L'Art Du Potager | Mickaël Vincent | TEDxVezins
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWfnk1qRJac Video ID: YWfnk1qRJac ============================================================ Translator: Kate Kirk Reviewer: Elisabeth Buffard Sowing, gardening, tasting, this is the art of the kitchen garden. As a gardener, my job is to love the land. 17 million gardening enthusiasts tend their own gardens today. But what seems like a significant figure has fallen sharply in less than a century, and now represents only 35% of the population. Why? How did we get to this figure? Because feeding ourselves is a daily occupation. Harvesting has existed since prehistoric times. The Incas began to cultivate the land in order to eat vegetables that were more refined, such as corn, squash, beans. Until now, evolution has led us to somewhat lose the kitchen garden, that was in front of our houses, turned it into an ornamental garden, much appreciated today, but this land is no longer a source of nourishment. I was lucky enough to be given a handful of seeds by my grandfather, which I went and hid all over the garden. And a few days later - you learn patience, one of the skills of the vegetable grower - you discover that small leaves, called cotyledons, have sprouted from the seeds. Day after day, if you give it a little bit of water, a little bit of heat, obviously, when you pull it up, you get a root system like this, a radish. We are lucky enough to be able to eat this radish, and to share it. Just like that, it became my passion, a real profession, since I studied in various schools, from local schools, to highly specialized institutions. These qualifications allowed me to acquire experience that I put at the service of various castles, including Versailles, where I stayed for five years. Five years in which I was able to work with a team, the vegetable garden team, where we grew about 400 different plants, vegetables, herbs, and edible plants. These five years really enriched me. One day, the management summoned me to their offices to send me to the Colbert vegetable garden in France, where they had just recreated a vegetable garden from the 18th century, where everything had to be restored in connection with the gourmet restaurant at Château Colbert. A garden of 8,000 square meters, designed in a French style, with 32 plots. On these plots, I had the chance to create different designs, to organize the vegetables along really precise lines. I was lucky enough to be able to combine flowers and herbs and wilder plants that would be useful to the fauna and flora, to pollinating insects. Without production goals, we managed to yield two tons of produce, which was served in the restaurant throughout the year, including small flowers such as borage, cosmos, and nasturtium, which enhance each dish, but also vegetables that are, shall we say, ugly - a word that I don’t necessarily like to use - that can be transformed, as they were by our grandparents. We salvage gardens that, commercially, aren’t beautiful, but have real flavor, as they have been drawing nutrients from the soil. So that’s my everyday life. An activity that has been recognized at a national level, as the SNHF, Société Nationale d’Horticulture de France, named this garden the most beautiful kitchen garden in France in 2016 and 2021. It is a real source of pride to have these awards today. My role today is really to pass on, as my grandfather passed on to me, this passion, this profession, to future generations. To preserve ancient varieties of seeds to give them to our children and, above all, to protect the land, to maintain healthy soil, so that they can continue to cultivate it. The garden today continues to evolve, as it always has done, generation after generation. We’ll have the odd vegetable that crops up in the ornamental beds. We’ll have herbs very close to the kitchen, So that we can flavor a dish with basil, parsley or chives, cherry tomatoes very close to the terrace so that, during the aperitif, you can wander around picking them. I want to tell you today: cultivate the land in an ornamental way, because it is essential, but also nourishing. Tomorrow, we do not know what will happen, but the vital thing is to perpetuate the knowledge that has been passed down to us, to be able to eat thanks to this land. If I chose to have this little friend with me today, it’s because, without soil, without anything, it started to grow. Meaning that if I put it in the ground, it will give me a multitude of fruits. If I had to go off to an island today, I would leave with my old favorites, a handful of radish seeds and a few potatoes to provide food. So, at home, dare to garden! Enjoy yourselves! There aren’t really any rules. In cooking, you really have to pay attention to every gram. In the garden, look for pleasure. I find it when I share my knowledge in schools with children, when you feel that positive energy, the smile that comes from completely disregarding precision when it comes to the distance or depth of the seed. But the result is there. If you have positive energy when you put the seed into the ground, the result will always end up on the plate, for the well-being of your body, but also for the well-being of your mind. (Applause)