2023-24 Garden History and Design Committee
Karen Schmahl, Chair
Committee members: Julie Brennan, Kathy Palmer, Pamela Shovers, Jane Segerdahl, Robyn Slater, Susan Terris, Mary Walker, Heidi Wurlitzer
Karen Schmahl, Chair
Committee members: Julie Brennan, Kathy Palmer, Pamela Shovers, Jane Segerdahl, Robyn Slater, Susan Terris, Mary Walker, Heidi Wurlitzer
|
The GH&D Committee is very excited about new GCA initiatives.
Parks: Where Nature Meets Community Olmsted 200: Celebrating Parks for all people The 200th anniversary of Fredrick Law Olmsted Sr.’s birth is April 26, 2022 and will mark an opportunity to celebrate a person that is considered the father of American Landscape Architecture. He championed public parks and open spaces. And he understood their link to the physical and mental health of communities. The GCA has embraced his work and encourage member clubs to celebrate it. To help us understand FLO and his work, a GCA scholarship recipient and 2020 intern at the Smithsonian Institute Archives of American Garden has formulated a series of 6 One Minute Reports highlighting Olmsted Principals of Design. Click on the links to the individual reports below: |
A Comprehensive Approach_6
Sustainable Design & Environmental Conservation_5
Orchestration of Use_4
Orchestration of Movement_3
Unified Composition_2
The Genius of the Place_1
Milwaukee is so lucky to have excellent examples of FLO’s expertise at Lake Park, Washington Park and Newberry Blvd. over to what used to be River Park.
All the GCA Clubs are presented with an opportunity to tie Olmsted’s revolutionary work in our parks and public landscapes, with a club project.
For more information about Parks: Where Nature Meets Community and Olmsted200 Celebrating Parks for all people click on these links or go to the GCA website, GH&D landing page soon.
The GH&D Committee welcomes everyone’s input and will keep you updated on plans to celebrate the American icon that is FLO.
Thank you!
GTGC GH&D Committee
Kathy Palmer (Chair), Alison Culver, Karen Schmahl and Mary Walker
Click the following link to be directed to the website of the National Association of Olmsted Parks (NAOP)
|
Special thanks to Kathy Palmer and the Garden History & Design Committee for sharing this video with us at our January 12 membership meeting - and for providing us with delicious treats to enjoy while viewing it!
Thank you, as well to Alison Culver for penning the excellent article below about America's Earliest Gardeners. |
|
AMERICA’S EARLIEST GARDENERS
Gardening was a pastime and passion for the founding fathers.
Most people recognize America’s founding fathers for their contributions to American Independence, but only a few know what these historic figures did in their spare time. George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were avid gardeners and botanists, studied and knowledgeable on growing spectacular and admirable plant varieties. They each kept gardens to supply their kitchens with beautiful cut flowers and bountiful fruit, vegetables and crop harvests. Many of their revolutionary era crops and flowers are still grown by gardening/agriculture enthusiasts.
To understand the evolution of America it is imperative to look at the founding fathers as being more than politicians, but as gardeners, plantsmen and farmers. Not only did they create the United States in a political sense, but they also understood the importance of nature: Gardening, agriculture and botany were passions of theirs as deeply ingrained as their belief in liberty for the nation. Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison knew agricultural self-sufficiency was vital for the colonies.
Gardening was a pastime and passion for the founding fathers.
Most people recognize America’s founding fathers for their contributions to American Independence, but only a few know what these historic figures did in their spare time. George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were avid gardeners and botanists, studied and knowledgeable on growing spectacular and admirable plant varieties. They each kept gardens to supply their kitchens with beautiful cut flowers and bountiful fruit, vegetables and crop harvests. Many of their revolutionary era crops and flowers are still grown by gardening/agriculture enthusiasts.
To understand the evolution of America it is imperative to look at the founding fathers as being more than politicians, but as gardeners, plantsmen and farmers. Not only did they create the United States in a political sense, but they also understood the importance of nature: Gardening, agriculture and botany were passions of theirs as deeply ingrained as their belief in liberty for the nation. Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison knew agricultural self-sufficiency was vital for the colonies.
|
The founding father's deep passion for nature, plants, gardens and agriculture was aligned with their political thought. On an ideological level (the obvious being the economic importance of crops) it was important in terms of our country becoming self-sufficient which also related to Thomas Jefferson’s belief of America as an agrarian republic. It was central to Jefferson's philosophy that a rural nation was the finest of nations and that gardening was the center of what is best in human life. This was an imperative component of, and informed the founding father’s overall philosophy of, our national identity and belief that nature was invested with patriotic overtones - from this, a political manifesto grew.
