-Time Gardener: Raised Bed Gardening

Raised bed gardening has never been more popular, but it can also be intimidating, especially for beginner gardeners. 

The First-Time Gardener: Raised Bed Gardening by CaliKim is the perfect guide for newbie growers, offering advice on everything from selecting the best raised bed for the available space and filling it with healthy soil, to planting plans and plant-care tips.

Why is raised bed gardening booming in popularity? 

The benefits are numerous. No matter your yard size, raised beds are the perfect fit. They allow for a controlled growing environment, filled with fertile soil. 

Raised beds help gardeners with less-than-ideal soils, there’s little to no weeding involved, they’re accessible, and they can be as large or as petite as you’d like. 

This book helps with learning how to select the best raised bed for your space, what to fill it with, and tips for staking and trellising plants to save space and improve yields. 

Also included are  DIY plans for building quick and simple beds, info on soil, mulch, watering and fertilizing, tips to maximize production, and much more.

 

 

2. The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening

Container gardens can take up as much or as little room as you’d like. They’re portable, so you can locate them wherever conditions are optimal for plant growth.

 

And you can grow just about any veggie in pots, as long as you have the right container, the right soil blend, and the right care tips.

 

In this book, author Pam Farley of BrownThumbMama.com lines the path to container food gardening success in clear, simple steps.

 

Find a dozen fully illustrated planting plans for themed container food gardens, including a Smoothie Greens Garden, a Spring Stir-Fry Garden, a Spaghetti Sauce Garden, a Salad Greens Garden, and many others in this fun book.

No room? No problem. Lousy soil? Nothing to worry about. Not enough time? Think again. Growing food in containers is fun, easy, and perfect for beginners.

 

3. Sustainable Homestead

If you’re like most homesteaders, the dream is to make the most of your land by working with it, not against it. 

From capturing water and building strong soil to helping your animals live their best lives, The Sustainable Homestead is about making your homestead stronger by achieving synergy between what can seem like different parts.

In this book, new and veteran homesteaders alike can find detailed information to use this year, this month, even this week! 

Angela has spent more than a decade building and strengthening her small acreage homestead and shares the lessons through chapters covering site selection, soil, growing, animals, the role of the homesteader, and much more.

 

4. The Elegant and Edible Garden

Stylish and celebratory, The Elegant and Edible Garden takes food growing to a higher plane, presenting a vision for creating a garden space where food and flowers grow side by side. 

You’ll flatten the learning curve for designing a beautiful, edible garden by sharing common-sense tips and inspiration and ideas from Linda’s own personal experience of starting a garden from scratch, while still allowing your style and personality to shine. 

“This is a book about capturing the romance, the artistry, and the experiential nature of a garden and garden living." 

 

5. Tiny +Wild

Meadows don’t have to be big to make a difference and the perks of creating one, even on a small scale, are many. Tiny but mighty meadows help mitigate climate change, foster biodiversity, sequester carbon, and calm the senses. 

With as little as a few square feet of space, you can create a beautiful, naturalistic planting that supports a diversity of plants, pollinators, and a plethora of other living things, not to mention its visual appeal to human eyes. 

Author and landscape designer Graham Laird Gardner helps you find inspiration in natural spaces so you can successfully site, design, plant, and care for your own small-scale meadow.

Whether you live in the city or in suburbia, perfect places for mini-meadows are everywhere: a small corner of the yard, flanking the front walk, around your mailbox, that little area between the house and driveway, tucked next to the front stoop, in the center of your vegetable garden and so many other places.

The plant lists and charts in Tiny + Wild share the best plants to include in your micro prairie, and Graham offers plenty of practical advice on planting your meadow from seed, transplants, or mature plants, depending on your budget, the site, and your timeline. 

Plus, learn how to care for your wildflower planting, including tips for watering, plant care, and weed management. Discover how small spaces can make a big difference in Tiny & Wild.

 

"The Elegant and Edible Garden" is a vision of the very best things a garden can offer: food, beauty, connection, and a place to breathe.

