Of course, I didn't plan to buy a house (I wasn't going to start any new projects this year after all!) But since I did, I decided to go slow at first. My goal was to make one bed per month. I tried my best but didn't manage to keep to that rule! I had to take a little break before summer so that I still had some work left to document for the blog.

There's plenty of shrubs on the lot. We cut down an old mock-orange and made a nice wreathe. The wreathe is edging one of our new beds.

Our neighbors and friends enjoy passing by our little cottage garden. There's always something new and interesting to look at!

I emptied bag after bag of old plant parts from my neighbor over a layer of newspapers in this bed. Using old plant parts is a great way to optimize your garden in a cheap and simple way. So convenient!

The old lawn is transforming and the whole lot looks very different now! I have so many ideas and dreams for this space, but I need to have time and energy for my other projects too of course!

The woodchips I got in April cover most of the lawn around Oak Hill Cottage. The alliums and wild windflowers on the south side are covered. I actually found a little stone path buried underneath the top layer of soil, this is where I keep my pots.

I planted mulberries on the south side and I plan to train them.

I'm celebrating my beautiful little house with homemade cookies! My mother Ulla made these sweet nut cookies together with my kids. It's the same kind of cookies that she used to make for me and my siblings when we were young. I'm decorating them with violets in spring. There are plenty of violets around the house. We even named a section of the yard Violet Hill.

There are plenty of windflowers around my Oak Hill Cottage, especially in this corner. I haven't decided if I'm going to keep them or not. My Herrgård artichokes grow in the bed closest to them.

It's only been a month since I got the house and I have so much space that I can grow on. Fortunately, I live right next to the church where I can get plenty of grass clippings for mulch.

This bed is mainly for new sowings. I was able to harvest my early leafy greens already in May, just four weeks after getting the house.

The road is quite close to my lawn, but I don't mind that considering the location and how pretty the house is. The church and the oak trees add a lot of character to the place too!

Look at this huge pile of grass clippings! One of the gardeners at the church reads my blog and lets me take as much as I need. Thank you!

One of the things I love most about Oak Hill is that I can experiment a bit more than at home, where I don't have that much space left. And the rest of the family is not too thrilled about any new ventures that might include interesting new smells or insects. So, experimenting is definitely something very doable out here instead. Here is my new little soil factory filled with bokashi compost.