Brooklyn Queens Land Trust

I am planning a period garden and am trying to find out what vegetables grew in a typical American garden around 1849. Where can I find this information?



By Bobbi

A few resources that may help

There are many regional and cultural influences on gardening in America and it is difficult to describe a ?“typical?” American garden in the mid-19th century.

''The Melting Plot,?” a two-part article by Susan Davis Price in the March/April and May/June 1998 issues of ''The American Gardener'' gives an excellent overview of immigrant influences on American garden plants and design.

Your Botanical Garden's Resource Center, the historical society and the public libraries may maintain an archive of Civil War diaries and local newspaper clippings. These may provide references to the vegetables that were grown in your area.

The Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants collects, preserves, and distributes plants documented to have been grown in American gardens before 1900. The center offers historic seeds for sale in its catalog.

Write to Twinleaf Catalog, P.O. Box 316, Charlottesville, VA 22902, or visit its Web site at www.monticello.org/shop.

You may also want to consult ''The Field and Garden Vegetables of America'' by Fearing Burr, first issued in 1863 and reprinted in paperback by The American Botanist, Booksellers (agbook @mtco.com) in Chillicothe, Illinois, in 1998. Other useful resources include ''Heirloom Vegetable Gardening'' by William Woys Weaver (Henry Holt and Co., 1997); ''Beautiful American Vegetable Gardens'' by Mary Tonetti Dorra (Clarkson N. Potter, 1997); and ''A Celebration of Heirloom Vegetables'' by Roger Yepsen (Artisan Books, 1998).

There are probably quite a few more books and magazines out there but this should get you started.

By Communications Committee

Gardens in the mid-19th century

Hello, I would imagine gardens in the mid 1800s were still very similar to those in the late 1700s, but perhaps with a little less focus on utilitarian plantings. There would be a rigidity in form, and you'd still have typical garden vegetables, herbs, and ornamentals. Since it was a time of major world exploration, people were wild about exotics. I read that ferns were a big item in the mid 1800s. Found a few sites that might help.

This talks about typical American plantings in 1800s:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/tourtext.html

This is more colonial, but it's a good read. Specific plants are listed near the end of the article: http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/garden/garintro.cfm

Here's another link to a book on Amazon that might be helpful:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0881926191/103-9392150-0503820

Best,

Sara

Local resources

Try the Horticultural Society or the Botanical Garden or Historical Society in your community.