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| Click on Image to Enlarge A Traditional Potager |
The dictionary defines the potager as, "a French term for an ornamental vegetable or kitchen garden." It has its roots in the French Renaissance. The Scots have referred to a similar plot of land as a kailyaird since at least the 16th century; so, I suspect that many countries have gardening traditions akin to the potager.
Basically, a potager, or kailyaird for that matter, is a place to grow vegetables and herbs within easy access to the house or kitchen. It must also be an enjoyable place to work and be pleasing to the eye. The potager can be part of a larger structured ornamental garden or a simple unassuming vegetable plot unto itself.
Traditional potagers involved geometric design, manicured lawns, raised focal points and were defined by their pathways and borders. Formality, however, need not be central to the humble kitchen garden. In my urban pollinator potager patch, functionality will become one with a very simple form; and both will develop over time as energy and money permit.
This growing season, I’m adding fruits, vegetables and herbs to the perennials, shrubs and flagstone patio already inhabiting my front garden. It’s a potager in the making and the making of a kitchen gardener.