Thomas Jefferson was a gentleman gardener and an experimenter, he documented over 500 varieties of fruits and vegetables. He set a model for sustainable farming, seed saving, organic gardening and local food. Jefferson believed the failure of one thing is repaired by the success of another. |
|
On the eve before the battle of New York, George Washington’s first and largest battle of the War of Independence, Washington requested plans for a new garden filled only with native species. At a moment when America was facing the almighty British Army, he did not want a single English tree to have a claw in the roots of Mount Vernon. It could be said he was creating a horticultural Declaration of Independence.
Jefferson, during years of diplomatic service overseas, toured private gardens, studied agricultural techniques and sent seeds and plants home to be distributed among fellow plantsmen.
Jefferson, during years of diplomatic service overseas, toured private gardens, studied agricultural techniques and sent seeds and plants home to be distributed among fellow plantsmen.
|
The kitchen garden was the most important garden on any grounds. Every house outside the towns/cities, and some in cities, had a vegetable or kitchen garden. These garden plots were necessary to supplement family diets. Most were small and close to the house with a brick, gravel or stone walkway from the houses entrance to the center of the garden. Planting beds were typically square, circular or rectangular with paths that forked out from the main walkway. Fruit, herbs, flowers and vegetables were mixed in the beds and frequently raised and enclosed with either fences or
|
boxwood hedges. In addition to the kitchen garden, all cultivated fields and every garden contained vegetables (and herbs for medicine, food and fragrance). Revolutionary gardens were diverse, varying by geographic area, climate, economic status and heritage of the owner. Seeds from around the world were mixed with native plants like corn and tobacco.
As garden designs increased in complexity, the skill levels of gardeners and required tools followed suit. Proper tools of the era included: A spade for turning and smoothing the ground, shovel for throwing earth from trenches and ditches and a rake for keeping the garden tidy. Depending on the gardener, other tools used were garden shears, long pruners, baskets, watering cans, pickaxes, a ladder and stone rollers.
COMMON REVOLUTIONARY ERA PLANTS
Artichokes - One of the first vegetables Jefferson grew at Monticello.
Pumpkins - Most contemporary gardens are heavily influenced by Native American culture and the varieties they gave New England settlers in the 1600s.
Tobacco - Commonly grown for personal and trade purposes, it was colonial farmers main source of income in the American south.
Asparagus - First grown at Monticello in 1770.
Corn - The dominant grain in Virginia, it was a staple and meant sustenance. It grew in a variety of conditions and was resistant to disease.
Peas - Coastal colonies had the perfect climate for peas, they are still grown at Mount Vernon.
Allspice - Both Jefferson and Washington grew allspice - Jefferson shared allspice shrubs with Washington.
Parsley - Originally grown in revolutionary era gardens and a medicinal, it was later boiled to mask gamey flavors and used as a dye.
Catnip - Grown originally as a medicinal, catnip is native to North America and still abundant in modern gardens.
Rhubarb - Used primarily as medicinal, by 1777, sugar became more available as cooking ingredient.
Beebalm - Grown to attract pollinators long before revolutionary era, then used as a cooking spice.
Four O’clocks - Most 18th century gardens contained these beauties.
Black eyed peas - Exceptionally popular in the colony’s warmer regions.
COMMON REVOLUTIONARY ERA PLANTS
Artichokes - One of the first vegetables Jefferson grew at Monticello.
Pumpkins - Most contemporary gardens are heavily influenced by Native American culture and the varieties they gave New England settlers in the 1600s.
Tobacco - Commonly grown for personal and trade purposes, it was colonial farmers main source of income in the American south.
Asparagus - First grown at Monticello in 1770.
Corn - The dominant grain in Virginia, it was a staple and meant sustenance. It grew in a variety of conditions and was resistant to disease.
Peas - Coastal colonies had the perfect climate for peas, they are still grown at Mount Vernon.
Allspice - Both Jefferson and Washington grew allspice - Jefferson shared allspice shrubs with Washington.
Parsley - Originally grown in revolutionary era gardens and a medicinal, it was later boiled to mask gamey flavors and used as a dye.
