Me & The Sanctuary
On a small patch of earth in 2012…
Growing began to feed many motivations from twisted flower stems to carcasses of abandoned seed heads. Mother Nature fuelled curiosities that would hand out successes and highs with as many lows and failures.
She continued to captivate the imagination by the coordinated colour washes of the landscape, switching from season to season and the diminishing light of a January day to that of an amber leached sunset in July.
These moments inspire my creativity.
Join the journey of mindful chronicles and carefully considered products for the mind, body and home.
It all began somewhere…
Between sowing & growing and the moment I held my first tomato. How sweet it tasted picked straight from the vine, knowing they were organically grown, from the very seed I pressed into the compost. Or possibly the moment I put my bare hands in the soil to pull out the potatoes I planted months earlier in the spring.
These were some of the moments that changed my direction of thought, to some they are simple however to a novice it opens a whole new world, a world of new and ever changing challenges. I quickly became obsessed with herbs for taste, scent and medicinal purposes. Curious of their benefits I planted the usual faces and then came the ‘out of fashion’ Victorian varieties where I began learning of their beneficial properties. Then came the flowers, ohhh the flowers, I immediately became hooked on growing many varieties from seed, tuber or corm. Conquering some, failing at others, adding more and leaving others behind.
All done in my spare time around daily working life, I then embarked on a personal mission of creating a little haven to immerse myself in. Indulging in picking home grown flowers to adorn the house and fill baskets full of vegetables, fruit and herbs.
Mission accomplished.
Creating moments…
The satisfying moment of picking my own grown flowers never becomes tiresome, knowing how they were grown and leaving no carbon footprint by flying half way across the world. Then comes the arranging and the artistry of drying and creating in the winter months. The years of faffing and plonking in a vase, creating bouquets, growing for florists has now created a small independent business, where you can enjoy and follow it’s ever evolving pilgrimage.
From the beginning my best friends have been alongside me on this journey, sadly Eddie is no longer here but the sleepy Mabel is still an outrageously rude shih tzu, an old lady now but very much part of it all. From making tea on the camp stove to picking snacks straight from the source. We both stay long into the day watching sleepy bees and sundowns over the plot.
Tomorrow and the next…is another day, planning and reinventing the working sanctuary. Creating and adding new surroundings with mud baked nails and soil-stained knees. With new plans on the horizon to grow more flowers to provide more joy to clients. More of this, less of that, stamping a history of plants into the landscape to be enjoyed for years to come.
Nowhere else I’d rather be….
Simple and Kind Gifts in the Potager Store
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Soap
A selection of soaps for gardeners that cleanse, soften and heal hands. Created from natural ingredients in blends of essential oils.
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Candles
A collection of soy wax candles with carefully selected blends of essential oils. Also in terracotta cups or in limited repurposed vessels.
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Grow
Seeds now available for those who love to grow their own. Presented in their own little boxes to nurture and arrange or cook and eat.
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