Upper Garden with rectangles The Constitutional Convention Story: Installment #2 This is the second installment of four retold from Andrea Wulf’s book, The Founding Gardeners. There were 12 men in the entourage that visited Bartram’s Garden that day: from New York-Alexander Hamilton, from South Carolina-John Rutledge, from North Carolina-Alexander Martin and Hugh Williamson, Manasseh Cutler, from Massachusetts-Caleb Strong, from Virginia-James Madison and George Mason and his son, 2 Philadelphians and Samuel Vaughan. Bartram’s Garden was divided into an upper and lower garden. The upper garden was divided into three rectangles; one planted with flowers, one planted with vegetables and one planted withnewly received or recently germinated plants. The lower gardens had been designed by John Bartram, the father, with meandering paths, small glades, scoops, cascading terraces, a small stream and a dock
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The Family Home of John Bartram The Constitutional Convention Story: Installment #1 In 4 days we will celebrate the birth of this nation. Last year, as part of this celebration, Harvesting History posted a story of The Constitutional Convention and The Great Compromise that made the United States a reality. From July 1 through July 4th this year, we are going to repeat this story as a series of 4 newsletters. The story is somewhat complicated which is why we are retelling it in 4 installments. I apologize to each of you that feels that 4 newsletters in one week is too many. It is, but this story is worth telling and retelling. At a time when this nation faces, perhaps, its greatest challenges since its founding, it is
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The Naked Lady Lily Autumn’s Glory- The Rarely Available FALL BLOOMING Bulbs We welcome nearly 1000 new subscribers to our newsletter. If you are receiving this newsletter for the first time, you provided Harvesting History with your email address in exchange for a free seed packet at one of the early 2019 flower shows or outdoor garden festivals. At this time of year, we publish our newsletter once every 2 weeks with the exception of July 1, July 2, July 3, and July 4. During those 4 days each year we publish a little known but remarkable, true story about the creation of this country and therole that horticulture may have played. We hope you enjoy and learn something from these historically based newsletters, and that as a result you
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Heirloom Squash Variety From the Prehistoric Americans to the Native Americans to the Immigrant Americans - The Vegetable That Nourished A Nation Squash have been a staple of the American diet since the first prehistoric peoples entered North America via the land bridge from Asia. Squash and pumpkins are native to many parts of the North American, Central American and South American regions. They were a significant part of the 3 sisters trinity – beans, corn and squash. The Native Americans used squash in all aspects of their lives and culture. The vegetable was made into soups, breads, desserts, stuffings, storage containers, musical instruments, utensils, etc. The Native Americans shared their knowledge of this vegetable with the Europeans who adopted many of the culinary practices they were taught. Today, squash
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The Heirloom Scarlet Runner Pole Beans in Thomas Jefferson’s Hanging Gardens at Monticello Pole Beans Belong in Every Vegetable Garden- Here are 6 of the Greatest Visit THE LEESBURG FLOWER & GARDEN FESTIVAL site for details Visit THE SHEEP & WOOL site for details Beans, corn and squash are the quintessential American crops – the trinity of vegetables – The Three Sisters. Of these three sisters, perhaps beans, are now the most pervasive crop originally exported from the New World to Europe, Africa Asia and Australia. There are many types of beans: bush, pole, runner, half runner, wax, shell, cowpeas, etc., but in today’s America maybe the most relevant type of bean is the pole bean. For more than a century now, pole beans have been scorned by commercial and home gardeners because
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The King of Purple Zinnias – Royal Purple How Zinnias Were Used To Communicate The Unspeakable During The Victorian Era WE’RE BACK!!! Thank all of you who visited our booths during the 2019 Indoor Flower Show Season, and a special thanks from me, personally, to those of you who cameto thank me for these newsletters. You have no idea how powerful the impact of a simple expression of thanks can be. Now that spring is really underway in most parts of the country, we are going to publish our newsletters every two weeks. It is time for all of you gardeners to be outside with your hands in the soil and your hearts with your plants. What precious little free time you have should be spent enjoying your gardens not staring at
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Philadelphia Flower Show 2017 America’s Greatest Horticultural Tradition: The Philadelphia Flower Show This week the 190th Philadelphia Flower Show is underway. If you visit, the doors of the Pennsylvania Convention Center will swing open and visitors will flood through the gates and HALT! because as they enter the main floor of the Convention Center Hall, they will be greeted with a floral fantasy creation that will be like nothing they have ever seen before. It will take their breath away. It will stun their senses. It will intrigue even the most artistic of talents. Sometimes this entrance floral display soars 75 feet up to the rafters of the Convention Center. Sometimes it leads the mesmerized visitors across a gently arching bridge under which flows a river of 10,000 tulips. Sometimes
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Heirloom Hot Peppers To Purchase Heirloom Hot Pepper Seed click this link The 6 Most Beloved Hot Peppers of All Time Sweet and hot peppers are indigenous to Central and South America. They have been cultivated since prehistoric times. Archaeologists have found chili peppers at sites dating to 7000 BC. The Aztecs, Incans and Mayans all cultivated peppers. The Aztecs had at least seven different words for hot peppers. We derive the term chili pepper from some of the Aztec words for hot pepper. The Incas used peppers as a form of currency. Columbus named the peppers he saw growing in the West Indies, pimiento, because he thought they were the pimienta, spice pepper, grown in the East Indies. He was painfully surprised to find out that the West Indian
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The Paste/Plum Tomato To Purchase Heirloom Paste/Plum Tomato Seed click this link The Paste/Plum Tomatoes- Good for Everything! Of the three morphological classes of tomato – cherry, slicing/sandwich and paste/plum – the paste/plum tomatoes are the least popular. This is unfortunate because paste/plum tomatoes are, literally, good for everything. Cherry tomatoes are too small for making sandwiches and roasting and too much work to put in sauces, but they are great in salads and for popping in your mouth straight from the vine. Sandwich/slicing tomatoes are great for sandwiches, but they are usually too watery for sauces and salads. Paste/plum tomatoes have it all. Like cherry tomatoes they are small enough and firm enough to be eaten in salads and right off the vine. Like sandwich/slicing tomatoes they are just
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Dinnerplate Dahlias Dinnerplate Dahlia Emory Paul To Purchase Emory Paul Dahlias click this link It is the middle of February and many of us have had a horrible winter and are longing for spring. This newsletter is dedicated to each of you. For those of you who routinely read this newsletter, you will note that there are many, many more photos than usual. This newsletter is designed to stimulate your imaginations for the gardens you will have this upcoming season and engage your memories of your beloved gardens from the past. Dinnerplate Dahlias are large plants which produce the biggest blossoms. The plants grow to at least 36 inches high, but more commonly 48-60 inches. The very first blossom each season will be the largest, and it is often
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