My Favorite Fall Garden Fits in One Small Bed
One small bed can be enough for a pleasing fall routine. Ruth Bell gardens beside the kitchen path without promising a full pantry.
Author: Ruth Bell
A garden with room to linger
Ruth Bell’s idea of a good garden has always included somewhere to sit. Growing up near Fayetteville, North Carolina, she learned from her aunt Delia that flowers and vegetables could share space with a shaded chair and an unhurried conversation. That welcoming spirit still shapes the way she gardens.
Outside Durham, where she and her husband Calvin settled in 1989, Ruth works with clay soil, porch pots, a cutting garden, and a small vegetable bed. Running an upholstery workroom has made her attentive to how things are used: whether a path is comfortable, whether a pot can be reached with a watering can, and whether a beautiful plan still makes sense on a hot afternoon.
Her garden has changed with family life and the energy each season allows. She enjoys sharing flowers in ordinary jars, finding a useful patch of shade, and making room for the people who stop by. She is as interested in a manageable routine as an impressive border.
Join Ruth as she shares the pleasures, adjustments, and occasional stubborn lessons of gardening in the South. Her stories make room for practical decisions and the everyday life growing around them.
