One of the members of Permies.com posted this fascinating article last week:
Peaches grown right here in Paris? Believe it or not, centuries ago, Paris became home to a thriving peach farming industry that produced up to 17 million fruits a year– and even today, a little-known community of cultivators are still growing them in the very same orchards.
Established during the seventeenth century, in a prominent neighbourhood of the eastern edge of Paris known as Montreuil, a 300 hectare maze walls and agricultural plots provided a unique and unlikely microclimate for the fruit, normally suited for cultivation in warmer areas such as France’s Mediterranean coast.
The peculiar architecture, known as “Murs à pêches”, wall for peaches,
served to protect peach trees planted near the walls and adapt them to a much colder environment than the fruit is typically used to (READ THE REST)
served to protect peach trees planted near the walls and adapt them to a much colder environment than the fruit is typically used to (READ THE REST)
See all the walls? This is how I grow Key Limes here in N. Florida. They make a perfect gardening microclimate. Here’s a video I created on my tropical south wall garden:
The “peach walls” idea requires a lot of infrastructure, certainly, but it does make you think, doesn’t it? This book is quite helpful in thinking through some of the microclimate gardening possibilities:
Grand dreams aside, there’s likely a space on your property that will support species that don’t normally thrive in your region. Your job is to find it. And plant something!
One response to “The Power of a Gardening Microclimate: Peaches in Paris”
Interesting stuff. The French have always been gardening wizards. I seem to remember reading that king Louis XIV had a garden of orange trees planted in large boxes so they could be moved indoors during winter