This beautiful organic garden is located 50 miles outside of New York City, in Garrison, New York, sitting on 4 rolling acres in the Hudson River Valley. The home owner and avid organic gardener, Katherine Whiteside, has a passion for decorating with nature, especially gourds and has a book out entitled, “The Way We Garden Now: 41 Pick-and-Choose Projects for Planting Your Paradise Large or Small.” Katherine has been an organic gardener for over 25 years and her love for nature has carried over into her home. She has painted her walls a soft, warm sunrise/sunset hue because she loves the color of the sky at those times. She is always bringing something in from the gardens to display inside her home as a reminder of how beautiful nature is during all seasons even in the winter.

Katherine’s favorite season is autumn, which is when she has her garden planned out to be an overabundance of flowers and vegetables. The Hudson River provides an incredible backdrop for her late-season perennials, second-flush roses, and unusual annuals that just keep springing up until Thanksgiving. Crazy about gourds, her favorite is the birdhouse gourd, which is resistant to mildew and has a beautiful mottled color. When the frost hits, the foliage dies, yet the gourds are still there and as they dry off they are ready for the spring season when she picks them to use as a decorative item around her exterior and interiors. Via

During walks in the forest surrounding her home, Katherine collects interesting nature finds, such as fungus, rocks, and bark.

Dried gourds become mini sculptures when coupled with old glassware and cloches.

Katherine likes to keep her tools at hand, leaving them out under the eaves of the garage all year.

To protect a patch of peonies from being backed over by cars, she surrounds them with skinny posts topped with gourds.

This is site of Katherine’s office, across the field from her house. In the winter she puts things in a backpack and will cross country ski over.

This old mailbox is used to store some of Katherine’s pertinent tools.

Every year Katherine designs a new scarecrow to stand watch over her vegetable garden. This particular one is called, “Sheryl Scare-Crow.”

The big apple tree has two picnic tables to sit and watch wildlife.

This beautiful handmade bench was crafted by two teenage brothers as a gift for Katherine. The wood used to make it was collected from a nearby forest.

An old metal table in the small kitchen with the turquoise floors, displays the days produce.

Fresh from the garden: yams, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes. Katherine lays out all the fresh vegetables from the day and plans the meal around them, using everything.