Ile de France is a popular region

Ile-de-France was the land of the Franks. The Franks were known as barbarians, yet they built a country, imposed laws and created a civilisation that spread far! Frank means free and bold, and the name embodies the spirit of the powerful warrior, curious adventurer, as well as the intelligence and courage that set the foundations of all great civilisations.
It would be impossible to separate that history from its geography, the region’s quality and the value of the land itself. Since the beginning of history, this is a nourishing land that has always garnished the tables of our kings with good food. These included natural delicacies from its orchards or kitchen gardens, such Marie-Madeleine and Faro apples, mint from Milly-la-Forêt, Gros Vert de Laon artichokes, asparagus from Montreuil, Chasselas grapes from Thomery, watercress from Méréville, Milan-Aubervilliers cabbage, etc.

Where fruits and vegetables are produced in Ile-De-France ?

Vegetable farming still manages to coexist with the city, even today. Various vegetable crops are still cultivated in the surrounding areas of Paris, around Cergy-Pontoise in Val-d’Oise, along the curves of the Seine towards Achères-Montesson in Yvelines and the Montlhéry sector in Essonne. Less subject to urban pressure, the plains of Chailly-en-Bière in Seine-et-Marne and Milly-La-Forêt in Essonne, have large areas devoted to lettuce crops, which makes them one of the region’s largest market garden areas.

Lettuces are an Ile-de-France specialty

The region’s largest vegetable crop is unarguably lettuce, with nearly 2,105 hectares farmed. The Seine et Marne region has almost half the lettuce acreage in Ile-de-France yet only 28% of the producers. The average farm size is 9 hectares for a regional average of 5 hectares. Most of the lettuce is produced by market gardening, with only 10% of the land use to alternate major crops. The next three most common vegetable crops are French beans, peas and coloured onions. Over 90% of this farming is in open fields.

The decline of pears in favour of apples

The total orchard surface area in Ile-de-France is now about 1480 hectares, for 255 arboriculturists. The surface area for fruit trees varies according to departments :

Orchards in Ile-de-France are essentially devoted to apple and pear production. Small fruit crops have only developed recently. The traditional production areas are in the hills of Groslay to the north and Chambourcy-Orgeval to the west. This is essentially a traditional production that targets a very tasty fruit, with lower yields. With more or less stable acreage, the Val d’Oise department has become the region’s leading fruit producer, leaving Yvelines in second place. The apple is definitely the predominant species today in Ile-de-France orchards, with 46% of the acreage. Apples have overtaken pears, which still represented 52% of acreage in 1983. The switchover from pear to apple was accelerated by fire blight attacks, to which the Passe Crassane pear variety is particularly vulnerable. The acreage devoted to other species like cherry, plum and raspberry remains at about 12%.