Not yet. And I'm not putting in a table and chairs either, since mine is in the front yard and is paraded daily by the customers of the crack dealer two doors down. It makes for less than appetizing company! I will however have seating in other areas. The men who did some work in my garden brought me two slate covered pillars. Plain, but slate. They turned them on their sides as "L" shaped benches, and I will eventually put a table under them. The idea is that this will sit under an apple tree, making it ladder free picking!!!

That sounds like a great idea...much easier to pick apples without the ladder :)

I know you've said on the cottage forum you have some undesirable neighbors. Do you have a fence around the front yard? Some raspberries or really thorny roses might be a nice addition to the potager garden. Maybe an arbor over a bench with climbing roses and clematis? It seems unfair that you can't enjoy your yard because of the neighbors.

My neighbors are a few deer, racoons and the occasional porcupine or coyote, but they usually don't come down to the house :)

I'm back to asking this question again, since I saw some very expensive potagers over the weekend (internet articles) and very few had seating. When they did, it was usually a bench with no cushion.

I think of a potager or kitchen garden as being like the outdoor kitchen. I want comfortable places to sit and visit or take a break from the work of weeding, watering, etc. I do have a bench planned for one area, but in the middle, I'm going to put a table and chairs. Eventually there will be a grape arbor over them, so I can take a break in the shade and also have grapes :)

Maybe it's just me, but if I ever get a chance to remodel the old farmhouse on the property, I'm going to have a big country kitchen with a table and chairs, an island work table with a stool or two, and a woodstove with a settee and another chair. I guess I'm designing the garden to be my "outdoor country kitchen" LOL.

I don't have pictures to show, because as you may remember my potager is currently in a very unfinished state! But like you, I love the idea of being able to sit in the middle and take a rest, or even eat dinner there. At the moment my seating plans only include a small bench off to one side, but I am leaving an open space in the middle for an armillary on a stand. That would be easy to move out of the way if we wanted to put our small outdoor dining table and 4 chairs there.
What's your real question here, are you just asking for photos to get more inspiration? If you are sort of just asking if your idea is off the wall, my answer is two-part: 1) no! sounds lovely! and 2) who cares if it IS off the wall? LOL! If it's what you want to do I say go for it :)

My potager has a bench at the moment which I love to sit at and take breaks on. I will watch all the bird activity from there as I have a purple martin birdhouse that stands in the middle of my potager. This year I will add a little bistro table(adorned with a pretty floral table cloth) with 2 chairs in front of my bench for my 2 best friends and I so that we can share a glass of wine together in the garden. Pictures to come...................

I have an simple arbor bench that I made from directions in a book at the center back. Outside the potager in front, there was a little sloping area that flattened out. I put some iron furniture with cushions I bought off of Craigslist for cheap and then repainted. Currently, I only have cardboard with a straw covering as my flooring. My son likes to sit on the loveseat and talk to me while I work.

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No room in mine, but the shed porch rockers are only a few steps away.

3.12.10

Natal
I love your fence and arbor! What a nice view from your porch!

I've been reviving my potager of two years ago this month, and I found two metal lawn chairs that are old, sort of bouncy chairs - the kind everbody's grandparents had.

I found them on Craigslist here, they belonged to an artist and his wife, they had painted them a pretty brilliant blue. The old fashioned style fits in so well in the garden, and they are so comfortable! And only $10 each!

Now they are in the potager in the very middle, where the path is at a crossroads and there's room. I have used a chair every day I've been there. So glad I found them!

Seating is a problem I have yet to address. I found an old dingy cast-plastic chair and it is offside (rear path) in the potager. But I now realize I need space for 2 people to sit and enjoy the close-up view of what will be for dinner. I'm already thinking of removing 4 posts on the south face (lawn beyond) and enlarging the fenced area so that there can be 2 chairs and a table. Waaah! I just built my potager! And it's not big enough!

Carol

Carol- Two chairs and a table sound great! It's important to sit and enjoy your garden...and show it off a little, at the same time :)

Jennifer Bartley (author or American Potager) has a dining table and chairs she puts in the middle of her potager, when she entertains. It sounds like fun to be able to eat, where you can see all your veggies, herbs, flowers and maybe fruit. I'm putting in an arbor with two benches (black metal) that I found on sale at a nursery. I wanted someplace to sit and enjoy the garden...and hopefully have a little shade, too.

Has anyone noticed that Grandin Road has some really nice garden benches in its catalog? If I hadn't already overspent for this year, I'd get one. It will have to wait for next year. I'm particularly fond of this one. Love the color. But they have lots of options.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bench

Plow & Hearth has the same Lutyens bench, unpainted. It is only $199 and there is a 30% off coupon. The only reason I didn't jump on it (besides my already overloaded shopping cart with 6 obelisks!) is that it looks uncomfortable--too upright? Am I wrong?

Lisa

Well, as a person who has sat on tree stumps, rocks,and overturned buckets, it looked comfortable enough to me. And you could always get a cushion. I love weathered blue in the yard.

Susan- That's a beautiful bench! My mom would love that for her shade garden :)

I put in a small patio late last fall & I'm now itching for the weather to warm up so that i can enjoy meals al fresco :)
This spring (7 weeks) I think I will plant a cat mint border.

A favorite reading spot opposite the bistro set.

I'm very lucky that DH is a wood carver and makes outdoor furniture! I usually put 2 chairs and a small table out under the naked umbrella that has morning glories twining up it (They haven't yet made it far enough to actually make shade)Usually the MG twine around the chairs a bit, very pretty! Those face the fountain and then the vege beds. I don't know how to post pics, but you can google reedbros if you want to see the furniture. Nancy