Printemps réticent

Posted on 12 April, 2013 by Carol

Planting Peas12 Avril, Friday

50 degrees F,

Mostly Cloudy, Winds WNW at 15 mph

As reserves prepared from the produce of last year’s jardin efforts dwindle, late winter and early spring’s cool temperatures are slowly releasing their hold on the surrounding Illinois countryside. The garden’s raised beds gradually are prepared for spring plantings, as the weather allows. This week’s strong storms continue the ongoing process of renewal, the drought of last year becoming a memory of trial and endurance. What weather travails of the year await, only the passage of time will reveal.

Work in the jardin potager began in January, a few days of warmer dry weather enabled clearing and turning in of compost in a few beds. February’s annual garden weekend wasencased in snow and sleet. Work accomplished was limited to physical repairs-resetting the poles for the peas and beans in a raised bed and the restringing of wire along the garden fence line for the espaliered apple trees. The frozen ground prohibited additional work, so we retreated to the warmth of the hearth in the fort’s guard room where time was spent cheerily chatting with visitors about gardening while sharing jardin heirloom seed packets.

Renea Davis and Antoinette Hancock

In March, mes amies Antoinette and Renea worked with me as we prepared beds, weeding and seeding as we went along. The day was cloudy and a chill was in the air, but we managed to prepare four beds. The early spring seeding of Scarlet Runner beans, Blue Podded and Tom Thumb peas, St. Valery carrots, Flat Sided Dutch cabbage, lettuces-Brown Dutch, Cimmaron, Speckled Trout, and Bloomsdale spinach were accomplished. Flower and herb seeds sowed included Coriander, Love in the Mist, French Mallow, Flat Leaf Parsley, Corn Poppy, and Tall Deluxe Snapdragon. This was definite progress, slow but steady. Patience is the most important virtue for a gardener to cultivate, a delicate balance to be found between one’s desire to plant and anticipating garden progress while paying attention to Nature’s signals. We must let her lead the way and as she sets the pace for the developing season. But in centuries past, how difficult the wait and setbacks must have been. With dwindling food supplies from the previous season, the need for fresh produce from their spring jardins would have been urgent.

Asparagus Spears

The weeks following and up to the first week of April extended the run of cool, rainy weather. We experienced days of snow intermingled with limited periods of sun and above average temperatures. More carrot and lettuces varieties have been planted, as well as seedlings of Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage. During this past weekend of the annual Fort de Chartres Colonial April Trade Faire, the beds were watered and the asparagus bedseeded (with the excellent assistance of my garden apprentice, Master Eagan and my husband, Nick). This last task was completed just in time as the warm temperatures produced a nice small selection of spears that were harvested last Sunday. Spring’s remaining weeks hold the promise and necessity of more bed preparation as we practice the jardin potager methods of companion and succession planting. Beet and radish seeds along with red onion sets remain to be planted and then the garden work will turn to thinning and weeding so the young seedlings will thrive and develop.  Later this spring, preparation will be begin in the squash melon bed and the Native Three Sisters garden. The unfolding of the jardin awaits us, bringing delights of this year’s successes tempered by the inevitable heartbreak and disappointments unique to the rhythm of this garden year. Both conditions will be shaped by the elements and the greater force guiding us all. Bonne chance!

A quick note-last weekend’s Trade Faire offered the opportunity to demonstrate the bake oven once again and provided a chance for new explorations of 18th century recettes. February’s persimmon blog posting inspired my search for traditional French gingerbread or spice cakes, pain d’epices, while also experimenting with a version of Amelia Simmon’s Indian Pudding along the way. Toni’s new recipe was Elizabeth Raffields’s “ Bread made in the French Way”, while Renea baked an heirloom Kaskaskia recipe for blackberry cake. These recipes, along with the other baking endeavors, will be posted shortly on the “Recettes 2013” page of this blog.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Jardin Potager Saturday, 16 Mars

