16

Royal parsley

Onions, leek, celary, coriander, dillweed, poppies, radish, mangel, garlic, shallots, parsley, chervil, lattice, parsnips, cabbage and nigella – all this grew in what nowadays is the Pleasure Garden. The garden was part of the palace – its vegetables were harvested and brought straight to the palace kitchen. In the aftermath of the Thirty Years’ War the garden was entirely overgrown but in 1646 the court gardeners recreated the pleasure garden in the Dutch style including a flower garden, an orangery and a spice garden. This is where in 1649 the first potatoes – imported from the Netherlands – were planted; like tomatoes they were kept as purely decorative plants. With its many statues, grottoes, pleasure houses, aviaries and fountains it was later opened to the public and became a popular meeting place. What else happened to the garden has been told already on day 11.