The French classes at HMMS are working on turning at least half the garden into
un champ de blé (a wheat "field"). We dug lots of weeds and planted three small beds with six different heritage wheat varieties from France. We will plant more in the spring and more again next fall. These first beds are trial plots to see what grows well. We are hoping that the seed germinates.
France is known for its
boulangeries (bakeries) selling fresh bread daily in every city and town all over the country. There are many
paysans-boulangers (farmer-bakers) who grow their own wheat and then turn it into delicious
pain au levain (sourdough bread). That's what we would like to do.
These paysans-boulangers grow
des variétés anciennes de blé (heritage varieties of wheat) that are nutritious, delicious, and extraordinarily beautiful. These old varieties have almost been lost and forgotten but are coming back thanks to these farmer-bakers and other farmers and bakers in many different parts of the world and country, including Vermont and Quebec.
Speaking of Quebec, we will also be turning another corner of the garden into "le coin québécois" where we will be growing a variety of heritage crops from Quebec.
For more about the French heritage wheat (le blé ancien de France) and the Quebec Corner (le coin québécois), click on the tabs above.
French students in the garden
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| 6th graders digging and pulling weeds |
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| 7th graders planting wheat |
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| 6th graders weeding |
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| 8th graders fine-tuning the bed prep |
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| 8th graders preparing beds for planting |
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| Potatoes for the Haven |
We also dug 29 pounds of potatoes for the Haven food shelf. Later we will harvest some dry beans and winter squash and plant some garlic.
