I visited the French Laundry vegetable garden, located in Yountville (in the Napa Valley) with some gardening friends yesterday morning. It’s located directly across the street from The French Laundry restaurant. What I didn’t realize is that it is open to the public so anyone can visit it at any time. You’re likely to run into Erin or Kate, the two managers of the 3 acre culinary garden who work tirelessly to supply the three local Thomas Keller restaurants: The French Laundry, Bouchon and Ad Hoc.
At the entrance you will find a legend on a wooden stand, listing the specific vegetables which are planted in the garden – and where. Lift up the top of this stand and you will find copies of the layout for you to take home with you. They’ve thought of everything.
The culinary gardening team uses seeds from (primarily) two sources: Johnny’s Seeds and my favorite new discovery, Seed Savers Exchange. Kate, our guide this morning, said that she anticipates they will have an even stronger relationship with Seed Savers in the future. They are aligned with Seed Saver’s mission and already save many of their seeds.
The culinary garden has a gigantic hoop house where they grow all of their own starts. (Green with envy…). A large table brimming with flats of beautiful micro greens greet you as you enter the hoop house.
Just beyond that, there is a full section of cucamelon, which is a favorite of Thomas Keller we were told. The small little fruit (pictured below) bursts with the flavor of a sweet cantelope. There is also a large collection of gorgeous tomatoes, most closely related to ‘Early Girl’ tomatoes who prefer to be inside. (Another post to follow on their tomatoes).
You’ll find an insane amount of food growing there and you will immediately ask yourself, “Who harvests all of this and what do they do with all of this food?!?” Kate said that they not only supply their three local restaurants, but they supply excess to the Napa Food Bank and will be selling their excess in their first-ever retail store in Yountville for their homemade artisanal products, Finesse. As for who harvests it all, they are short-handed and are interested in hiring if you know of someone looking for a job.
Currently, they are growing over 40 varieties of tomatoes, and several varieties of beans, squashes, carrots, eggplant, peppers (like the beautiful ‘Cornito Rossa’ from Johnny’s Seeds below), onions, beets, artichokes, cucumbers, and spices. They’re about to plant potatoes.
Their garden also boasts chicken coops with Ameraucana and other laying hens, as well as bee hives, set up and managed by the Napa Valley bee expert, Rob Keller (no relation).
In summary, this is a superb vegetable garden that you must visit while in the Napa Valley. The fact that they have opened this to visitors is incredible. Thanks Thomas Keller for creating such a spectacular garden and thanks for the great morning, Kate!
This post was originally published in 2016. After my visit to the garden again over the weekend, I was reminded of just how fabulous this vegetable garden is – and felt compelled to re-post. Be sure to put this garden on your list if you’re in the Napa Valley!
