Set of 12 Handmade Herb Labels in French & English from Chanteduc Garden

A set of twelve handmade iron herb labels, each one pressed into the soil of the potager, flower beds and herb planters at Chanteduc, Patricia and Walter Wells's farmhouse and cooking school in Vaison-la-Romaine. They were made by the gardeners who help tend the property.

Each label is welded onto a slender iron rod — twisted rebar in most cases — designed to be pushed directly into soil or a pot. The label heads vary in shape: some rectangular, others oval or circular, giving the set an informal, handmade character. The iron has darkened and patinated with outdoor use, taking on warm russet-brown tones that only time and weather produce. Two labels (photographed on the left) are blank, and the rest are labelled in white, naming each herb in both French and English: Marjolaine / Wild Marjoram, Origan / Oregano, Livèche / Lovage, Aneth / Dill, Ciboule de Chine / Garlic Chive, Menthe / Mint, Lavandin / Lavender, Romarin rampant / Rambling Rosemary, Cerfeuil / Chervil, and Olivier / Olive. The bilingual labelling is entirely in keeping with Chanteduc, where Patricia has spent decades teaching students from around the world to cook from the garden.

This is a set that works as well grouped in terracotta pots on a terrace or windowsill as it does in a kitchen garden. Displayed together, they carry the particular character of a working Provençal garden — functional, handmade and entirely without pretension.