Castle Life

Discovering our permaculture vegetable garden

At Château de Maubreuil, every season is an opportunity to discover the riches nature has to offer. In the heart of 14 hectares of greenery redesigned to create themed gardens, an aviary, an orchard, vineyards and a citrus grove, for the past year our team of gardeners has been working on a permaculture mandala vegetable garden, where fruit and vegetables mingle in joyful balance.

Inspired by Hindu and Buddhist culture, in which the Sanskrit word "Mandala" means "sacred circle", the mandala is seen as a tool for meditation and contemplation. The Mandala vegetable garden is an adaptation of this concept, creating a garden organized in concentric circles, conducive to meditation and reflection.

The garden has been designed with the help of a system of tubs and metal flat iron to facilitate the management and maintenance of the crop beds. It is managed as a living soil vegetable garden, so as not to turn the soil over, but to always add matter so that the soil becomes mineralized and can be transformed into organic matter. The vegetable garden is controlled by an automated drip system, with a spout for each planting bed to manage the quantity of water per square metre.

In our permaculture mandala vegetable garden, our gardeners have chosen to increase the number of plant varieties and species per square metre, with the aim of promoting biodiversity and encouraging symbiosis between plants.

As a result, we limit our maintenance, weeding and pest control.

This summer, edible flowers, herbs, tomatoes, zucchinis, beet, peas and broad beans are being grown in the kitchen garden. These different varieties are then transformed by our kitchen team into delicious dishes to be enjoyed in our gourmet restaurant.