Green Hands – Gardening in France

In England, accomplished gardeners have ‘green fingers’.  Apparently the term ‘green thumb’ is US-based but did not become common usage until about the 1940’s. I don’t have any green appendages, but I do have a small potager (kitchen garden). I’ve included a few Frenchie touches, like sorrel:

It’s a hardy perennial and lives next to my little pond.

Excuse the tubing – irrigation being rearranged.

I have some French tarragon in a pot.

And black currants growing in a pot on my driveway (my only sunny spot. Petaluma can be foggy). Doesn’t look like I’ll have cassis anytime soon, though.

I tried growing mâche without much success, as evidenced below:

My pride and joy and only real gardening accomplishment has been growing pomegranates in a pot. I started with a bare root stick which rapidly produced leaves and a couple years later, flowers. But they dropped off before fruiting. This happened for a couple years. Then finally the flowers produced fruit! Et voilà – real pomegranates!

Now, a few French gardening terms:

gardening: le jardinage

to weed – désherber

to dig – creuser, bêcher

to harvest crops- récolter

to pick (flowers, fruits, etc.) – cueillir

to prune – élaguer

to water – arroser

pruning shears – un sécateur

garden hose – un tuyau d’arrosage

trowel – un déplantoir

kitchen garden – un potager