Author: heckerti

Le Potager du Roi

March 28, 2025 / heckerti

On our last day in France, we visited Le Potager du Roi, the little-known technical gardens within the larger decorative gar

The entrance to the tunnels, overseen by the statue of Jean-Baptiste de la Quintinie. Image courtesy of Isabella Heckert (2025).

dens at the Palace of Versailles. Created for Louis XIV’s own kitchens by the lawyer Jean-Baptiste de la Quintinie, they have been used to perfect tree and vegetable gardening techniques for centuries. The gardens, which once hosted elaborate growing infrastructure such as hot water heated greenhouses with coffee plants and thousands of fig trees in wooden boxes, are organized in circles around a central fountain. A system of tunnels runs below the gardens. Today, they are used for storage, but in Louis XIV’s time they were hiding places for the gardeners when the king wished to view his gardens from his terraces.

Many of the innovative techniques used by Le Potager du Roi today predate even the gardens themselves. The “espalier” technique, which was developed by the Romans, involves planting trees against walls to retain heat and extend the growing season. This is usually done with fruit trees, which can live for over 150 years in espalier formation (Wisconsin Horticulture). Espalier planting can also be practiced with fencing instead of walls for a similar result, as seen surrounding the garden plots. The result is that all sorts of crops, including beans, potatoes, tomatoes, and many types of fruit, can be grown year round.

The view of the gardens from the terrace. Image courtesy of Isabella Heckert (2025).

However, much of the original infrastructure of the gardens, including the figs, were destroyed in the “rationalization” efforts of the 20^th century. The horticultural school switched focus to agricultural engineering and many of the historical elements were lost. Today, the gardens are working to restore the “patrimony” of Le Potager du Roi using the palace’s extensive archives. For example, the gardeners are currently trying to restore the hundreds of species of apples and pears that were once grown in the potager using maps and records of what was planted during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV. The horticultural school has also switched focus again, and is now training gardeners to work in historical and city-based spaces with “sensibility” for the cultural heritage of each site.

An example of the espalier technique on the fence surrounding a garden plot. Image courtesy of Isabella Heckert (2025).

It is ironic how Le Potager du Roi, which were created to provide food only for the king of France, now practices the same sustainable agriculture techniques as the urban, training, and community farms we visited throughout France. They practice cover cropping, agroforestry, crop rotation, and, as a publicly owned site, have always been organic. Their produce is now sold in the local boutique or to the many producers in France who transform crops to finished products. Inequality was built into the very structure of the garden, with its terraces and tunnels, and now they are open to the public. I felt this was an extremely fitting end to our exploration of the many ways French food systems are becoming more environmentally and socially sustainable, and find myself feeling hopeful for the changes yet to come.

Sources

Marh, S. (N.D.) Espalier. Wisconsin Horticulture, Division of Extension. University of Wisconsin-Madison. https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/espalier/,

Rooftop Gardens at the Opéra Bastille

March 28, 2025 / heckerti

Hidden on the rooftop terraces of Opéra Bastille, 2,500 m²of gardens provide hyperlocal fruits, vegetables, and edible flowers to the restaurants, grocery stores, and producers of Paris. Spread across four terraces, these gardens are part of a citywide effort to add green spaces to the built environment. There are several benefits to doing this, such as reducing the urban heat bubble effect. The Opéra Bastille is typically two to four degrees hotter than the rest of Paris, and in the summer, temperatures can be as many as ten degrees hotter. Introducing plants to the heat-absorbing slate rooftops helps to combat this issue by providing shade and reducing atmospheric CO₂. They also create “green corridors” which aid biodiversity and migration amongst birds and insects in Paris. This is definitely working at the Bastille, as I saw more insects – including bees – here than in any other part of Paris I’ve visited so far, including ground level gardens.

One of the terraces on the Opéra Bastille. Protective netting covers some onions, while beds of herbs are left uncovered. In the background, planting structures for shade providing beans are waiting for the growing season. Photo courtesy of Isabella Heckert (2025).

Crops, like the fava beans shown in this photo, are delivered by bicycle to two grocery stores, two restaurants, and small scale producers in Paris. Image courtesy of Isabella Heckert (2025).

But how does it all work? On the Bastille, layers of waterproof fabric, clay balls, and substrate combine to create a workable growing medium. Since soil is too heavy for the rooftop, the 15 cm of substrate that coats the entire rooftop is made of compost, clay, and lightweight volcanic rock. Another 15 cm of substrate is added to the growing beds for a total of 30 cm of usable growing medium, deep enough for root vegetables like carrots. Their growing capacities are limited by location and space, though – one of the two terraces we visited are only accessible by a spiral staircase and the other through a complicated series of tight hallways, stairs, and mechanical rooms. The gardeners must move their materials by hand, so progress is slow. This also means that the gardens are inaccessible to opera employees. Visitors can only see the gardens if they book a tour, like we did. Ironically, the two other biggest challenges are heat and pests, namely birds and insects. Gardeners must carefully choose heat-resistant crops and plant them to maximize shade, so that the extreme urban heat doesn’t damage the plants. They must also keep them covered to prevent them from being eaten by birds and insects. Another tactic to reduce pests is only planting crops in in the same space every four years, to prevent pest cycles from forming.

