On the Carces Plant Fair in May 2018 we met Mr. Ferry Vlaar with his collection of herbs. We were so impressed by the variety and quality of the herbs that we said to each other 'it would be a good venue for our garden group to visit his serre'. After a bit of research by Sue we found out his address and were able to contact him to plan our visit.
The two people who started La Serre du Plan are:
Ferry Vlaar, originally from The Netherlands, whilst studying for his mechanical engineering degree, to earn some extra money, worked for a tulip grower. One day the owner asked him if he would be interested joining him in a venture 'growing tulips in the south of France'. He accepted the offer and arrived in Carqueiranne in 1993. The collaboration did not work out in the end but Ferry Vlaar stayed on in France continuing to produce tulips and other cut flowers.
Alexandra Stihl Vlaar, originally from Germany, comes from a family of horticulturists and more or less grew up in a greenhouse so to speak. After her horticultural diploma, to gain more experience she worked in the production of ornamental flowers with all that entails. In 1993 she as well decided to move to the south of France and initially worked for a company that produced plugs, young plants.
In 1995 the two met and started working and living together. In 1997 they married and up to 2009 they grew flowers and foliage for cut flower industry. For commercial reasons they stopped and started what they are doing today.
They moved to La Garde and opened 'La Serre de Plan', Alexandra in charge of growing herbs and Ferry grows strawberries, forever searching for the tastiest and largest varieties.
Strawberry variety 'Charlotte', Ferry Vlaar's new selection, sweet, juicy and large
To make growing herbs from seed easier, circular disks with inbedded seeds are available for the industry. The disks and pots are of an exact fit.
Basil from seedlings to plants:
Purple Basil
Alexandra grows 8 different varieties of chillies with varying degrees of hotness. Below is the Scale of Scoville that measures the pungency of the chillies.
A new variety this year, 7 on the Scoville Scale
Another interesting herb is Vietnamese Coriander. It tastes quite a lot like Coriander although it belongs to a total different family. Its Latin name is Persicaria odorata
After our visit which was very successful as well for La Serre du Plan as for us (everyone of us bought several plants), Alexandra served coffee and Sue had brought along her delicious carrot cake and shortbread biscuits equally nice.
Ferry Vlaar will be at the following foires in 2019:
Photos: Gillian Philips, Mavis McQuade and La Serre du Plan
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