home garden inspiration at the french laundry

A wrong turn in search for an outdoor spot to eat our picnic yesterday dropped us into the outdoor kitchen garden of  3-star Michelin,  award-winning restaurant The French Laundry in Yountville, Napa Valley.

My husband is a home gardening enthusiast – and I, a garden-eating enthusiast – so we were thrilled at our luck at this chance encounter to experience world-class methods and perhaps take a few tips home. With a mix of garden envy and awe, we wandered through the carefully laid out plots in between grass pathways. They are producing unbelievably beautiful vegetables, fruit, flowers and herbs.

I’ve read that in addition to being a professional test garden, the garden supplies around 30 percent of the The French Laundry’s produce. The restaurant is housed in a beautiful historic building that was once – you guessed it - a french steam laundry.

 

The restaurant’s organic garden grows many different kinds of vegetables and fruit and also tests unique plants. I walked past artichokes, lettuce, corn, eggplant,  three different kinds of basil and other herbs new to me, a variety of peppers and white strawberries. There were chickens and a bee house.

And then there were the tomatoes. We needed to find out what was in this soil to produce those tomatoes. The staff we talked to said they utilize crop rotation and organic compost – with chicken manure. There are perfectly placed drip tubes and tapes.

Enter the greenhouse where tomato vines are giant and tomatoes works of art.

The vines show off their supersized health.

The method of planting close together and meticulously stringing the vines up from top (see white string above)  are ideas we will take home.

The ice lettuce with hints of purple is beautiful covering.

The vegetables make room for flowers – many edible and used in the menu.

Freshly picked heirloom tomatoes, presumably for customers that night.

 

 Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry has earned its title as one of the  world’s best restaurants. The gardens, without doubt, are world class. Visiting them,  you will return home with fresh inspiration for your own garden.

Do you have a favorite public garden?

unjarred

One of the good habits I brought back with me from Italy and have kept up – unlike ironing – is how I cook. More specifically, this refers to food items that I now make myself instead of purchase in a jar. They include salad dressing and a basic tomato sauce. Why? They taste better. You know exactly what is inside them. And it feels good. When it comes to the basics, it’s quite easy to pass up the jar and do it yourself.

Vinaigrette salad dressing: Pour a cup of extra virgin olive oil into a small bowl (local if possible tastes the best, in my opinion. We get our olive oil at the local farmers market and it comes from the olive orchards in Corning, Northern California). Pour half cup of red wine vinegar (any will do). Add dried oregano, a small teaspoon of dijon mustard, a few teaspoons of honey, a garlic clove (or less, depending on your taste) chopped finely, and salt and pepper. Whisk together in a small bowl or shake in a jar. Play with the amounts and see what works for you. Tonight we tossed our dressing with our own lettuce and arugula from the backyard garden, and it tasted heavenly!

Basic summer tomato sauce: Place peeled, diced, very ripe Roma-style tomatoes (in can – we like Italbrand - or from the garden or market) in a pan. Salt and cook tomatoes until the water is mostly evaporated. (Americans like sauce runny, Italians do not. I side with the Italians on this one.) At the end of cooking, add a bit of extra virgin olive oil and hand-torn basil.  If the tomatoes are good quality and well matured, the sauce will be delicious. It’s all about the ingredients. Use as a basic sauce to add to, or as is, mixed with spaghetti or pasta of your choice.

Buon appetito!

next up nature’s art

I’m not a gardener. I find it difficult to water the only two flowerpots that sit on our doorstep. That’s why I love succulents. But I also love to visit gardens and envy all master gardeners. In almost every town I’ve lived in there are public gardens and arboretums, and garden tours during Spring. Now is the perfect time to forego indoor museums and enjoy nature’s art outside.

 Two of my favorite gardens from our time living on Lago di Garda (Italy)  come to mind.

1. Il Giardino di Delizia

Held at the grounds of Palazzo Bettoni Cazzago in Bogliaco di Gargnano, these gardens are candy for the eyes. There are breathtaking views, colors, and –  above all – Amazing Garden Architecture set behind the backdrop of Italy’s biggest and   (although the Como/Maggiore fans may not agree)  most beautiful lake. This is one of those try-not-to-compare-to-what-you-have-back-home places. And-yes-we-did-live-10 minutes-from-here-and-please-don’t-ask-me-again-why-we-ever-left-such-a-wonderful-place.

Mediterranean climate plants are on display on multiple levels of the garden, and available for sale to the public. From the web site, it looks like the exhibitors are now selling fruit, herbs and olive oil. There are music concerts, guided visits and gardening workshops. If you find yourself in this part of Italy this month and enjoy garden touring, it’s being held the 21st and 22nd of May this year. Go!

Here I am very pregnant at Il Giardino di Delizia. Look behind Giant Tummy and you’ll see the beautiful  palazzo and lake.

2. Heller (sometimes referred to Hruska) Botanical Garden

This is another favorite  garden. It is located in Gardone Riviera on Lago di Garda next door to Italian writer Gabriele d’Annunzio’s Il Vittoriale villa (merits its own post). The garden features artwork with sculptures ( my newest love and the direction I want to take our own little garden) by internationally known artists such as Keith Haring. The gardens, owned by the ‘André Heller’ Foundation since 1998, was created by Arturo Hruska, who  collected approximately 500 species of plants, also recreating their natural environments and microclimates. I especially loved the tropical aquatic plants decorating  Japanese ponds (there is a huge variety of succulent and subtropical plants), and a forest of bamboo – something that looks out of place at the lake, but is part of the appeal for me. Unlike the first, this garden is open year round.

Have you toured a garden recently? Do tell.