Posted on 12 March, 2013 by Carol

Finally the temperature is warming and we are looking forward to spending some time this Saturday in the garden working in the beds and planting. Visit historic Fort de Chartres as a few habitants recreate the experiences of the colonists of the 18th century Illinois Country. We will prepare the kitchen garden for the late winter and early spring plantings. Jardin Potager heirloom seed packet samples will be available to share with those who visit with us! Saturday, March 16, 10-3 PM.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

La chasse pour le plaqueminier indigene (The hunt for the wild persimmon)

Posted on 21 February, 2013 by Carol

Persimmon Tree & Fruit

20 Février, Wednesday

25 degrees F

Cloudy, Winds 5 N

Dreams of the approaching spring linger in these changeable days of February. In anticipation of the upcoming Jardin Potager season at Fort de Chartres, final orders of heirloom seeds are placed, the garden plans reworked, and the tools await sharpening. Soon the time for planning will be past.  As part of my ritual of pre-season preparation I endeavor to bring order to the preserved remains of last year’s garden. Among the chores to be attended to are, clearing and organizing the stillroom and; inventorying last season’s dried herbs, gathered seeds, fruit preserves and brandies. Much to my delight, a dark corner of the room reveals a forgotten bottle containing late fall’s gathered persimmons, slightly bruised, sugared, and lightly spiced-left to mature in fine French brandy.  In a week’s time, the brandy will be ready for decanting and tasting.

Finding this bounty allows me to revisit my ongoing obsession with this native fruit-Diospynos virginiana. While many happy hours are spent in the pursuit of research and cultivation of known 18th century vegetable and fruits of the French culinary traditions in the Illinois country, I am also much enamored of the native offerings of the region, the persimmon tree and fruit being one of many.  The French called the tree plaqueminier or piaqueminier, the fruit-plaquemine. Piakimin, piakimine, piaguimina were the region’s Native American names for the persimmon tree and fruit.  Not being able to successfully cultivate my own stand of persimmon trees, I have been known to stalk this wild native fruit, risking life and limb to gather quantities necessary to explore the 18th century recettes(recipes) which include this recalcitrant native fruit, underappreciated and now oft forgotten.

Persimmon, Michaux

The tree presents an unassuming presence along the forests edge, often on a rocky slope. The persimmon is the only tree in the Illinois country of the Ebony family, its heartwood nearly black, maturing to a height of 30-70 ft. The branches keep a firm grip of the smallish orange fruit, reluctant to give up their bounty.  Often the fruit is not fully ripe until after the first frost, the skin becoming a pale translucent orange with an overcast of light purple. Gathering the fruit from the ground signals its readiness, whether it falls naturally or one helps the process along by shaking the tree. The trick is to gather the now ripe fruit before the wild animals do, as it is a favorite.  The delicious flavor is delicately sweet and its texture similar to a date. Jesuit Jacques Gravier wrote in 1701 that persimmons were “the most delicious fruit that the savages have from the Illinois to the sea.” The experience of tasting an unripe persimmon will leave a lasting impression, the sour astringency forever imprinting the experience in the mouth. Once the fruit is sufficiently ripe, the process for gaining the pulp from the fruit is difficult and messy.  Not quite finished overcoming the persimmon’s intractable nature, one must now remove the many seeds from the pulp, requiring a bit of ingenuity and perseverance, employing a sieve to separate the fruit’s pulp from the attached seeds.

Flying Squirrel with Persimmon, Mark Catesby

For all of the persimmon’s foibles, references abound concerning the native piakimias in the accounts of the Upper, Middle and Lower Mississippi Valleys written by 17th and 18th century French military and religious explorers such as Binneteau, Bossu, Charlevoix, Gravier, and Marest, to name a few. Their letters and journals note the presence of persimmon (the fruit often referred to as medlars or damask plums) throughout the Illinois country and its potential value. Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix, a French Jesuit traveler and historian, in his Journal of a Voyage to North America remarked: “The Piakimine is shaped like a damask plum, though somewhat larger: its skin is tender, its substance watery, and colour red; and has besides a very delicate flavor.”

