Ile-de-France district

Situated on sandy, damp, even marshy soil, this was the ‘domain of the gardeners and market gardeners of Ardon’ from the 7th century onwards. The water table, once drained by bundles of thorns, was tapped by fountains, two of which still exist. 
In 1960, early vegetables such as leeks, cabbages (and the famous artichoke from Laon!) were grown on some fifteen very fragmented hectares. 
The gardeners, some of whom had been here for twelve generations (since 1680), owned farmhouses built of limestone.