Le Petit Potager

Tomatoes for my children – the philosophy of hope in the Le Petit Potager

My dad’s dad grew tomatoes because his dad did in the Old Country.

My dad planted them as a child during the depression, because he had to. As an adult, he grew tomatoes because they were symbolic of never going hungry. It gave him comfort to know if all else failed; he would have a tomato to eat.

I (the last of the baby boomers) grew them because I wanted to be with my dad. My dad was in the garden, so I was in the garden. We would talk about so many things; we laughed a lot doing mundane, every day chores.

Still, as a child, it was a new era. We were rich (in that my dad had work, mom stayed at home to raise the family; we had no debt, owned our own home and we were loved.) Also, my youth happened between wars; neither war precipitated the need to grow a tomato.

As an adult, I never grew tomatoes well; maybe I stuck one in the ground now and again. But it wasn’t for any altruistic reason, like my dad did. It was a tomato. It had no meaning for me.

I didn’t get the tomato thing. I got that my dad never forgot the depression, but I wanted to grow pretty flowers. I didn’t feel the pangs of hunger that motivated my dad. That was his thing, give me ornamentals; give me beauty. Beauty is priceless. I can buy a tomato.

As my generation basked in the glory of the profits following the depression era, a new era was built on steady work and the power of compound interest, we didn’t want to GROW our own tomatoes we wanted to BUY them, because we could. We wanted to have pretty, manicured gardens around us. Tomatoes were bought just like packaged beef was bought. We wouldn’t think of making our own hamburger, would we?

Now my kids look around and see flowers, pretty flowers, everywhere. As they became informed, they noticed I had no tomatoes; they wondered and asked why. I explained, that, for the most part, my generation didn’t want to grow food. We wanted to grow beauty, our symbol of comfort.

Last year, from a request of my youngest child, Aster, we put in a small veggie garden, dubbed Le Petit Potager. As a family, we tore up a patch of the front lawn and planted the potager we now tend together. We grow tomatoes; and cucumbers, sweet peas, lettuce, spinach, bell peppers, hot peppers, carrots, radishes, collards, and more. We also grow sunflowers and zinnia and dill and cilranto.

As we harvested our first, fresh tomato, I thought of my dad and his dad. I believe in the future, when my kids harvest tomatoes with their children, they will think of me.

I am hopeful my kids will never need to grow a tomato, but if they had to, they could. It is my hope they will want to grow a tomato. It is my hope that the experience of our own little potager will instill a want in them.

In the meantime, I have three children hanging outside with me in our little potager, tasting the fruit of the vine, doing mundane chores and giggling a lot.

Le Petit Potager, Part 1

Le Petit Potager, Part 2

Fried Green Tomatoes

Helen Yoest is a garden writer and coach through her business Gardening with Confidence™

Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenYoest and her facebook friend’s page, Helen Yoest or Gardening With Confidence™ Face Book Fan Page.

Helen also serves on the board of advisors for the JC Raulston Arboretum

Last year, at Aster’s request, we added a small vegetable garden in Helen’s Haven™. Our vegetable garden was dubbed, “The Victory Garden.” That was a fine name and worked for the space at the time. We called our vegetable garden, The Victory Garden, because it was located in the front lawn. If it were in the back, we probably would have just called it the vegetable garden.

The Victory Garden included tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and such. Planted along with these vegetables were iris, lambs ear, juniper and other holdovers. This winter, we decided to expand the garden to use the entire space for vegetables. As such, we are elevating the garden’s status by calling it, Le Petit Potager.

As a child, my dad had a vegetable garden; this garden was where I learned not only to garden, but I also learned how my dad proposed to my mom , heard stories from his youth and heard many tales of my dad’s adventures from his naval career, something he would not otherwise talk about.

Today, I get to teach my son and daughters about gardening, and to show them how to grow delicious, fresh food that is also organic, picked just a few steps from the front door.

Dedicating a garden with just vegetables allows us to distribute the needed resources, such as water, in a corralled area. The space in front of the drive was also just sitting there; the cars blocked it so we weren’t giving up any decent ornamental space. With a nationwide move towards front yard gardens, it seem like the time was ripe. We embraced our space. With a blank slate, let the planning begin.

We want to maximise the use of the space, growing what we like and allowing us to try new varieties. This spring, we know we will add lettuce, radish, parsley, carrot, broccoli. This summer, we know we will have tomato, basil, cucumber, various peppers, and sunflower.

We will run our potager in an intensive, succession planting approach, in which a crop is grown, harvested, removed and then another planted in its place. Mostly, our potager will be what is considered square foot planting. Square foot planting is when a square foot is allocated for each plant – with a plant in the center of each square foot. We will fudge this some, but it gives a great visual as to how the planning will be laid out.

Since the space is 15 foot x 15 foot, there will be 15 squares parallel in front (in lines following the line of the top of the driveway, or rows going north and south) with 15 squares perpendicular (running from the top of the drive to the house, or rows going west to east.)

Le Petit Potager faces west, thus receiving the hottest afternoon sun. With an unobstructed view, the area receives about 6 – 8 hours of sunlight per day with the section closest to the house only receiving about 4 – 6 hours per day. This is sufficient for most any vegetable. Larger plants will be planted towards the back, not only for better viewing, but also so the taller plants won’t shade out the smaller ones on the east side of the plant.

I’ve drawn lines on the image, below, that depicts the planting squares. These lines don’t accurately depict the spacing since the image is destored due to the angle of the shot. But it does serve as a visual of the space I get to work with. The happy flowers up against the house are where the sunflowers will go.