Kali

I’m Kali. Oregon mama, farmer’s wife and creator of the Potager book and blog. Join me and as we cook and garden through the seasons!

Home

Remodel
How do you deal with attic bedrooms?
The 1928 cottage that sits on our property- lovingly called Bramblewood- was originally about 800 square feet. In the 90’s there was an addition put on the front of the house (dining room, entry and current playroom) and the back of the house (mudroom, bathroom and current primary bedroom). There was also an addition to…

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Home

Remodel
The perfect Swedish Cottage Bathroom
Since we moved in 4 years ago, redoing the bathroom on the main level has been one of our priorities. Since we moved in 4 years ago, it’s actually been our only bathroom, as the upstairs one had so many issues, we simply bolted the…

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Home
Swedish Cottage: Dreams to reality
Four years ago, when we purchased this small, 1928 cottage on the side of seasonal lake, we decided it had a very Swedish Cottage sort of vibe. Within the first year, we painted it our version of the trademark “Falu red” color (Benjamin Moore Cottage…

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Flowers

Gardening

Perennials
The best plants for a Cottage Garden
Last Spring we finally finished what we call the “Cottage Garden” here at Bramblewood. What that means is we transformed the section of lawn in front of our house into a winding gravel path lined with stones, surrounded by large garden beds. Eventually, I hope…

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Flowers

Gardening
Roses: How to plant spectacular bare root blooms
If the streets of heaven aren’t lined with English roses, I’ll be genuinely shocked. Old-fashioned, cottage-style, English roses are just otherworldly. This explains why I fell head over heels for David Austin roses a while back when they were introduced to me. This post is…

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Home

Homestead

Kitchen
What we’ve accomplished in 4 years on our property
Every Winter, as we sit in our cottage with rain running down the front windows and wind whistling under the front door, I tend to struggle with seasonal depression and discontent. I mean, the reason we purchased this home was…not exactly the house itself. I…

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Gardening

Potager Garden
How do you beat garden burnout?
Hi everyone! It’s been a minute. This winter was…not kind to me. Or should I say I was not kind to me this winter. I let myself sink deep into some combination of an existential crisis and discouragement. With a sprinkling of frustration and a…

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Books

Home

Winter
Books I read to survive the dregs of Winter
Well, the holidays are over and we are officially entering into that time of year when keeping a positive outlook can be…challenging at best. Here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, we have a tendency to do the whole pea soup fog thing from November til March.…

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Autumn

Kitchen

Potager Garden

Preserving

Summer
Preserves from the garden you’ll actually eat
Have you ever spent hours peeling, blanching, pitting, saucing, cooking and canning something from your garden, only to watch it collect dust on your shelves all year long? I sure have. Many, many times in fact. It’s so easy to be tempted by pretty recipes…

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