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https://francoamericanflophouse.wordpress.com/

Thursday, July 17, 2014

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).





8 comments:

Ellen Lebelle said...

And another garden, out in the country: http://ckenb.blogspot.fr/2014/07/le-jardin-potager-en-juillet-2014.html
Ken often writes about what he made for lunch, how he freezes or puts up his vegetables, and more. A great resource when you don't know what to do for the next meal...and more.

Anonymous said...


Hey, thin those apples, your mother speaking.

Other than that, lovely.

Catherine said...

The seasons of new fruits and vegetables are the best way to tell time during the summer. :) Looks lovely.

Anonymous said...

Hi Victoria

Am eating one of your apple scones! They are wonderful and have made my day :-)

Thank you!

Annemette (one of JMs colleagues)

tccomments2013 said...

dear Victoria,

just reading the list of all the delicious goodies your beautiful garden is producing made my mouth water. and the photos are lovely. it must be such a joy to tour each day and see what is ready for your table!

much love,

Karen

Victoria FERAUGE said...

Ellen, Well, nuts I tried to leave a comment but he isn't taking them any more. Nice garden though...

@Mom, Thin the apples? OK. (How do I do that exactly?)

@Catherine, Thank you. Don't suppose you'd like to stop by and take some of the zucchini off my hands. :-)

@Annemette, Oh good! That was a new recipe I tried after I went looking for more things to do with apples. Here's the Apple Scone recipe I used (and will use again because they were a hit). In the place of the half and half and French Vanilla creamer it calls for just use regular liquid cream.

http://domesticallyblissful.com/fresh-apple-cinnamon-scones/

Victoria FERAUGE said...

@Karen, After all those years of apartment living, what a joy it is to have a garden. I did a lot of healing in this one. No matter how wretched I was feeling after the chemo and now because of the meds, I can always do something in the garden even if it's just light pruning. The vegies help too. They make me feel productive. I manage to include at least one thing from the garden in just about every meal. And I can share stuff with the neighbors.

AtticusinCanada said...

You've inspired me! I used to have an acre garden and I haven't done so for a long while. I've got to get back to it. So healthy, so spiritually calming to garden. Yours is lovely!