Dear Mr. Jefferson...
A brief history of reviving the iconic garden at Monticello with gardener and historian Peter Hatch.
Ellen Ecker Ogden is the author of books featuring kitchen garden designs with recipes for cooks who love to garden. Each week on Friday, you’ll receive artful garden design ideas alternating with recipes. (If this lands in your spam folder, move to inbox for photos)
“I’ll admit it’s a bit of a conceit, this business of writing letters to Thomas Jefferson, but it’s not as capricious as it sounds.” Writes Laura Simon in the introduction to her book Dear Mr. Jefferson, Letters from a Nantucket Gardener.
“In the very beginning, I was simply seeking a means of communication, a way of expressing the gardening thrall I’d suddenly found myself in. I wanted to talk shop, to discuss soil tilth and tillage, to compare varieties of carrots, and to analyze the relative merits of manure.”
How I love this little book of essays, published in 1998, and hope you can find a copy. Mine was found in the used book section of our local bookstore, and I am savoring every chapter as a prelude to the garden season.
I’ll admit that ever since my visit to Monticello years ago, I am a bit obsessed with Thomas Jefferson and the seeds he grew, saved, and swapped with other gardeners. Garden historian Peter Hatch is the author of A Rich Spot on Earth: Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden at Monticello, an extraordinary history full of rich details on the origins of Monticello’s 1,000-foot-long terraced garden, the plants, and the philosophy behind the third President’s garden passion.
For 35 years, Hatch was the Director of Gardens and Grounds at Monticello, responsible for restoring Jefferson’s eight-acre fruit and vegetable garden. With the help of Jefferson’s remarkable details garden journals, as well as years of archaeological excavations, the original layout took shape in 1984 and is considered one of the most accurate garden restorations of its kind.
Monticello, which now attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, maintains one of the most inspiring and iconic kitchen gardens in American history. The Monticello historic seed catalog features varieties of open-pollinated seeds that once graced the gardens, including Hyacinth Bean, Purple Calabash tomatoes, and Tennis Ball lettuce. I asked Hatch a few questions to glean insight from an expert.
What did Monticello look like when you were hired in 1977?
Peter Hatch: It was a historic site with very high professional preservation and education standards, and a flashback to an earlier era. The standard tour for the general public showed only the inside of Jefferson’s house with all of what was considered his inventions. The historic flower garden was accurately restored by the Garden Club of Virginia yet with a disregard for historically accurate flower species. Now, the kitchen gardens are integrated into the full story of the place and are an important attraction for visitors.
How did you know how to reconstruct the kitchen gardens?
Peter Hatch: Before we could start any work on the terraced garden and orchard, Monticello hired an archeological crew to confirm Jefferson’s extensive notes about the character of the garden and to preserve any historical artifacts or information that might be lingering under the surface. Over some three years, Archaeologists identified the precise location of fifty-nine of the original Jefferson-era fruit trees, uncovered a 1,000-foot-long retaining wall, traced the path of a 4,000-foot-long, 10-foot high fence, and found the remains of the foundation for Jefferson’s Garden Pavilion. These were significant discoveries and helped us to re-create the garden with meticulous detail.
Why did Jefferson note so many failures in his “Garden Kalendar”?
Peter Hatch: Jefferson retired from the Presidency in 1809 and returned to Monticello to find the completion of the garden terrace, carved from the hillside by a crew of seven enslaved African-Americans. His first growing season was a tough year because there was no rain. I often say few gardeners failed as often as Thomas Jefferson; he once wrote if he failed 99 times out of a 100, the one success was worth the 99 failures. He was an experimenter, unrelenting in his effort to overcome one catastrophe after another, a reflection of his experiential, scientific, and Enlightenment aesthetic. He wrote that in gardening, “the failure of one thing is replaced by the success of another.”
Where did he find sources for seeds and plants?
Peter Hatch: Jefferson wrote, “the greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.” He documented the planting of some 330 varieties of vegetables and 170 types of fruit, and Monticello was an “Ellis Island” of plants introduced from around the world. Jefferson was a “seedy missionary” of useful garden plants and exchanged seeds with most of the leading horticulturists in Europe and the United States, as well as friends and fellow political figures. A life-long seed saver, he designed a seed rack, with glass vials and cork stoppers, that was stored in his study and carried out to the garden site at planting time. He also had propagation nurseries where precious seeds were planted and fruit trees grafted.
What would have been some of Thomas Jefferson’s favorites?
Sea kale: Grown and eaten like broccoli. Clay pots were used to cover the emerging plants in late winter. This blanched the stems to keep them tender.
Lima beans: Sieva pole is a classic Southern favorite; vigorous vines are staked on tepees in the center of the garden. Growing beans this way takes up less space than traditional bush beans.
Shelling peas: Considered his favorite vegetable, Jefferson engaged in a neighborhood competition to see who could harvest the first spring pea.. The winner would then host a dinner.
Asparagus bean: Also known as long bean, it grows about a foot long. A vigorous climbing vine, the pods hang in groups of two or more.
Eggplant: Eggplants were still foreign to most gardeners during Jefferson’s era. His enslaved chef, Peter Hemings, was given seeds by a neighbor as well as directions on how to prepare it. Jefferson grew “white,” “purple,” and “prickly” varieties of eggplant in adjacent rows.
Okra: The Jefferson family manuscripts include a recipe for “okra soup” or gumbo. It included an international array of vegetables: tomatoes and potatoes from South America, okra from Africa, and lima beans and “cymlins” from Native American gardens
Tomatoes: Jefferson was one of the first to introduce tomatoes to American gardeners. Recipes for tomato omelets, gazpacho, and tomato catsup reside in the Jefferson family manuscripts.
Heirloom seeds are open pollinated, which means you can grow and save them each year to plant again, or share with fellow gardeners. Not too long ago, seed libraries were a source for gardeners to “borrow” seeds, and return at the end of the growing season. They are returning to many communities. Seeds are full of history, and carry stories worth saving. Do you grow any heirlooms seeds? Share your stories in the comments below.
From my garden to yours,
Ellen Ecker Ogden
Become a paid subscriber, and receive a template for the classic parterre kitchen garden (see above) a design from my new book, The New Heirloom Garden. Complete with plans and suggested heirloom varieties. I like to make it easy for you to grow a food garden that is both beautiful and productive.
Ellen, I’m thrilled to see the timing of this lovely post. My husband and I just returned from Monticello last week. The kitchen gardens are just starting to be planted. Daffodils are done, tulips are on their way to being done and peonies are starting. Leaves are still newly sprouted on the trees. The hops is almost strung and kale, peas and cold hardy vegetables are standing tall. Unfortunately our trip was a bit hampered by some sleet and light snow as a cold snap was visiting. As they say, There’s no bad weather, just bad clothes., I suffered from bad clothes as I was prepared for mostly heat. But the best was made of the situation and Monticello still shines.