Join Carol Kuntz, volunteer curator of the Fort de Chartres Jardin Potager, and Jennifer Duensing, of Illinois Country Harvest Farm, on Saturday, May 16 from 10 a.m.–2 p.m., in the Jardin Potager (kitchen garden) at Fort de Chartres State Historic Site for a talk and demonstration on natural garden supports.
Kuntz will explain the traditional apple-tree espalier system used around the jardin potager. This ancient horticultural method widely practiced in 18th-century French kitchen gardens and across Europe, trained fruit trees to grow flat in flat planes against fences or frames, creating living walls that saved space, increased fruit production, and added beauty to formal garden designs.
For more on the demonstration, please see this week’s print edition.