Brewster's Garden Tales - Introduction

Greetings Cottage Friends! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Brewster Cogburn Rabbit, G.B.I.T. (Garden Bunny In Training), but  you can call me Brewster. I'm the Cottage Lover's new garden assistant.

That woman has been crazy busy of late, so she's given me the task of journaling all the garden happenings at A Joyful Cottage. Which is fine with me, because writing is part of my DNA. My great grandfather Peter learned a lot about writing by observing Beatrix Potter at work, and everything he gleaned he passed on to my grandfather, who passed it on to my father, who passed it on to me.

Anyhoo, CL (short for Cottage Lover) found me hiding in a box The Artist (that's her husband, you know) had  packed for the community thrift store. She rescued me, and now I reside in the potting shed. Kind of a mascot, if you please.  

Sometimes I like to hide behind the pots and containers on the shelf,
hoping she won't see me. I mean, come on, a guy needs his rest.

Before I take you on a tour of the garden, I need to file a complaint about my lodging conditions. The potting shed has been pretty cramped lately thanks to all of CL's projects. Holy carrots that woman has a lot of those! Projects I mean. Do you remember this old dresser she showed you a couple of weeks ago?

That thing was a mess. She sanded down the top and stained it dark walnut, mixed up some chalk paint using leftover paint in a color called Natural Canvas and gave the base three coats. Distressed it a bit and rubbed on a clear wax over the whole dresser (two coats on the top).

CL's been smiling a lot since she finished it, so I guess she's pretty happy with the outcome. I'm just happy that she got it out of the shed!

But then (sigh), as soon as she finished the dresser, she started on this second hand white bathroom wall cabinet that she picked up in Pendleton, Oregon for $35. It came with pretty glass knobs that she had already removed when this photo was taken -- just before she started painting. I pinky promised not to tell what color she's painting it.

Painting Schmainting, let's move on to my favorite subject. . .the garden. After all, I am a G.B.I.T. Besides, I'm afraid if I hang around in the shed too long I may end up staring into the bristles of a paint brush. One never knows what CL's going to paint next!

The perennial beds survived the winter and the early bloomers are strutting their stuff. 

The Artist has made progress on the berm, reusing the rocks he digs up to create little walls and add to the dry creek bed. And he's digging holes for planting trees. Eventually all that black plastic will be covered up.

CL loves this stone path and wants to plant a low growing creeping perennial in the gaps. Anyone have a suggestion?

Back in the potting shed CL has some Vinca ready to plant for ground cover.

Thanks to the big windows The Artist installed in the potting shed, CL can get a head start on the growing  season. 

She had pretty good luck with growing tomatoes in 5-gal buckets last year, so she's trying that again.

Speaking of growing things in a container, CL wrote an article on container gardening for Yes! Communities' newsletter. She's partnering with them as a guest writer sharing tips and ideas for beautiful small home living on a budget. If you're interested, you can read Container Gardening 101 here.

Thanks for hopping along with me today. And remember, hare today, gone tomorrow (sorry, I couldn't resist).

The opinions expressed in this article are the bunny's own and may not necessarily reflect the views of A Joyful Cottage management.