Vegetable garden
French way
(seen towards the house )
Notice how coconut husks are used as edging.
Vegetable garden
French way
(seen from the house towards the pedestrian walkway. Kakdah can be seen
so absorbed with watering chore at the far end)
It is meant to be intensive, as we garden the french way. The concept I gather from readings is about growing vegetables and flowers in a foot grid. Even our tomato plants are grown at a foot interval, which can be considered too close. The list of plants grown on that vegetable bed includes; tomatoes, basil , spinach, sawi, ginger, tumeric, sweet peas, sunflowers, and radishes. They don't seem to mind growing in such close proximity and in fact enjoy each others company.
Bangchik
Putrajaya, Malaysia
A note on French Gardening.
The French are pastmasters at getting the most out of their potagers. Virtually every yard has a spotless vegetable garden. Often, it occupies most of a small yard. And it is planted so tightly you can hardly imagine how the gardener manages to walk between those closely packed rows. What's more, there never seems to be a trace of a footstep between those immaculate lines of vegetables, which always appear freshly cultivated. It's as if the gardener hovers in the air to do his or her work!
Perhaps this intense approach to gardening is responsible for generating the incredible variety of French gardening tools. Unlike their American counterparts, who rely heavily on motorized tools, the French still largely garden entirely with hand tools. Each task and even many crops have their own dedicated, specially designed tools. Living in France, I have really discovered that gardening by hand with a perfect tool is a viscerally satisfying joy. Click here for more: French intensive vegetable gardening - Au potager
~bangchik
Putrajaya, Malaysia
This is very interesting. "Food" for thought.
ReplyDeleteDear Bangchik, I am able to see here exactly what you mean by gardening intensively in the French style. I feel that it makes good sense to use the available space as economically as possible and it all looks so attractive, tidy and clearly well cared for. Is this the only Malaysian potager?
ReplyDeleteWell, I love French cooking and I like how they garden using hand tools instead of motorized ones. Although, my husband much prefers the motorized tools ;^)
ReplyDeleteHi Bangchik,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing your gardens and reading about the French intensive method. I had read something about it a long time ago, and didn't remember much of it. I love what you said about it looking like the gardener worked the garden from above. Oh, and I love the coconut shell border!
I garden in much the same way. Your vegetable garden is lovely.
ReplyDeleteYour garden has a real sense of place with the addition of the coconut husk edging. Great detail. We have mostly raised beds for veggies here in Alaska because the soil doesn't ever get really warm.
ReplyDeleteChristine B.
Thanks so much for the tour of you garden 'the French way'. Very interesting, I can wait to see the produce from your labors. I am in awe to the coconut edging.
ReplyDeleteGod bless and have a beautiful day!!!
Hi Bangchik,
ReplyDeleteIts been a while since i have visited. I LOVE the cocanut husk border. Greata idea on re-using. Im using shells from almonds and walnuts as mulch in my garden, it looks very pretty! I enjoyed reading your French method of gardening.
Happy Gardening
Jenn
How interesting! Your garden looks really healthy. And, I MUST add that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the coconut border!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful post! I love french gardening and gardens! AWesome!
ReplyDeleteKiki~
Salam bangchik dan kak dah...
ReplyDeleteWoahh seronok tengok kebun sayur tu... nampak subur sume tanamam...
Sama dengan saya dan suami, pun suka berkebun... :)
That coconut border is neat! Wish I had those local to me. I do garden intensively though, using the French style. I have a couple of books with planting charts. My last garden had the narrow paths you mentioned, too. But I made my most recent one with wider walkways (mainly because I am doing a community garden and I think I'm the only person involved with enough patience to tiptoe down pokey rows.) :)
ReplyDeletevery nice!
ReplyDeletethanks for visiting my new site..i love your garden..will try to collect coconut husk (abundance in my kg) and do gardening french style!love it!
ReplyDeleteImpressive :) As for tools, I find it really difficult to get good quality ones in Malaysia, I dunno why...
ReplyDeleteVery lovely vegetabkle garden.
ReplyDeleteWow! What a productive piece of earth that is!
