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Winter at Dandelion Cottage, located in the "Icebox of Connecticut" — Winter at Dandelion Cottage, in the “Icebox of Connecticut”, photograph ©Leslie Watkins

Dandelion Cottage is a tiny homestead in Norfolk, a charming village in the northwest corner of Connecticut. It’s owned and cared for by artist Leslie Watkins, as an experience in “living off the land” on just one acre. Small as it is, with the help of a cheerful and hard working flock of Bantam chickens, the “Garden of Eatin’” produces a lot of Leslie’s own food supply in season.

Dandelion Cottage 1 — Some of the chickens working really hard at sunbathing, photograph ©Leslie Watkins

On occasion at the Norfolk Farmers Market, you will find the surplus: bouquets of fresh cut flowers, herbs, vegetables and “Dandy’s Dainty Eggs”. Also on the market table are handmade journals and note cards. The artwork is inspired by the scenery and gardens around Dandelion Cottage. Leslie and her students paint botanical watercolors of the flowers collected from the gardens.

Dandelion Cottage 2 — Freshly cut bouquets at the Norfolk Farmer’s Market, photograph ©Leslie Watkins

The cottage gardens are filled with flowers blooming in mass succession. There’s a fragrant white garden with cimicifuga, hydrangeas, phlox, a fringe tree and punctuated in autumn with blue asters. The central peony bed is awash with lush blooms in June. Old fashioned roses are sprinkled throughout providing subject matter for floral still life paintings and butterflies are everywhere.

Dandelion Cottage 3 — Peonies and Ninebark, photograph ©Leslie Watkins

The woods are filled with hellebores, epimediums, hostas and natives such as bloodroot, ginger and mayapple. Dogtooth violets grace the little woodland in the spring along side Christmas ferns and native asters in summer. Native shrubs include spicebush, winterberry, sweet pepperbush and swamp azaleas. Frogs, dragonflies and cattails fill a small wetland “puddle” and provide good company on summer evenings.

Dandelion Cottage 4 — One of the many residents at Dandelion Cottage, photograph ©Leslie Watkins

All the elements work together in harmony to create a healthy, organic, natural cycle. Honey bees help to pollinate the fruits and flowers. The chickens free range and eat bugs, scraps, seeds, fallen apples, small fruits and greens. They provide eggs, manure, and loads of entertainment. The manure is carefully composted and mixed into the garden soil to produce gorgeous veggies, herbs and flowers. It is hoped that Dandelion Cottage will be an inspiration to others to do the same in their own backyards.