Product Description

From a picturesque village in Provence comes this enchanting portrait of the restoration of an ancient walled herb garden.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1163244 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

From Booklist
It was, quite simply, a labor of love, this restoration of a medieval walled garden in the remote French village of Saint Montan. Acclaimed food writer Holt traded in her spatula for a shovel and embarked on a year-long reclamation of ground once tended by the village curate. Overgrown with weeds, abandoned and unloved, the plot is slated to become a public park, but Holt convinces the village elders to let her return the garden to its former glory as a public potager, renewed with authentic plants and native herbs. Aided by the bonhomie of the villagers, who share snips and cuttings from their own gardens, and the bonne chance of a benevolent Mediterranean climate, Holt succeeds in creating a haven of fragrance and beauty. Month by month, she chronicles her efforts, sharing both her landscape design and her list of plants. With an infectious joie de vivre, Holt conveys her passion for the land and its people in a delightful diary that is equal parts travelogue and garden guide. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
“Among the book’s bonuses are the list of plants she used and the planting "map" of the garden.” -- Victoria

From the Publisher
In Diary of a French Herb Garden, English food writer Geraldene Holt tells the captivating story of how she came to restore an ancient walled garden in a beautiful village deep in the Ardèche region of France. The reader then accompanies the author through all the stages of re–making the garden—from the construction of its cobbled footpath and stone bridge, and the discovery of its ancient irrigation system, to the eventual planting of the first herbs. Equally beguiling are the stories of the villagers and the many ways in which they use the herbs that thrive in the Provençal climate. Holt’s lively narrative follows the gardening year, month by month, offering helpful tips to those inspired to grow their own aromatic and culinary herbs. Illustrated throughout with delicate engravings, Diary of a French Herb Garden is a book that will charm gardeners, cooks, and Francophiles alike.

Customer Reviews

Stop and Smell the Lavendar
What a wonderful premise: leave soggy Brittain for sunny Provence and create a community herb garden in the old curate's garden in a village that dates to the middle ages. If you like to garden, and if you like the French, then this book is truly a good read (especially this wet winter).

Holt takes you through all the steps (in sequence) that she went through to renovate this curate's garden in a year; from convincing the local authorities to allow her to do it (for free, of course), all the way through laying down the local scree as a path. Oh, and in between is building a Roman stone bridge.

Holt's style is easy to read -- unlike many other gardening books by Brits. She uses botanical names as well as common names so you can follow along with her. There are no pictures in the book, so you have to use your imagination, and I think it really works well in this book.

But do not dispare! There is a nice diagram in the back of the book, with the complete planting plan, too, which is a nice touch if you have a Mediterranean garden of your own to tend.

But back to style. This book makes me want to read other works from the author. She writes with a definite voice. Her writing is crisp and clear without being dry. She takes a few side trips, such as explaining how to distill lavendar oil, or make wreathes from bay leaves. But as this is a diary of garden, everything is pertinent and personal.

This is not a "precious" garden book -- despite the poetic cover; you will learn things along the way and be charmed at the same time.