Garden flashback

Here's a photo from the summer of 2004, the year we planted our first vegetable garden here in France. We had been in the house for a year and wanted to have our very own jardin potager (kitchen garden). I saw a cool-looking garden at the Château de Fougères that was made up of four square plots, so we copied the layout in our garden.

Our first kitchen garden in France, July 2004. Fifteen years ago!

Our first year was pretty successful, although it does look like a bit of a jumble. I planted many things way too close together. I watered with a sprinkler and grew almost as many weeds as vegetables. We had good eggplant and bell peppers, two things that have not worked well in the years since. One year I even had a good crop of sweet corn, but have not had success with that since.

At any rate, the four squares eventually merged into one giant square. Mowing the grass in those in-between strips became difficult as each square plot sought its own level. Many things in the yard and garden have changed since this first attempt. I think that in those first few years, we bought established seedlings at the markets (that might explain why the plants did so well, lots of fertilizer to get them started). Now I plant my own seeds and use our home-made compost. It's great to have the photos to look back on.