Book Description
The English garden, no matter how grand, is an outgrowth of nature, while the French garden, or "jardin a la francaise, " is a place of formality and grandeur. The origins of the latter are to be found in the Italian Renaissance, which sought inspiration in antiquity. Architects were hired for gardens for the first time, and expected to create a work of art by taming nature to their purposes. The French garden makes use, above all, of geometric design, symmetry, repetition of decorative elements, and perspective created by seemingly endless rows of trees, carefully tended paths, and man-made linear bodies of water, cascades, and fountains. The French garden is an intellectual conception that culminated with Andre Le Notre and the sumptuous and vast gardens he created for the Sun King at Versailles. The King, the court, and the newly rich all sought to express their power through the chateaux they built, inherited, or bought, as well as through the richness of the gardens that surrounded them on all sides. Into these, they integrated statuary by the great sculptors of the day, as well as stone and metal pavilions and other follies.
Versailles set the tone for Europe's palace builders, and thus it is no surprise that the French garden became part of every royal or aristocratic residence built since. For the first time, all the major French gardens have been gathered here in one book, all specially photographed over several years. Among the thirty-six seen here are Versailles, the Tuileries, Saint Cloud Marly, and Villandry in France, as well as Queluz in Portugal, Drottinghulm in Sweden, Peterhof near St. Petersburg, and Schonbrunn, the Habsburg Versailles. This is a major reference book that will delight travelers, gardeners, and historians.
Book Description
The French, who are known for their style in all things, have long brought their artistry to bear on vegetable gardening, turning plots that could be merely utilitarian into gardens of real beauty. The Art of French Vegetable Gardening explores this rich and varied tradition in a way that is both inspirational and practical. Combining 175 color photographs shot throughout France with an informative text, The Art of French Vegetable Gardening explains how to create different styles of decorative vegetable gardens, from the strict geometries of formal tradition to the happy-intermingling of vegetables with flowers, herbs, and fruit trees beloved by organic gardeners. Each chapter offers useful advice and suggestions—applicable to gardens anywhere—while evoking the rich cultural context of the French potager as lovingly described by Colette, Proust, Gertrude Stein, and many others.
Elements of garden design—including layout, hedging, walls, benches, and vertical accents—are detailed, as are specific vegetables that can provide both beauty and flavor. Other topics include companion planting using herbs and flowers, heirloom and collectors' varieties, and even the vegetable garden in winter. An extensive appendix offers 80 classic Frnech recipes for vegetables, lists of plants American seed sources, and French vegetable gardens open to the public. Practical as well as beautiful, The Art of French Vegetable Gardening is an invaluable sourcebook to return to again and again.
Customer Reviews:
Useful gardening information and visually stunning.......1999-08-25
I read this book after stumbling across it at the library. I am going to purchase a copy because I think it is an invaluable reference for gardening and travel. I am plotting a course of the gardens described in the book and hope to tour some of them on my next trip to France. Thanks to Ms. Jones for a rewarding read and a visual treat.
Beautiful pictures, and interesting information........1999-07-20
This book strikes me most with its beautiful pictures. If you can stop thumbing through the pictures long enough to read, you will find that the format is user friendly, and there is useful information on many aspects of gardening. One of my favorite book to look through in the winter!
Book Description
"If you are looking for a celebration of life in a small space, turn to the French garden for the answers."—The Evening Standard
French country gardening has experienced a renaissance in recent years. While the great French heritage still thrives, its traditions now provide inspiration for fresh delights and creative expression, as vividly demonstrated in this beautifully photographed volume.
The book reaches into every corner of France, from Normandy to the Riviera, from Picardy to the Pyrenees, revealing in exquisite detail the full extent and exciting diversity of the modern French country garden. A magical and intimate "grandmother's garden" on the ancient Via Aurélia combines fruits, herbs, flowers, and vegetables; "gardens for the five senses" focus on sensual stimulation; "natural" gardens protect local ecosystems; and formal gardens incorporate witty and subversive variations on the traditional pattern. 236 color illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
Beware-this is a reprint!.......2006-07-30
This is a reprint of a hardbook in softcover form with a new cover photo. The content is wonderful but I already owned the hardcover and thought it was a "new book".
Customer Reviews:
C'est magnifique!.......2007-06-29
An incredibly beautiful book documenting the exquisite details of the smaller house and gardens of Versailles. I am honored to be the newest caretaker of this book.
It was described as being in "acceptable" condition. However, considering it is 80 years old it is practically in "prime" condition. Merci beaucoup!
Customer Reviews:
pure pleasure.......2006-06-03
I brought a copy of this book a few years ago and have enjoyed many hours of quiet contemplation. I am transported to the Vieux Carre in an instant. Layers upon layers of visual details are revealed to you. The secrets of this hidden world are yours to uncover over and over again.
