Legacy of vegetables

What would a settler have grown in 1809?

By ANNE HART

YOUNGSVILLE, NY — Sullivan County’s bicentennial celebrations this year coincide with a renewed interest in home gardening, particularly a resurgence in vegetable gardening. There is much interest among gardeners and eaters in open-pollinated and heirloom plants because of their diversity, taste and the opportunity to save seeds for next year’s crop.

Thinking bicentennially, The Cutting Garden decided to grow some varieties of plants similar to those the early settlers were likely to have grown 200 years ago in the kitchen gardens of Sullivan County. The kitchen gardens at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello were a grand laboratory, and the detailed records he kept have provided researchers much information about the varieties common in the early 1800s. Tomatoes were first grown in his gardens in 1809, while elsewhere this fruit was still considered with suspicion. Who can imagine a life without tomatoes? Very detailed records were kept at Williamsburg as well, so there is quite a bit of information available to the curious.

For our small Bicentennial Garden, we chose a selection of plants similar to those available in the early 1800s, with characteristics close to early varieties and with an eye turned to plants that can be grown without the aid of a greenhouse or other cozy conditions for plant starting. Additionally, we selected foods that could be stored or preserved over a long, harsh winter.

Lettuces (lactuca sativa) were common and many varieties were available. Brown Dutch is a loose leaf lettuce with a reddish brown tinge, while Tennis Ball Lettuce is a parent of Boston Lettuce. According to garden history writer William Woys Weaver, Tennis Ball was often pickled in brine in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Cabbages (Brassica oleracea capitata cv) were a part of the diet. Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage is an early drum-headed cabbage that dates to 1840. Another variety is Mammoth Red Rock, a large, red, late-storage cabbage from 1889.

Connecticut Field Pumpkins (cucurbita pep ova) have a history dating to the 1700s, with 15- to 20-pound globes and flattened ends. We don’t have enough space in our garden for pumpkins, so chose to create a modified Three Sisters garden instead. A Native American tradition that is healthy for the soil and provides nourishment for humans, the garden consists of an inter-planting of corn, beans and squash. Corn is the oldest sister, while squash or pumpkin, the second sister, is grown around the corn, providing protection against weeds and shading the soil to preserve moisture. The last sister is beans, which climb up the corn and fix nitrogen in the soil. Another old variety of squash (c. maxima) is Turk’s Turban, a winter keeper dating to the early 1800s. Many varieties of broad, kidney and pole beans were available. Interesting older varieties include the Caseknife Pole Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris ‘Caseknife’) and the speckled Cranberry Bean, dating to 1825.

While looking for potato varieties (solanum tuberosum), we learned that the first potato strains developed in response to the late blight plaguing Ireland and North America were developed right here in New York State. The Garnet Chili potato was developed in the 1850s by a minister named Chauncey E Goodrich. He created this variety by crossing the “lumper” potato with a strain he imported from Chile that he called the “rough purple chili,” according to a 1952 article in the Pennsylvania State Collage Botany journals. The Garnet Chili was then used to create the Early Rose potato by Albert Bresee of Hubbardton, VT. This red potato was purchased by seedsmen and became the most widely used potato in America at that time.

Being flower gardeners, we also chose some traditional old varieties this year. In addition to the Hyacinth Bean, our garden has a selection of old fashioned single hollyhocks (alcea rosa), Cleome or Spiderflower (cleome spinosa), Rose Campion, (lychnis coronaria cv) and Maltese Cross (Lychnis chalcedonica), thought to have been brought to Europe during the Crusades from the Knights of Malta. Walking through history through food and flowers is a tasty and pretty way to learn something about our heritage.

Garden-themed bicentennial events:

Fort Delaware Museum of Colonial History: A display of a garden that would have been grown during the colonial period. Open May – September, call for hours. 6615 St. Rt. 97, Narrowsburg, NY, 845/252-6660.

Fork to Fork Garden Tour: Tours of area vegetable gardens featuring unusual varieties, medicinal plants and more. Map available July 8 at slowfoodupderiva.org. Saturday July 11, 12:00 noon – 4:00 p.m. Sponsored by Slow Food Upper Delaware River.

Bicentennial Garden Tour: Several exclusive and private gardens will be open for public viewing as part of the Bicentennial Garden Tour. A limited number of garden tour tickets will be available on a first come, first served basis. Saturday July 11. See page 33.

1809 Demonstration Garden: A demonstration garden representing plantings that would have been done in 1809 or in the early part of the life of the county. The Cutting Garden, 4055 Rte 52, Youngsville, NY 845/482-3333.