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A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

French Heirloom Potager

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

How do you beat the winter blues when the wind howls, 
skies are overcast, and rain or worse, snow, ice, and sleet, 
keep you captive inside? 

How about dreaming of and planning a vegetable garden? 
Browsing through seed catalogs full of promise 
of sunny days and abundant crops? 
Better yet, how about dreaming about a 

French Heirloom Potager?
(potager ~ vegetable garden)

French food is legendary. 
A country renowned for chefs, not cooks, also trains 
chefs for the best restaurants throughout the world. 
Most of us know about Cordon Bleu. 
Yet regardless of how well trained a chef may be, 
without fresh flavorful ingredients, a meal will not be memorable. 





French potager growing in Beynac, France
For the average French household, fresh ingredients 
come from their very own kitchen potager,  
well-planned plots of carefully tended rows 
that reflect the French love for structured gardens. 


To chase away the winter blues, take 

A Moment in France


planning a French heirloom potager.




Tomato plants for sale in a Paris market

While we may not be able to travel to France to shop for tomate plants, 
we can buy French heirloom seeds from American seed companies. 

In addition to tomates, my heirloom potager will have 
haricots vertes (green beans), lettuce, squash, and melons. 

Burpee Seeds and John Scheepers Seeds 
have several varieties of heirloom French seeds from which to choose. 

Here is a summary of the ones that appeal to me. 



John Scheepers Seeds offers The French Garden Collection with
seven seed packets that they describe as the classic 

French kitchen potager. 


  • Maxi Haricot Verts Bush Beans (about 150 seeds)
  • Yaya Carrots (about 600 seeds)
  • Iona Petit Pois Peas (about 300 seeds)
  • Ambition Shallots (about 60 seeds)
  • Lincoln Leeks (about 125 seeds)
  • Rouge d'Hiver Romaine Lettuce (about 700 seeds)
  • Merveille des Quatre Saisons Lettuce (about 1,000 seeds)







  • Chase away the blues even more by planting 
    the French Garden Collection of seeds 
    in small French zinc seed pots. 

    A link to Burpee Seeds is at Heirloom French Seeds

    A link to John Scheepers Seeds is at Kitchen Garden Seeds Collection 


    What is your favorite vegetable to grow? 

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    I did not receive compensation from any company, 
    just shared information for my readers who might enjoy knowing it.