This is a magical book that needs to be re-issued.......1999-09-21
I bought this book some years ago and use it as a vacation-in-an-easychair escape to New Orleans. It is a treasure, written by a New Orleans insider who had access to the most wonderful gardens. I hope that it will be reprinted soon, so that I can buy it and send it to a dear friend I was telling about it.
I should have goten it when I could have........1997-06-13
I was in New Orleans recently and fell in love with the courtyard gardens that were hidden away
beyond thick stone and brick walls. You could see these beautiful green, quiet oasis in contrast to
the loud and sometimes bawdiness of the streets
of the French Quarter, behind wrought iron fences,
tucked away, for just a few to see and enjoy.
I went to several bookstores in New Orleans,
asking if there was a book on courtyard gardens
of the French Quarter. I finally found one, The
Secret Garden of the Vieux Carre. It was a beautiful book, with photographs that depicted the
character of the gardens in a way that words could
not.
It was large and heavy and I did not have any room in my bags for another purchase. I thought,
no problem, when I return home to California, I
will find the book or order it.
It is out of print! This could be worth a
return trip to New Orleans in the very near future.
I highly recommended this book.
Book Description
Warmonger, womanizer, and autocrat, Louis XIV may also have been history’s most fanatical gardener. At Versailles, twelve miles outside Paris, France’s self-styled “Sun King” created not only Europe’s most lavish palace, but, beginning in 1661, the most extensive gardens the Western world has ever seen. Assisting Louis in this enterprise was the low-born gardener André Le Nôtre, whose character and temperament were as different from those of his sovereign as it is possible to conceive. Where Louis was ruthless and relentlessly driven, Le Nôtre was down to earth, witty and amiable – and also phenomenally talented. While Louis could strike fear into the highest in the land with just a look, Le Nôtre enjoyed the king’s trust and friendship for more than 40 years. In this lavishly illustrated book, Ian Thompson tells more comprehensively than ever before the intertwined stories of an extraordinary garden and an extraordinary friendship.
Customer Reviews:
LOUIS' EDEN.......2006-11-08
Louis XIV was fortunite in his association with the great Le Notre or I should say he was lucky to have the power of the devine right monarch, so he could steal him from Fouquet and Vieux le Vicomte to work on his Vallala, Versailles. Louis was king incarnate, he was the state, period, the epitome, the very definition of the devine, absolute monarch, and he knew exactly what he wanted and with the genius of Le Notre he created a garden that was and to this day still is the envey of the world. This book does a fine job of capturing Le Notre's gardens at Versailles at their best. The text is enlightening and the images are well conceived. If you have any interest in Versailles or French Formal Gradens, the I highly recommend this book.
Amazon.com
Georgeanne Brennan became enamored of the concept of the potager, or kitchen garden, while living in the south of France, and has created potagers everywhere she's lived in the nearly three decades since then. The potager, explains Brennan, is more than a garden: it's a chance to observe the seasons, a provider of ingredients for signature local dishes, and a great social democratizer that keeps neighbors in touch as they share their bounty with each other.
One of the main features of a potager is that it is intended as a year-round garden, rather than just a summer, or harvest, garden. To that end, Brennan explains which plants do well in different seasons and how to stagger the plantings during seasonal transition periods so as to use the space efficiently throughout the year. The garden itself can be quite small--9 feet by 12 feet can keep a family of four in fresh produce. Like a potager, this guide is small and sweet. It's attractively illustrated with Melissa Sweet's watercolors, and includes 25 easy recipes that make stars of simple, fresh ingredients. --Barrie Trinkle
Book Description
The tradition of the kitchen garden, or potager, has for centuries been a cornerstone of the French country way of life-a year-round communion between the kitchen and the garden culminating in simple, gratifying meals prepared fresh with the flavors of the season. Taking up where the very popular Potager left off, In the French Kitchen Garden is a lovingly written, beautifully illustrated guide to cultivating a potager. Georgeanne Brennan imparts her passion for the potager while offering advice on adapting a kitchen garden to any climate or space. Punctuated with impromptu recipes for delicious dishes incorporating the fresh produce of each season, this book encourages everyone to adopt ?the creative, relaxed style of the French country cook.
Customer Reviews:
Great value for the price...........2003-03-23
At first glance you might think IN THE FRENCH KITCHEN GARDEN is nothing more than a good door prize. This pretty little book is not very expensive and whereas cheap and beautiful often suggests a void, FKG is packed with all sorts of good ideas for creating your own little kitchen garden. From Ms. Brennan's perspective, the French kitchen garden is a soup garden or potager where one grows vegetables, herbs, strawberries, melons and "cutting flowers, such as zinnias and nasturtiums." She also suggests that although the proper garden would not include trees which shade vegetable plants and flowers and reduce production, occasionally, one includes a fig tree or some other small fruit tree. Generally, the produce grown in the potager is consumed as the season progresses (soup to soup so to speak) with nothing leftover for canning or preserving although some items such as winter squash and potatoes might be stored in a cool dry place for a short while.