Catnip - Grown originally as a medicinal, catnip is native to North America and still abundant in modern gardens.
Rhubarb - Used primarily as medicinal, by 1777, sugar became more available as cooking ingredient.
Beebalm - Grown to attract pollinators long before revolutionary era, then used as a cooking spice.
Four O’clocks - Most 18th century gardens contained these beauties.
Black eyed peas - Exceptionally popular in the colony’s warmer regions.
|
Additionally, turnips, onions, cabbage, squash, carrots, parsnips and legumes were grown. These vegetables stored well through cold months. Beans, corn and cucumbers were grown, salted and pickled for preservation. Fruits not eaten in season were preserved as jam, dried or cooked into frozen winter pies. Chestnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, cranberries, grapes, crabapples were grown, gathered and prepped for winter storage, some dried in the sunlight for preservation. Weather hardy fruit trees such as fig, apple and cherry (first imported from England as seeds and cuttings) were successfully transplanted and harvested in their new environment. |
|
By the declaration of the American Revolution a taste for whiskey had been acquired among those who could produce it. Corn was grown in Kentucky specifically for the production of American Bourbon Whiskey and this step, just as the country was going to war with Britain, established American spirit in the American culture. Whiskey became the spirit of choice for Americans who wished to thumb their noses at Britain. In the north, whiskey was made with rye, while the south preferred corn. Rye was seen as more civilized grain and corn whiskey as more patriotic as it was produced from an indigenous American crop.
In addition to a taste for whiskey, a shift began in the consumption of cider over beer and growers opted to grow less barley because it was easier to ferment apple cider than brew beer. Although beer was an important consumable to Americans, hard cider was by far the most common beverage. Apple trees were being grown locally in the colonies, unlike grapes and grain which did not grow well in New England. Cider was easier to produce than beer or wine so farmers made it themselves - not to mention its affordability since it was not imported.
After their respective service to the country, each founding father returned to their private lives to continue promoting gardening, agriculture, botany and other useful sciences that enhanced the welfare of their country and mankind. These elemental passions were as deeply ingrained in the founding father’s characters as was their belief in liberty for the nation they created.
In addition to a taste for whiskey, a shift began in the consumption of cider over beer and growers opted to grow less barley because it was easier to ferment apple cider than brew beer. Although beer was an important consumable to Americans, hard cider was by far the most common beverage. Apple trees were being grown locally in the colonies, unlike grapes and grain which did not grow well in New England. Cider was easier to produce than beer or wine so farmers made it themselves - not to mention its affordability since it was not imported.
After their respective service to the country, each founding father returned to their private lives to continue promoting gardening, agriculture, botany and other useful sciences that enhanced the welfare of their country and mankind. These elemental passions were as deeply ingrained in the founding father’s characters as was their belief in liberty for the nation they created.
|
MOUNT VERNON’S BOURBON CHERRY COMPOTE
2 cups Bing cherries 1 cup sugar 3/4 cup bourbon Juice of 1 lemon Combine and simmer all ingredients of medium heat. Gently cook until the mixture is thick and syrupy. Remove from heat and cool before storing. Refrigerate to store. |
|
MONTICELLO’S BURNT CREAM
This recipe is from the back cover of “Thomas Jefferson’s Creme Brûlée . The recipe is attributed to Honore' Julien by Jefferson’s granddaughter Virginia R. Trist in her manuscript cookbook of Monticello recipes.
Boil 2 quarts of milk with a large piece of orange peel; when it is cool, take a ½ lb. of sugar, the yolks of 7 eggs and whites of 2 well beaten and stir them into the boiled milk with 2 or 3 handful of flour. Pass the mixture through a sieve, put it on the fire and stir it till it thickens; add an ounce of fresh butter, pour it into a deep dish and when it cools and drips on the surface a little, sprinkle it over with sugar and glaze it with a hot shovel, Flavour it with the essence of lemon or anything you like.
Enjoy!
GH&D Committee 01.12.21
Alison Culver
Kathy Palmer
Karen Schmahl
Mary Walker
Highlights of GTGC Gardens
Kelton Farm, Saukville |
August, 2018 GTGC field trip to Kelton Farm. Spectacular gardens and amazing hospitality!! Thanks to Rosie Lyons for organizing!
|
|
|
Contact us by writing to: GTGC, 10936 N. Port Washington Rd., #276, Mequon, WI 53092