Le Jardin Potager (kitchen garden) is a food garden where vegetables are cultivated for a family or a relatively small group of people. Such a garden is both practical and a source of enjoyment. In the past, most noblemen with a castle maintained gardens which included both ornamental landscapes, and gardens where fruits and vegetables were grown. Le potager du roi in Versailles is one of the classic examples.
Nowadays, more and more people in France are choosing to grow some of their food. A beautiful example exists in the farm of Le Bec Héllouin, in the Normandy region. Though it does not rely on fossil fuels and heavy machines, this farm practices the modern approach called permaculture, and has become a model recognized by French agricultural scientific research.
Here are some of the famous kitchen gardens in France:
- le potager du roi in Versailles
- le potager du château de la Roche-Guyon
- The gardens of the château de Villandry
- le potager extraordinaire à la Mothe-Achard in the Vendée region
- le potager du parc floral de la Source in Orléans
- le jardin conservatoire de Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives in the Calvados
- les jardins potagers du château-Dauphin in Pontgibaud in the Puy-de-Dôme
