Potager, a kitchen garden that produces what goes into the pot. The French, who take their food very seriously, (I’m totally on board) plant a potager if they have even the smallest bit of ground. None of this useless grass nonsense. Soil, whether front or back of the abode, is for growing things. Food and flowers is what life is about. I once watched a woman hang her laundry in her Chinon front yard while carefully stepping between the rows of cabbages and leeks. It was beautiful. Yes, it requires maintenance (what worthwhile thing doesn’t?), but it gives back in a host of ways.
Having just eaten my own fresh peas stir-fried in olive oil with a scallion, a little salt, pepper and prosciutto, I can attest to the glories of the potager. Well, bully for you, did you say? Thanks. Yes, lucky, smug me. But, the point is, it’s truly worthwhile to plant even a few things—a few herbs even. It’s really not too late, and it’s very satisfying. I ran into a friend yesterday who for the first time cut up some of the potatoes that had sprouted in her crisper (three sprouts to an eye), and stuffed them into her little veg patch about six weeks ago. “We had a stir-fry of those gorgeous little new potatoes, two of our first zucchini and a batch of herbs from the bed by the back door,” she said gleefully. “FABulous!”
The easiest thing for a beginning gardener and enthusiastic eater is a potted herb garden. The difference in flavor between those you get at the grocery store and those you walk out barefoot to clip and immediately chop into the omelet is transformational. (I feel that way about fresh veggies, too. My father loved turnips, which I viewed as a kind of culinary penance until I tasted them sweet and roasted out of my own garden.).
You can plant an herb pot or two right now – they make great kitchen entry decoration provided it’s a sunny spot. Either plant seeds, which usually germinate in a few days, (parsley needs soaking for a few hours first), or buy the plants and stuff them into a large pot or two. The garden centers and the farmers’ market carry a terrific variety – lemon thyme, which is great on salads and in jerk chicken, lemon grass, various basils, dill, cilantro, celeriac, pineapple sage, which is great for fruit salads or stuffing chicken and also produces a spiky cardinal bloom in late summer. Add these to the usual, Simon and Garfunkel suspects (parsley, saaage rose-ma-ry and thyyyme). Sage will eventually grow into a lovely shrub that will produce lavender blooms every spring for years.
For a compact, relatively comprehensive, but comprehendible organic manual for beginning gardeners, try: The Organic Manual by Howard Garrett, 3rd ed. (Tapestry Press, 2008, $18.95).
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.