The concept of a year-round garden is European, and therefore a foreign idea for most Americans whose only spring crop consists of daffodils. So among other contributions, Brennan encourages the reader/gardener and/or novice potager to think differently about the use of space heretofore only used to grow a few tomato plants and pole beans. I have been a 3 season flower gardener most of my life (spring-summer-fall) but in recent years have attempted to have a good-looking winter garden. My winter "crop" has been more structural than not, consisting of dried grasses, dried sedum and other "interesting" plant forms that are decaying and bird friendly. Ms Brennan has inspired me to rethink my approach and seek out more information about four-season vegetable gardening. Winter for example is a great time to plant onion sets and grow leafy items in a cold frame. If you're thinking about growing the old-style Victory Garden, or want to know more about the soup garden, Brennan's book is a good place to begin.
Great Illustrtations & Explanations.......2002-01-13
My wonderful husband just bought this for me for my birthday and my thumbs are glowing green. (Oh, to be an Alaskan and have a gardening book bestowed up on me in the dead of winter!) The author explains many ideas for gardening in great detail, often explaining what could happen if you do things different ways (for instance, what happens when radishes are grown in hot soil in warm climates vs. in cooler ones.) The illustrations are also efficient in that they are in water colour and show detail where needed and show adequate lay-out.
A delightful read, and some sound advice.......1999-04-24
If you are lucky enough to ever meet Gerogeanne Brennan, you know that she is the real thing: down to earth, a gourmand who gardens. You can trust that Brennan speaks from her experience, not from the experience of her "experts."
In this book Brennan does something unusal that you do not usually find in gardening books, especially ones that are geared for begining gardeners. There are no lists of 10 fool proof plants, nor strict instructions to plant something a specific way on an absolute date or face certain failure. (Honestly, why Martha thinks you have to plant peas on St. Patrick's Day is beyond me.) Brennan instead wants you to understand the philosophy of the potager, and then make your own rules.
Brennan suggests what you might want to plant in each of the four seasons (wherever you happen to live) and tells you what typically would be planted in a true French potager at the same season; Brennan gives you sources to find these plants; Brennan even gives you an idea of what size pot you would need if you are restricted to balconey gardening. Very thoughtful. Though I have not tried any of the recipes in this book, they are similar to others you can find in her well-received cook books.
The book itself is small and well made; the paper is heavy. It feels good in your hand. The illustrations are charming without being too cute, and often they illustrate a garden layout that actually makes sense. And of course Brennan's writing is rich and clear.
This is a good book for a beginning gardener. You will not be dissappointed.
Average customer rating:
- A Feast for All the Senses
|
Potager: Fresh Garden Cooking in the French Style
Georgeanne Brennan
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Fruits
| Cooking by Ingredient
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
French
| European
| Regional & International
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Vegetables
| Vegetables & Vegetarian
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0811830411 |
Book Description
With 80,000 of the original sold, Chronicle Books now reissues this cookbook classic with a new cover to introduce it to a new generation of readers. The French country tradition of cooking from a potager, or kitchen garden, has for centuries produced meals that are seasonally fresh, simple, and sparkling with the essential flavors of their carefully grown and prepared ingredients. Here James Beard Award-winning author Georgeanne Brennan captures the full vitality of this age-old cuisine. Arranged by season, Potager features a collection of sixty imaginative recipes made from the very freshest fruits, vegetables, and herbs of nature's bounty. Illustrated with over 100 vivid color photographs of the gardens, the ingredients, and the finished dishes, Potager presents the simplicity and balance of French cuisine at its finest.
Customer Reviews:
A Feast for All the Senses.......2003-02-16
This full-color cookbook is a feast for all of your senses. With luxurious photography and pastel-colored pages, this cookbook will make you long for a potager garden of your own.
The authors were compelled to write this cookbook after twenty years of running Chez Panisse. The authors had a passion for freshness of ingredients that compelled them to snipping fresh rosemary while their neighbors were asleep!
The recipes are organized by seasons:
Spring: The Season of New Growth
Summer: The Season of Full Growth
Fall: The Crossover Season
Winter: The Dormant Season
The Recipes include:
Spring: Onion Pancakes with Dandelion Greens and Bacon, Fettuccine with Pea Pods and Mushrooms, and Fresh Cherry Tart
Summer: Red and Yellow Tomato Platter with Balsamic Vinegar, Cream of Ratatouille Soup with Savory Croutons, and Compote of Peaches and Plums
Fall: Cabbage Leaves Rolled with Roquefort, Pine Nuts, and Jambon Cru, Garlic-Rubbed Roast Chicken with Turnips, Carrots, and Wild Mushrooms, and Persimmon Flan.