 

It's a book about designing a garden that is distinctly yours, using edibles as ornamentals, with lots of pictures for inspiration and emulation. If I did it, so can you.

 

Shopping Links:

 

1. The First-Time Gardener: Raised Bed Gardening

2. The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening

3. Sustainable Homestead

4. The Elegant and Edible Garden

5. Tiny +Wild

ciao! fabiana

 

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a spring garden table with Claudia

reposted from the August Table blog 

There are tablescapes that stop you mid-scroll. This is one of them.

When Claudia Fabiana set her outdoor table using August Table’s Garden napkins and tablecloth in yellow and gray, she created something that feels less like a styled moment and more like a memory waiting to happen. Sunlight pooling on white linens. Amber glasses catching the afternoon light. Daisies spilling from a white ceramic pitcher. Artichokes and lemons tumbling across the center of the table like a still life that wandered in from the garden.

It is, simply put, everything we believe a table can be.

Letting the Garden Come to the Table

What makes this setting so special is how effortlessly it blurs the line between the table and the world just beyond it. Claudia used what was growing and blooming around her — nasturtiums tucked onto each plate, trailing yellow blooms woven into the centerpiece, a generous bunch of daisies that feel gathered rather than arranged. Nothing here looks purchased for the occasion. It looks lived.

This is one of the most beautiful principles of a well-set table: nature is always your best stylist. A few lemons halved and placed casually alongside artichokes creates a centerpiece that is as fragrant as it is visual. A single bright nasturtium on a white plate is more arresting than any formal garnish could be.

The Details That Make It Sing

The layering in this table is masterful in its simplicity. The August Table Garden tablecloth and napkins anchor everything with their yellow and gray botanical print — the palette is the palette of the season itself. Against that, Claudia chose:

Ruffle-edged burlap chargers that add warmth and texture without competing with the print. White beaded charger plates that feel fresh and airy. Amber glassware that echoes the yellow in the napkins and flowers, bringing the whole color story together. Bamboo-handled flatware that lends a natural, organic quality to the table. A white ceramic pitcher serving double duty as a vase — one of the most charming and practical styling tricks there is.

Each choice is considered, yet nothing feels fussy. That balance is the hallmark of truly beautiful tablescaping.

A Table Made for Lingering

This is an outdoor table, set on a brick patio, with the kind of casual ease that invites people to pull up a chair and stay a while. It is the table you set for a long Sunday lunch, for lemonade in the afternoon, for dinner that stretches past golden hour into the soft evening light. It is generous and warm and entirely without pretension.

That is what we are always chasing at August Table. Not perfection, but presence. Not a table that impresses, but a table that welcomes.

How to Recreate This Look

If this table is calling to you, here is how to bring it to life:

Start with the August Table Garden tablecloth and napkins in yellow and gray. They do a great deal of the work for you — the print is layered and botanical, which means you can keep everything else quite simple.

Add texture through your chargers and flatware. Burlap, rattan, bamboo, and woven materials all complement a garden-inspired print beautifully.

Build your centerpiece from whatever is growing. Artichokes make extraordinary table decor. So do lemons, branches, herbs, and garden flowers. Use a pitcher, a crock, or a simple jar rather than a formal vase.

Let a single bloom do the work on each plate. One nasturtium, one sprig of something fragrant, one small flower from the yard. It takes thirty seconds and transforms the entire setting.

Finally, choose glassware that echoes your color story. Amber, green, or yellow glass will warm up a yellow-toned table beautifully.

Thank You, Claudia

We are so grateful to Claudia Fabiana for sharing this beautiful table with us. She has created something that perfectly captures the spirit of the season — and the spirit of what August Table is always trying to inspire. A slower pace. A more beautiful table. A gathering worth savoring.

We hope it inspires you to pull out your linens, step into the garden, and set a table this spring.

ciao fabiana

 

 

For lots of fun extras, follow me on Instagram!

 

 

 

You can check out some of my favorites here at “Tablescaping Essentials”