ReplyDeleteYour vegetables are now the focus in your garden being surrounded by neatly trimmed carabao grass. Here we also use those coconut husks to contain the soil. However, when the rain comes erosion is fast if the soil is raised. By the way, where did you get the soil for the vegetables? Did you make your own compost, as your vegies are really very healthy, enticing and inspiring. How i wish i can also do that soon!
ReplyDeleteIt makes great sense to get as much out of a small space as possible, after all, we don't all have acres of land in which to grow our veggies. I love the use of the coconut husks as a border.
ReplyDelete~Darla ~ The French way is really a food for thought. It brings meaning to effective gardening. The lucky few may have acres to play around..., but the rest or rather the majority make do with a little plot, and some are contented with a concrete balcony. The french way redefine what is effective and economical.
ReplyDelete~Edith Hope ~ Huh, I am not too sure if "my little vegetable garden" is the only potager in Malaysia. Hundreds more, or thousands more... some form of intensive gardening has been practiced by many here. Container gardening can be done the french way too.
~Noelle ~ I only have electric mower as the only motorised gardening tool, to keep the grass low, neat and tidy. The rest are hand tools, old, rusty, and some half broken.
~Corner Gardener Sue ~ Coconut husk edging is not something new, for it has been used by many moms and grandmoms in yesteryears. I just reintroduce its spectacular feature in urban setting.
~janie ~ thanks, and we are alone on gardening the french way... I love it because it keep us going. Every week, some plants will be harvested and some to be planted.
~bangchik
~Christine B. ~ Raised bed poses quite a problem during rainy season. The bed keeps collapsing..
ReplyDelete~Nezzy ~ We have to wait for a while before tomatoes turn red. But we have harvested spinach a few days ago.
~Jenn's Cooking Garden! ~ thanks for the return. You really have pop in from time to time to see how coconut husk ages with time. Almost a year now.
~Kimberly ~ thanks for the expression of LOVE towards coconut husk edging. It is quite a gamble on my side to put rural elements into urban settings.
~Kiki ~ thanks, it is the only way to be effective and economical for little gardens. And it will keep you busy as well, because each plant has different harvesting time.
~bangchik
So envy with your little vege garden la bangchick.. I am planning to hve my very own..
ReplyDelete~fzi ~ terima kasih kerana sudi menjengah. Kelihatan subur sebab kerap dibaja dengan baja organik, yang berbiji dan juga cecair.
ReplyDelete~Eliza ~ great that you had tried the french way. I still enjoy the wide space of grass. It is intensive for the gardening bed, but not for the whole plot. We garden for two mouth and charity to neighbours.
~Pooka ~ thanks
~waliz ~ glad that you like coconut husk as edging. It is good that you bring back a lot of those and plan out where to use in your garden. It will look pleasant if you plan it well.
~julian ~ Did you go to the flower show near Bangi PKNS recently held for a week in conjunction of National Landscape Day 3rd March.? They sell decent tools there.
~Rajesh ~ thanks.
~bangchik
gippslandgardener ~ You never know how much the earth can offer unless you try it!
ReplyDeleteAndrea ~ I did make my own compost by piling up the grass cuttings and old leaves. I regular put gardening soil sold in bags. Occasionally I will place peat soil to maintain the water retention quality of the soil. Organic fertilizer is my way of fertilizing..
Jo ~ you are right in pointing the fact that not many of us own acres of land to do gardening. Intensive gardening is the way forward.
~Cath J ~ thats the way to do it, dream about it first, then plan it out, then play with the soil and dirt. God has a lot in store with the soil and seeds.
ReplyDelete~bangchik
Your vegetable garden is very nice.
ReplyDeleteThis was interesting because I often worry that I've planted so many veggies far to closely, little did I know I was gardening the french way! :)
~Catherine@AGardenerinProgress ~ Call it french, or whatever ... most of us has been practicing effective form of gardening somehow, making full use of the limited space.
ReplyDelete~bangchik
Dear Bangchik, I really had a good time reading this post. French gardening ~ mmm..that's something new that I learnt today! It amazes me that the vegetable bed of yours has so many varieties of plants! I would love to grow them in my garden too!!!
ReplyDeleteJ.C. ~ In reality, we cant go on eating spinach everyday. Therefore there is a real need to have a little bit of each in the garden. Then we can vary our menu...
ReplyDelete