Winter: Golden Stew of Pumpkin, Cabbage, and Turmeric with Riso, Civet of Rabbit with Pickled Wild Mushrooms and Caper Toasts, and Tarte Tatin of Quinces and Golden Raisins.
If you enjoy French cooking, and are seeking new tastes and new challenges, you will feast on this cookbook.
Book Description
In The French Country Garden, Louisa Jones organizes select gardens into six themes that appeal to every taste. Stroll through classical formal gardens or peruse gardens of the medieval past that focused on sensual stimulation.
Book Description
"This book won't make you rich, and it won't make your work go away. What it will do, if you have a desire to improve your efficiency, is help you get organized so that you can get done what needs to be done and go on to other things. The most satisfying reward of getting control is that it builds self-esteem, which in turn cultivates energy, enthusiasm, and happiness. Nothing breeds success like success."--Bonnie McCulloughThe essential guide for getting control of your home.A time-management book for the whole family.Newly revised and updated edition* Training you kids to take care of the house* Easy ways to create more storage space* Time-saving secrets of a professional cleaner* How to create a kitchen of convenience* Conquering the dishes, mending, laundryBonnie's Household Organizer is an essential handbook for anyone-- mothers, fathers, students, roommates, or working singles-- who wants to get organized at home. More than a collection of helpful hints or cleaning techniques, this remarkable book offers workable systems of organization. It begins by showing how to apply proven principles of time management to the home, moves through work habits, shelving suggestions, methods for training children to work, and ways to save money (especially on food), to the basic problem-solving process as it applies to home problems. Each chapter ends with practical suggestions for applying the ideas and techniques to your particular circumstances.Whether you live in a twelve-room home or a studio apartment, have seven children, or a roommate who never cleans up, you'll find immediate help and direction in Bonnie's clear, practical, enthusiastic advice.
Customer Reviews:
Needs to be updated!.......2007-06-10
While I liked McCullough's encouraging tone and some of her ideas, this book needs to be revised for modern times. Written 27 years ago, some examples like the to do item "type ditto" and how a friend saved worktime by getting an extra-long cord on her phone are so outdated that they provided a few unintended laughs. A better purchase might be the Messie books by Sandra Felton, or for household management, the Flylady book.
Dated, But Some Good Information.......2006-11-17
This book was just okay. There was some good information but not very much that was new or not available from other sources. I love household and organization books, so I enjoyed it, but many readers might be looking for something more current.
Too old fashioned.......2006-08-15
This book had some good ideas if it were 1970. It's very outdated. I'm sure it was a good book when it was still current, but in 2006, it's just a a waste of time and money.
simply life-changing.......2003-10-22
I bought this book at a homeschool conference about 15 years ago. It literally changed my life. I have fond memories of sitting down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and my "Bonnie" book. Bonnie became like a friend, offering great advice and encouragement. Her writing style is warm and uplifting. She made me want to succeed at organizing my home. I learned how to organize my kitchen cabinets, and ever since my mom has recommended ME to organize the kitchen when someone in the family moves! And I was the family "messy!" Her suggestion on implementing Minimum Maintenance made the difference for me in keeping my house clean and presentable. I highly recommend this book for anyone who struggles as I did with managing all the STUFF/CHORES in her home.
Wonderfully Helpful for the Disorganised Homemaker.......2003-06-06
I just loved this book. I would give it ten stars if I could. It was so full of down to earth and helpful advice and very entertaining to read. There were hints on clutter clearing and how to tackle a home that has got a bit out of control. Lists of daily jobs and what Bonnie calls minimum maintenance were a great help. If you find it hard to keep on top of the house and it seems forever in a cluttered mess (like mine) this is the book for you.
Books:
- The Garden in Ancient Egypt
- The Garden Table: Elegant Outdoor Entertaining
- The Gardener's A-Z Guide to Growing Flowers from Seed to Bloom: 576 annuals, perennials, and bulbs in full color (Potting-Bench Reference Books)
- The Gardens and Parks at Hampton Court Palace
- The Gifted Button: Fashion Buttons into Gorgeous Gifts and Wearable Art
- The Grape Grower: A Guide to Organic Viticulture
- The Living Tradition of Yup'Ik Masks: Agayuliyararput : Our Way of Making Prayer
- The Magical Garden of Claude Monet
- The Master Book of the Water Garden: The Ultimate Guide to the Design and Maintenance of the Water Garden
- The Master Book of the Water Garden: The Ultimate Guide to the Design and Maintenance of the Water Garden
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The French Country Garden
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