Flophouse Versailles Garden

Mid-July already and how is the garden growing?

Here are a few photos so you can see for yourself.  This is the potager (vegetable garden) and as you can see I'm attempting to cram as much stuff as possible into that very small space and still have it all grow properly and deliver the goods.

So far it's working out alright. We had cherries and lettuce earlier in the summer.  We now have fèves (broad beans), haricots verts (regular green beans), courgettes (zucchini), cornichons (pickles) and framboises (raspberries).   We also have coriandre (cilantro), romarin (rosemary), sauge (sage) and laurier (bay).  We will have tomatoes very soon and turnips.  We might (if they make it) have carrots, too.  All the fruit trees except two are bearing and soon we will have apples, pears, and exactly one peach (better luck next year, right?)  And, of course, pumpkins.  (Oh and I forgot the rhubarb, leeks and green onions.)

I wish I could say that this is the result of careful planning and astute gardening techniques but that gives me way too much credit.  The only area where I can claim to have made a big difference here is the soil.  I put a lot of work into making it better with lots of compost from my pile and many bags of manure.  What I planted in spring and early summer was a combination of what old seeds I already had and what struck my fancy at the garden store.

For another potager in a completely different region here in France, have a look at Kristin's garden. More sun where she is and looks like she has room for corn (I am so jealous).