Tribes of the greater Mississippi River region such as the Osage, Illinois, and Quapaw utilized the fruit in food stuffs such as breads, puddings, and soup. In a late 17th century letter between Father Claude Chauteriere of Montreal to his brother Father P. Jean Chauteriere of Limoges, France states “I send you a piece of bread which has come from a place 500 leagues from here. It comes from the Illinois country; it is made from medlars or services, and has a very good taste.” Missionary Gravier reported receiving persimmon bread from a Quapaw chief: “He made me a present of 2 loves of piakimia, which I distributed among the French.” Military officer Jean-Bernard Bossu also referred to a type of native persimmon (ougoufle) bread, which may have been one of the first prepared foods sold by vendors on the streets of New Orleans. “The bread they make of it looks like gingerbread and it is dried for use on long trips.” Bossu also reports being offered by native hosts a meal of persimmon bread, bear paws, and beaver tails. Medicines were created from the bark and roots which were shared with missionaries and couriers du bois. The dry roasted seeds were used by colonists to make a kind of coffee-like beverage and were sometimes employed in games or weather forecasting. A period recipe from the Southeast instructs that the pulp mixed with bran was used in the making of colonial persimmon beer and there were also many references to persimmon brandy. The wood was valued for its strength and elasticity and was noted in its use for the making of many objects and tools, such as mallets, large screws, wagon chassis, shuttles and bows.

Ripe Persimmon

Exploring the French colonial foodways of the Illinois country, it becomes apparent the French utilized nature’s offerings. Whether through native tribal and slave interaction or intermarriage, local ingredients influenced colonial French cuisine while using traditional food preparation methods such as fricassees, sauces, baking, and preserving. Interestingly, other European colonists of the era seemed to resist the use of native food except when their ability to grow or obtain the known staples of their food culture was restricted. Persimmon fruit would have been a welcome addition to the diet of residents in the Upper Louisiana region, in savory and sweet “made dishes” whether fresh, dried, preserved, or fermented. Period and handed down recipes and narratives of our native persimmon fruit are featured on the Recettes 2013 page of this blog.

As the winter moves toward its completion, there is still time on cold evenings to savor the moment, pour a small glass of sweetly spiced persimmon brandy and be reminded of all the bounty, cultivated and native, present in the Illinois country. The coming spring and the gardening season ahead, will offer new opportunities to explore the colonial and native foods and recipes of those who inhabited this country of the Upper Mississippi called Illinois.

Our annual garden weekend at Fort de Chartres will be held Saturday and Sunday, February 23 and 24. Stop by and visit with a few l’habitants as work is done to prepare the jardin potager for the upcoming growing season, weather permitting. Jardin Potager heirloom seed packet samples will be available.

Information for this post gathered from primary sources:

Jean-Bernard Bossu’s Travels in the Interior of North America 1751-1762

 Journal of a Voyage to North America, Translated from the French of Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix, Vol. ll

The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France, 1610—1791

The North American Sylva (1810), Translated from the French of F. Andrew Michaux

Additional references:

The common persimmon (Diospyros virginiana L.), The history of an underutilized fruit tree (16th-19th centuries), C. H. Briand (2005)

“A Wild Taste”: Food and Colonialism in Eighteenth-Century Louisiana, Shannon Lee Dowdy (2010)

Pigeon Soup and Plover in Pyramids: French Foodways in New France and the Illinois Country, Elizabeth M. Scott (2007)

The native persimmon, by W.F. Fletcher. (1915)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Une bonne et heureuse annee!

