Thirty gardens were spread around the central Grand Square and would shelter espalier-trained fruit trees behind their high walls. The original idea of a succession of protected rooms, favouring microclimates and diversity of exposures remains unchanged.
As initially planned, the Grand Square of 3 hectares is composed of sixteen smaller squares surrounded by espalier pear trees. Within the square is contained fifty species and varieties of vegetables including traditional vegetables, condiments, gourds, pear-shaped tomatoes,Jerusalem artichokes and ancient vegetables.
The pruning of some 5000 fruit trees requires an extensive number of hours of work to train wall-trees (espaliers) or to fix them on trellises (counter-espaliers, which have replaced La Quintinie’s round-headed trees by the XVIIIth century).
First is a central portion devoted to vegetables. It's also known as the "grand square" an area of three hectares. It's divided into sixteen squares arranged around a large circular pool decorated with a central fountain, which serves as a reserve for irrigation water. Around the grand square are four raised terraces that transform it into a kind of scene theater.
Enclosed by high walls, there are now a dozen (twenty-nine originally) gardens, home to fruit trees, mainly apple and pear which are trained on trellises (palissés) on the walls. In 1785, six southern walls were taken down due to high humidity and poor ventilation, leaving five gardens instead of eleven.
Twelve gardeners prune and maintain 2800 and 2100 the apple and pear trees, and other fruits and vegetables produced annually in the season.
In Spring
From April to June, brings flowering fruit trees upon entrance to the garden. Growing now are lettuce, carrots, artichokes, herbs, garlic, onions, shallots, potatoes and early beans.
In Summer
Fruit crops begin by mid-June berries: raspberries, gooseberries, currants. The first apples "Stark Earliest" are harvested in late June and pears "Citron des Carmes" are harvested between the 10th 15 July.
From July to September, the Potager du Roi is full also of melons, cucumbers, turnips, radishes or lettuce.
In Autumn
September is the busiest month when all crops are harvested.
In Winter
The vegetable garden is laid bare ...
But gardeners do not stop working, they prepare the garden for the next years crops, enriching it with compost and work to prune trees to improve their shape and quality of fruit.
I'll need to take a more in-depth look at the King's Kitchen Garden in a future posting.
