The very first cottage gardens were all veggies and fruit, maybe a few flowers but these were strewn around to sweeten things up a bit, they didn't have air fresheners back then.

When all our family was at home I had a rather large veggie bed, well large for me. Now that most of my garden has gone over to the other side :o) I just plant my veggies where I find space for them. I've just done a couple of interesting pole bean trades so will be looking for spots to fit more poles in, next year they will be in the oddest places LOL.
Have you thought of putting in a few raised beds, we have limited space so this is what we have done, it's amazing what you can grow in them. We put a new one in this spring, this one is about waist high, maybe 4X5' we filled it with garden cleanup then shavings from my DH's woodturning, mixed that, a layer of compost and then topped it with about a foot of Sunshine Mix No.4. We had the BEST tomatoes. It has sunk somewhat as the material at the bottom is breaking down so this winter all my kitchen scrapes will be thrown on top and then next spring I'll top it up with more No.4. Several here have very nice potagers hope they show pics.

Annette

Hi Lavender. I have, or am developing, what I think you're describing. My cottage garden is in its first year so there's not a lot yet. I only had tomatoes, herbs and turnips. The toms I placed here and there among the flowers, the herbs and turnips in two drifts. Since the veggies aren't in rows or even all in the same place, it just looks like a flower garden. For perenniels in that garden I have monarda, butterfly bush,three different varieties of roses, echinops, iris, shastas, astillbe, loosestrife. For annuals: morning glories, cosmos. The herbs are mostly together in one spot closest to the house for convenience. The beauty of not having your veggies in rows is that even if its not weedfree, it still looks good. I hope this helps. Skibby

I tried it this year. I found it turned into a jumbled mess and I couldn't walk between my beds. So this very morning, I built my first of possibly three raised beds for next year's veggie garden.

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In front of that bed, I have blueberries and pollinator attracting plants. I'll direct sow cosmos and other easy to grow annuals again next year.

This year's garden when it was in it's prime.

seventh street cottage - pottager

I've just planted over 100 garlic cloves as a double row border in a perennial garden bed. Since we are enlarging our garden it's a new bed that gets lots of sun, has had the soil amended, and isn't full of perennials. Really the only place I could plant the garlic this fall. Also it should help make that bed less attractive to deer. I may turn the bed into a herb garden altho will likely also have some perennials there. This bed has an irregular shape and is about 40' long and 10' wide at the widest. It will be enlarged next year. Up til now I've planted herbs right off the large patio near the house for convenience but couldn't possibly put that many garlic there.

The nature of a cottage style garden is that it is adaptable and informal so I see no reason tomato and salad plants could not be in a perennial/annual border near the house.

Here's a link to an old thread which may help: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/potager/msg0313333410429.html

Have a look at sweetannie4u's photo album as well for really wonderful inspiration.

Here is a link that might be useful: wonderful potager garden inspiration

My new garden is all veggie cottage garden. Well, it will be :)
I've got the raised beds in, just layed out in a grid. Surrounded by some shrubs (currently undergoing more renovation to make it even more enclosed - now it is surrounded in roses which is lovely but does not provide enough screening (in my neighborhood, screening from food is a good thing...)
On the other, wider side of the yard I'm working on a circular pathway surrounded by raised beds. Along the more organic oriented sides there will be fruit hedging. Along the sides where the neighbors use chemicals on their grass I have a red camellia hedge to go in, and a berm to absorb their nasties. All around this circular walkway will be climbing roses intermingled with climbing melons and beans. In the very center will be a cascading strawberry "fountain"
I also have a fig tree planned for the area to provide a bit of shade in the hottest months for the strawberries.

Against the other fence that will enclose the area will be the brambles. The brambles will slightly shade two beds in the summer - filled with perennial alliums which like a bit of shade in hot summer here. There will also be the first apple tree...then more beds full of perennial vegetables. In shadier areas things like rhubarb, and some oldworld perennial root vegetables, then some beds of asparagus that will go down the hill, boxes for potatoes...artichokes on the slopes (for good drainage) - on the slope will go lots of fruit trees - apples, pears....there's a medicinal herb rain garden going in, and another slope perfect for growing fruit and nuts here with underplantings of peanuts, sweet potato and other low growing vining veggies (winter squashes, etc).

I now get far more compliments on my cottage style veggie garden than I do on anything else. The arbors are filled with lovely beans in yellow, purple, red, snake gourds, vining spinaches... it's lovely in the mid summer.

Wow! I'd love to see pictures of you garden girlgroupgirl. It sounds beautiful. What an inspiration :)

My almost potager is 5 rectangular raised beds in a grid with the main axis on a trellis leading to my garden room. I'd have 6, but a tree grew big in the few years since we bought the house. It is more gridded and formal than your typical cottage garden, but I like it.

I also found rows of veggie seeds made it easier for me to identify veggie vs weed, fwiw.

You don't need rectangular spaces to grow veggies! I start out by planting swiss chard, eggplants, peppers, and chives as border plants. They are all so pretty, and visitors are amazed that they are vegetables!

Any fence or wall can become a trellis for growing vining crops. With lower vegetables or flowers in front.

I like to sprinkle calendula, coriander, feathery dill (not the kind of pickling), johnny-jump-ups, marigolds, and even a few cosmos here and there. Garlic and onions add interest in borders.

A friend made scattered plantings in her flower border of triangular sections with corn, squash and beans.

Rain2Fall

Irene- You make a good point. I'm fairly new to gardening and identifying what I plan to eat sounds like a good idea! Lettuce, spinach, weed, oops ;)

Rain2Fall- Do you have any pics? I'd love to see the eggplants mixed in with the peppers and swiss chard. Corn, squash and beans scattered in the garden? Probably a good way to hide the corn from the deer. I don't suppose your friend has any pictures? That could come in handy in my area :)