Posted on 4 January, 2013 by Carol

4 Janvier, Friday

36 degrees F

Sunny, Winds 5-10 miles SW

“Good and happy year!”-a greeting heard throughout the French communities of the Illinois country in the New Year. Familles visited each other’s homes during the first two weeks of January, giving entrennes, small presents to children, usually of fruits, nuts, cakes or small articles of clothing. Visitors were offered refreshments such as coffee and wine and a selection of desserts.

As meals were prepared for holiday festivities, their menus reflected the successes and failures of the garden season. The women would have preserved and stored many of the fruits and vegetables grown in the past year, presenting them in feasts offered for the holidays and for balls in the coming weeks.

Dried Long Red Cayenne Peppers

Meals offered would reflect the victories of the jardin: cabbage, carrot, melon, onion, pepper, squash, and turnips. If they had the same meager harvest of bean, beet, leek, and peas that we experienced in this past summer and fall harvests, those vegetables would have been absent in the holiday menu, and most likely meat would be scarce as well. The heat and drought of the high summer months reduced crops and stock available to sustain l’habitants as the winter seasons progressed. While the study of the garden plans for the new season continued on the cold and snowy winter nights, hearts, then as now, offered fervent prayers and petitions for a gentler and kinder growing season in the New Year.

As winter continued its progress, la Fete des Rois would arrive on the twelfth day of Christmas. On the eve of this holiday, the first ball was held-Bal des Rois.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Epiphany (1774)

Young girls under the supervision of the matrons prepared the foods for the supper and dance. Making all kinds of savory dishes, the ever-present chicken bouillon, brandied peaches, sweetened nuts, and the regional favorite, les croquinoles-a type of cruller or beignet. One must believe that other cakes and pies such as a tourtière would also be served. In some of the communities, food for feasts was provided from items collected as the revelers travelled door to door in the running of la Guignolée on New Year’s Eve. Refreshments offered during the festivities would have been homemade cordials, wine and a type of ratafia (ratafiaz) for the gentlemen. Upon the closure of the ball, a special cake with four beans kneaded into the dough was served to the young ladies in attendance. The young ladies who received these beans were declared queens and each selected their “king.” After the ladies presented bouquets to their selections, the date was then set for the next ball in the carnival season.

Amis du jardin, celebrate the remainder of this winter season, for soon Lent will be with us and our work in the jardin will begin in earnest.

Snow-Laden CanvasTarps

Information in this post was gathered from regional sources, including the Ida M. Schaaf Collection, Missouri History Museum Archives, St.Louis and Judge Wilson Primm, “New Year’s Day in the Olden Times of St. Louis.”

Regional and French recipes for the holiday season mentioned is this post are located on the Recettes page of this blog. Our annual garden weekend at Fort de Chartres will be held Saturday and Sunday, February 23 and 24. Stop by and visit with l’habitants as work is done to prepare the jardin potager for the upcoming growing season.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Novembre

Posted on 13 November, 2012 by Carol

13 Novembre, Tuesday

Sunny, 47 Degrees F

Light Variable Winds

Late autumn in Upper Louisiana brings cold temperatures and strong winds. November is a time of transition where the bounty of flora gives way to harvest of the region’s fauna.

" Little Blue Heron" Mark Catesby

Quebec-born explorer and missionary priest Jean Fraincois Buisson de St. Comte wrote concerning his travel along the Mississippi in the Illinois Country: “We left the village and travelled about eight leagues between the 29th of November and the 3rd of December. We were detained at the same place by the ice, which completely barred the river. During that time we had an abundance of provisions, no one need fast on that river, so great is the quantity of game of all kinds: swans, bustards*, or duck. The river is bordered by a belt of very fine timber, which is not very wide, so that one soon reaches beautiful prairies, containing number of deer.”  Voyage of St. Cosme, 1698-1699, American Journeys Collection.