The Opéra Bastille gardens are especially intriguing because, as we have noticed throughout Paris, most of the farmer’s markets that people rely on for fresh fruit and vegetables sell produce from other countries. Urban agriculture projects like this one help to fill that gap by growing organic produce in the same city where they will be sold (Eliette Whittaker’s field notes (3/24/2025). Especially with the new laws promoting green spaces in Paris rooftop gardens like this one have great potential for helping short chain food systems take hold in urban environments where they would not usually appear. And, of course, one final point of interest is the view from the top!

The view from the highest terrace on the Opéra Bastille. Image courtesy of Isabella Heckert (2025).

Gastronomic meal with Cécile

March 18, 2025 / heckerti

Cécile’s kitchen tiles. Image courtesy of Isabella Heckert (2025).

Last Sunday, my classmates and I had the unique experience of sharing a traditional French gastronomic meal with the host families of Dickinsonians studying abroad in Toulouse. Gastronomic meals, which are eaten to mark special occasions, are elaborate and strictly structured, making them as much a celebration of French cuisine as of the occasion itself (UNESCO, n.d.).

Jenn, Dinela, Isaac, and I were hosted by Cécile and her Dickinson student, Emily. We were joined by Cécile’s friend, Laurence, who was visiting from London. Our meal differed from traditional gastronomic meals, as some of us don’t eat meat and others don’t drink alcohol. This gave us the opportunity to see how modern French families are adapting tradition to fit their needs. We began with bubbly, non-alcoholic beer, and juice for apéritif, along with pastries, crackers, avacado, and cherry tomatoes. Instead of the Sunday roast Cécile would usually make, she prepared a vegetarian cheese and leek quiche. As Laurence noted, this is a very popular dish, making our meal just as quintessentially French as if we had eaten meat. We also had two types of green salads with nuts and dried fruits, and a lentil and carrot dish similar to the daals Cécile often makes for herself. As Cécile prefers a more casual meal, the entrées and main dishes were served at the same time, family-style instead of the typical structure of individual courses.

Compost outside Cecile’s apartment. Image courtesy of Dinela Dedic, [photo], 16 March 2025.

As we ate, we discussed sustainability within the French food system. Cécile and Laurence had very different ideas on what makes a meal sustainable than the ones we’ve been discussing in class. For example, they are both skeptical of organic foods. They don’t believe they are environmentally friendly, as organic foods can still be grown with chemicals and industrial agricultural methods, and the organic products in supermarchés look “too perfect.” As Cécile said, for a food to be truly organic, “it has to be a bit brown, a bit broken down.” She chooses only shop at markets in order to find the best vendors for each product and, to lower her carbon footprint, chooses locally grown produce. Laurence, on the other hand, has engineered her cooking practices so that she has no food waste whatsoever. She buys small amounts of food and never cooks more food than necessary, choosing to eat cheese or dessert if she’s hungry after meals.

Logo for Les Alchimistes, the national company that manages the compost at Cécile’s apartment. Image from Les Alchimistes [logo], Les Alchimistes, n.d.

The key to their sustainability mindset seems to be incorporating good practices into their lifestyles so that sustainability becomes automatic. A wider scale example of this is Cécile’s apartment building’s composting system. Outdoor composters are accessible to all residents, who have individual compost collection bins in each of their homes. The bins in the backyard serve as “nudges,” prompting residents to separate their waste (Raworth, 2023). As a result, composting is no longer a conscious choice but an easy part of residents’ routines. These nudges show that both individuals and communities have fluid values that can be changed if their environments change, giving me hope for sustainable change in other French neighborhoods and beyond (Raworth, 2023).

Sources

Raworth, K. (2023.) Donut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21^st-Century Economist. Chelsea Green Publishing.

UNESCO. n.d. Gastronomic meal of the French. https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/gastronomic-meal-of-the-french-00437?RL=00437.

Food is…. Draft

February 26, 2025 / heckerti

To me, food is more a source of community than a source of fuel. It is how my family comes together and how I care for the people around me. I’m almost embarrassed to say how much my life revolves around it.

Photo of chocolate lava cakes, topped with grated orange peel.

Lava cakes for my mom’s birthday. Photo taken by Isabella Heckert, Dec. 31, 2024.

Sustainability is harder to define. At the most basic level, it is about ensuring that everyone alive today has all of the resources they need to have a good life while also ensuring that future generations have the same resources. This means that it’s necessary to balance human needs against those of the environment, as well as wants against needs.

A sustainable food system, the, is one that grows and distributes food fairly. The way the food is grown should not only avoid harm but give back to the environment with regenerative agricultural practices. It also ensures the well being of all of those who work within the system.

Le Potager du Roi

Rooftop Gardens at the Opéra Bastille

Gastronomic meal with Cécile

Food is…. Draft

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