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EXPLORE OUR GARDENS
Another facet of the living heritage offered by Maison Saint-Gabriel.
Sharecroppers’ Garden
The Sharecroppers’ Garden reflects three centuries of rural history. Go back in time from when land was cleared to that of large-scale-agriculture and market gardening.
Sharecroppers were the farm sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame. They ensured the self-sufficiency of the teaching sisters by giving part of what they produced to the community.
From 1668 to 1955, eighty-six sharecroppers succeeded one another in heading the farm. The garden tiles forming the path that crosses the garden bear their names in tribute to them.
Farmhouse Garden
The Farmhouse Garden offers you a vegetable garden that has been restored in the spirit of New France.
You can observe the most popular herbs and vegetables of the time. The sections are separated by wooden dividers and organized in rows, in keeping with the customary European method.
The vegetable garden contains the most popular vegetables, flowers and herbs from the New France era. It consists of four squares, each organized in orderly rows.
The vegetables grown in these squares are: turnips, rutabagas, cabbage, artichokes, salsify, carrots, beets, beans, onions and leeks. Rows of Scotch marigold, French marigold and nasturtiums separate the rows of vegetables.
The herb squares are filled with aromatic and medicinal plants. You can smell thyme, lemongrass, lavender, coriander, mint, sage, chamomile, hives, chervil, etc.
If you listen to nature’s workers carefully, you may hear the farmhouse bees foraging. Like you, they are attracted by our garden’s many flowers and fruit trees
Poetry Path
The historic site’s glade is adorned with indigenous plants and bushes typical of the Saint Lawrence plain.
You will find such plants as andromeda, black crowberry, white snowberry, ground hemlock, alpine currant, Canada elderberry, witherod and mooseberry shrubs.
The Poetry Path highlights Canadian poets. The selection of poems is a true ode to the beauty of nature.
Native Garden
The Native Garden demonstrates the meeting of French and indigenous cultures. It recalls the important contributions of the First Nations women.
The different zones of the garden highlight the Native women’s knowledge of horticulture and of medicinal plants.
This garden, filled with fascinating symbols, will transport you to a world of legends, traditions and amazing information.
The Great Turtle, considered by many Aboriginal nations to be a spiritual guide, shapes the garden and the pergola. From the four legs are born paths that lead to the zones dedicated to the three sisters, to picking, to the glade and to medicinal plants.
The 4 zones of the Native Garden and the palisade
The three sisters, corn, beans and squash, need one another to grow without fertilizer, labour or pesticide. This clever and efficient method was implemented by Native women.
Picking berries, a seasonal activity performed by women, was essential to the traditional way of life of first Nations people and to that of the first settlers. Strawberries were the most present, they were said to be magical and filled with the power of creation.
The glade, a shaded, cool and humid place, was frequently visited by First Nations women who were able to walk several days with their children to pick the most sought-after plants.
The zone of medicinal plants is a tribute to the knowledge of First Nations women. They were expert herbalists who understood the healing properties of plants, a knowledge on which depended their survival.
The palisade that encloses the back of the garden recalls a time when impressive pole fences surrounded Iroquois villages to protect the longhouses from strong winds.
Our gardens’ wildlife
The first European settlers introduced the honeybee (Apis mellifère) to North America. At the time, pollination was done with other types of bees and insects.
Honeybees adapt quickly and become an integral part of the agricultural system. Under the French regime, honey was mainly used for its therapeutic properties. In cooking, sugar was imported from the West Indies or maple syrup was used.
Urban beekeeping
Beekeeping activities are offered as part of ours open-air program. Take part in one of our workshops led by a dedicated urban apiarist.
The Chantecler hen is one of three breeds recognized by the Act respecting animal breeds forming part of Québec’s agricultural heritage. The other two are the Canadian horse and the Canadian cow.
This hen is the result of crossbreeding carried out by Brother Wilfrid (1876-1963) of the Abbey of Oka, in order to obtain a breed adapted to our cold climate. With its small crest and simple barbels under its beak, it is less prone to frost.
In addition to its resistance to cold, the Chanteclerc hen is particularly appreciated for the quality of its meat.
In 1918, Sister Brault was assigned the task of establishing poultry farming. Until the 1950s, she ensured the purchased of 1,000 chicks annually for the farmhouse of Pointe-Saint-Charles.
Her poultry farm included Leghorn, Rhode Island, Plymouth Rock and hens, the four breeds used in the crossbreeded of the Chantecler.