Our focus in the jardin shifts from harvesting to preparing the gathered foodstuffs for the winter season ahead. As the tasks of preserving the garden’s vegetables and fruits continue, we also anticipate the coming holiday season, which will feature both the produce and game the Illinois country provides. Through joyous celebrations, we take time to relish life and the Power who grants it, sharing feasts and revelries. As per our wont, our small group of habitants and local Milice, celebrate Martinmas and fall celebrations, and will be in residence in the Guard Room of Fort de Chartres, November 23rd through November 25th.  We will be recreating the experiences of the colonists of the 18thcentury Illinois Country, including firing the stone bake oven and large hearth, providing meals and baked goods of the era, while the inhabitants engage in a number of out-door activities including some informal shooting contests.

John Hancock

As we approach our sojourn, recipes of the season will be posted on the recettes page of this blog. Visitors are welcome to stop by and visit as we explore life in Upper Louisiana in the 18th century.

In the garden yet this fall, work slows its pace to accommodate the approaching winter. The last of the cabbage, peas, radishes, and turnips suffer the November frosts, yet continue to provide and produce. The soil of the garden’s raised beds is awaiting it’s amendment with compost, leaves, and manure. As this work is completed and time weighs the winter hours, check this journal for a new post concerning this author’s ongoing captivation with our native persimmon and its culinary use in the region’s past. This elusive and recalcitrant fruit has such interesting narrative with both colonists and natives alike.

Fall planted Blue Podded Peas

In the meantime, to review the fall’s activities at the jardin or the Fort bake oven, follow the jardin’s facebook site for the most recent images. And of much interest, review author and archeologist Robert Mazrim’s new findings concerning the possibility of a jardin potager outside the walls of the newly discuvered1732 3rd wooden Fort de Chartres (1732)-exciting news, indeed.

A la prochaine!

* “According to their description, they are as large as a bustard, which is a kind of goose, having the neck longer and twice as large as those with us.” Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 02

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

October Heirloom Produce Saturday

Posted on 10 October, 2012 by Carol

You are invited to the Fort de Chartres Jardin Potager and sample the heirloom produce on this season’s final Heirloom Produce Saturday, October 13, 10 AM-Noon. Some produce and recipes available.

Kaskaskia Road

Welcome to our Jardin Potager outside the walls of Fort de Chartres! This garden has been planted in the style of a French l’habitant kitchen garden generally tended by the women of the Illinois Country. Join us in exploring the heirloom vegetables and fruits in our fall garden. Produce currently in season: Beans, Cabbage, Long Red Cayenne Peppers, Pumpkins, Citron Watermelons, and Various Herbs. Jardin Flower & Herb Seed Packets will be available. If this event is rained out, please visit the garden and the bake oven during the fort’s Winter Rendezvous, Nov. 3, for a garden tour and/or bake oven demonstration.

Visit the Recettes page of this blog for 18th century recipes featuring our fall produce.

Antoinette Hancock and Renea Davis

Note: Thank you to all the many visitors, volunteers, and site staff for their efforts at the Pierre Menard Home Birthday Celebration this past Sunday. For more photos and info about this event, check the Jardin’s facebook page. Please like our page and keep abreast of the Jardin and L’Habitant activity this fall. Visit The Southern Illinoisan to view a newspaper article about this event.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Fete de Pierre Menard

Posted on 6 October, 2012 by Carol

7 October, 2012, Demonstration of the

Pierre Menard Home Summer Kitchen

In honor of Pierre Menard

Born, October 7, 1766-Died, June 13, 1844

An invitation is extended to travel to the Illinois country and celebrate Pierre Menard’s birthday at the Pierre Menard Home Historic Site in Ellis Grove, IL. Interpreters will be on hand in the home and in the summer kitchen. A celebratory birthday repast will be prepared featuring: Tourtière, Beef a la Mode,  Cucumbers to Stew, French Chicken Bouillon, Prairie du Rocher Bread, Common Seed Cakes, Lemon Puffs, Colonial Apple Cake, Sponge Cake, Spiced Pecans. Join us for a beautiful fall day and help us remember Illinois’ first lieutenant governor. 10 AM-4 PM, free admission.

Recipes for this event are posted on the Recette page of this blog.

Pierre Menard Home Summer Kitchen

Thank you to the L’Habitants of Fort de Chartres and the Randolph County Historical Society for their participation in this event. We also honor in this event, Linda McDonald, former site staff member.

Now on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fdcjardin

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

En venant de l’automne

Posted on 24 September, 2012 by Carol

24 Septembre, Monday

71 degrees F

Sunny, Light-Moderate Wind SSE

The change of seasons is upon us and with the coming of fall, cooler temperatures and some precipitation have followed. The travails of this past summer season seem almost an unpleasant dream; the memory of unrelenting heat and drought, a nightmare. But as in all things of this world, transition is upon us, and we embrace this new season with a wish for a kinder journey through the months ahead. The fall garden has been planted with beet, carrot, lettuce , pea, radish, spinach, and turnip. We look forward to harvesting and preserving the last harvest of our garden for the winter ahead.

The ability to water the vegetable and herb beds in the midst of a terrible drought was the garden’s saving grace. In some cases, no amount of water could save the plantings of beans, lettuce, leeks—all failing early in the summer. The native garden, located too far from a water source, was another causality of this fierce summer, with very little of the corn, beans, and winter squash surviving. But as always in the garden, as some plants struggle with the conditions fate has delivered in a growing season, others thrive. Crookneck and scallop squashes, watermelons, cucumbers and peppers managed a decent harvest. Cabbages and our red onions also seemed to be relatively unaffected by the harsh conditions, finishing their seasons with good success. Another garden bright spot, withstanding the summer’s heat, the 18th century heirloom flowers planted among our heirloom vegetable and herbs managed to slip through the worst of the heat and continue to bloom this fall.

The approach of cooler temperatures encourages us to step outside and enjoy the fall season in the Illinois country. We will have our last Heirloom Produce Saturday at the Fort de Chartres jardin potager on October 13, 10 AM-Noon. Recettes, seeds and, hopefully, some produce will be available. The weekend previous will be the 3rd annual Save Illinois History Brewfest on Friday, October 5th and Saturday October 6th.  The Brewfest will be held on the Fort grounds with activities featuring 18th  century reenactors, which includes natives, French Marines, British soldiers, and cannon crews. Early in November, the Fort de Chartres French and Indian Winter Rendezvous with accompanying encampments and sutlers, is an open invitation to the public to enjoy the sights and sounds of the 18th century. Please check the events page of this blog for more information concerning these events.

Finally, October 7, a birthday celebration will be held honor of the first lieutenant governor of Illinois Pierre Menard in the Pierre Menard Home State Historic Site in Ellis Grove, IL. Actually, this event is being held in honor of two special persons, Pierre Menard and former Menard Home site staff member, Linda McDonald. Pierre Menard’s successful contributions to the Illinois country are well documented and well known. Earlier this summer, staff member Linda McDonald proposed a birthday celebration to be held this fall honoring this legendary merchant and statesmen of Illinois. Plans were finalized but Linda suddenly became ill and passed away shortly thereafter. Not only Pierre Menard will be remembered in this event, but Linda’s contributions as well. In her quiet way, she was earnest in her support of this region’s history—always interested, sincere, and helpful. She will be missed.

This event is to be held on October 7, 10 AM-4 PM, and is sponsored by the site staff and Randolph County Historical Society. Interpreters of the Menard Home will be on hand to greet the public. A cooking and baking demonstration will take place in the Menard Home summer kitchen, by the friends of the Fort de Chartres jardin and bake oven. A celebratory birthday meal of the period will be prepared featuring the kitchen’s hearth and bake oven. Take an afternoon’s drive through the beautiful terrain of the Illinois country and join us as we remember the past, enjoy the present, and look forward to the new seasons of the future.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Summer Heirloom Produce Saturday

Posted on 10 August, 2012 by Carol

You are invited to the Fort de Chartres Jardin Potager and sample heirloom produce on our next Heirloom Produce Saturday, September 8, 10 AM-Noon. Some produce and recipes available. Please note: Due to a heavy rain prediction for this Saturday, September 1, we have moved our event to September 8.

Welcome to our Jardin Potager outside the walls of Fort de Chartres! This garden has been planted in the style of a French l’habitant kitchen garden generally tended by the women of the Illinois Country. Join us in exploring the heirloom vegetables and fruits in our garden.

Last Heirloom Saturday, 18 August

Produce currently in season: Cucumber, Summer Squash, Watermelon, Various Herbs

Jardin Flower & Herb Seed Packets will be available.

Visit the Recettes page of this blog for 18th century recipes featuring our summer produce.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Chaleur D’Eté

Posted on 29 June, 2012 by Carol

Cornflowers

28 June, Thursday

104 degrees F

Sunny, Light S winds

Weeding and watering early this morning, the jardin is struggling in the oppressive heat. Spring in the bottom land of the Mississippi River saw very little rain and has made the challenge of gardening in these extreme conditions a real struggle. Much time has been spent watering and nurturing the last of the spring harvests and proceeding cautiously with planting for the summer ahead. The garden managed to produce fair amounts of asparagus, beet, lettuce, radish, and spinach in May and early June. Our gooseberries, peas, and later sowing of lettuce and radish were causalities of the constant climbing temperatures and dryness. Our seed germination rates tumble as the temperatures rise. As an example, seeds of lettuce rarely germinate when temperatures reach 80 degrees. As a precaution, I have decided to leave two White Doyenne heirloom pear trees heeled in a garden bed, to be held until the fall when cooler air returns and they can be safely planted in our small growing orchard. Currently the red onions and cabbages are reaching their prime, and we scramble to make sure the remaining plants have enough water to reach the completion of their season. Work now focuses on nurturing the new growth of beans, cucumber, melons, and squash in these unrelenting conditions.

Suffering the travails of this climate does not dim the beauty of the land and helps one accept the notion of each year progressing at its own tempo. Life and the garden will continue to move through the maze of days, no matter our desires and participation. The season’s cycle dictates whether each plant thrives or declines, depending on the moisture and temperature of the year’s rhythm. And so it has ever been, in spite of the hardships of this region’s climate, the inherent quality of the land was much remarked upon by early visitors to the area. Reading early accounts of the Illinois Country, one is struck by the universal admiration of the beauty and harvests of the land.

André Penicaut, in service as a carpenter of the King’s ships, ascended the Mississippi from the French outposts of the Gulf of Mexico in 1711, and seven years before the founding of New Orleans wrote: “This region . . . is one of the finest of all of Louisiana and possesses some of the richest soil. There is wheat that is as good as French wheat, and there are all sorts of vegetables, tubers, and herbs. . . “ Continuing, he remarks, “This country is one of the most beautiful in all Louisiana. Every kind of grain and vegetables are produced here in the greatest abundance. It is in this country that you may behold the most magnificent prairies in the world.”

Traveling through the Illinois Country, one cannot but see the blessings of the land and be comforted by it. As we work to fulfill the promise of this land, one can only reflect upon those that first settled here. We echo the prayers of those who have preceded us and struggled under adverse conditions. We remain ever hopeful, that a new day will bring much needed relief in temperature and precipitation to allow us to cultivate and share in the bounty of the Illinois Country.

On Saturday, July 7, 10 AM-Noon, you are invited to the Fort de Chartres Jardin Potager and explore our early summer heirloom garden. I will have six or seven varieties of heirloom flower and herb seeds harvested from the jardin available for those interested. Please check the Evénements au Fort de Chartres page of this blog for information. Look for newly posted recipes for Cabbage and Apples and Carrot Pudding on the Recettes page.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment