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About our Crops

 

Varieties of heirloom seeds and roots for

The 1812 Garden

2008

 

Sources: (click on the name to access the website of these organizations)

 

Bountiful Gardens, (Willits, California)

http://www.bountifulgardens.org/Aboutus.asp

 

Constable Hall (Constableville, NY)

http://www.constablehall.org/

 

Farmers Museum (Cooperstown, New York)

http://www.farmersmuseum.org/

 

OSV: Old Sturbridge Village (Massachusetts)

http://www.osv.org/

 

Sand Hill Preservation Center (Calamus, Iowa)

http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/

 

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (Mineral, Virginia)

http://www.southernexposure.com/index.html

 

SSE: Seed Savers Exchange (Decorah, Iowa)

http://www.seedsavers.org/

 

TJC: Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants (Monticello, Virginia)

http://www.monticello.org/chp/


ASPARAGUS

BARLEY

Bere barley (a medieval variety, grown in Scotland since the Middle Ages) From Donald Gilliland (Genesee, Pennsylvania) (member Garden Seed Inventory of Seed Savers Exchange)


BEAN

Iroquois varieties/Native seed: Tonawanda variant #2, Mohawk Vermont, and Onondaga Yellow Eye. All from Bryan Connolly (Mansfield Center, Connecticut)(member Garden Seed Inventory of Seed Savers Exchange

Scarlet-runner (Phaseolus coccineus) (transported from Mexico/South America to Europe and then to Colonial America sometime before 1750; Jefferson planted it in 1812; McMahon, the Philadelphia seed seller, wrote that it was grown in America exclusively as an ornamental; vines can be trained to grow over trellises) OSV and TJC

Caseknife (Phaseolus vulgaris) (documented in American gardens by the 1820s; in Fearing Burrs 1863 Field and Garden Vegetables of America, it is identified as œcommon to almost every garden?) TJC

Hyacinth (Dolichos lablab) (a native of tropical Asia, vines can be trained to a fence or trellis and can reach 20 feet; sold by American nurseymen in early 19th c.) TJC

Soldier Bush or (Johnson Bean) (Phaseolus vulgaris) OSV

Asparagus (Yard Long) (Vigna sineusis sesquipedalis) (this pole bean is described in Linnaeus classifications in 1763; appears in New England seed catalogs by 1820) OSV

True Red Cranberry (Phaseolus vulgaris) (grown in New England in the 18th and 19th c.) OSV

Jacobs Cattle Bush (Phaseolus vulgaris) (an old variety once extremely popular in northern New England in 18th and 19th c., where it was used primarily as a dried bean) OSV

Mayflower (Said to have been brought over on the Mayflower in 1620) SSE

 

BEETS (Beta vulgaris)

Early Blood Turnip (dates back to 1825) TJC

Cylindra (introduced from Denmark in the 1880s) OSV

Chiogga (Bassano) (first introduced to America from Italy in late 1840s) OSV

 

CABBAGE (Brassica oleracea)

(read in Rodale about cabbage- recommends growing only one variety in a small garden area)

Early Jersey Wakefield (Introduced from England in 1840; first grown in the U.S. by Francis Brill of Jersey City, NJ; became a popular early-season variety in NYC markets) OSV and TJC

Premium Late Flat Dutch (an old Dutch variety brought to Colonial America; especially popular during the 17th and 18th centuries) OSV

Winnigstadt (a œsugar loaf? shaped cabbage cultivated in the 1800s) OSV

 

CARROTS

Long Orange Improved (Introduced 1620 by Dutch breeders, brought to N. America by early settlers) From Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (Mineral, VA)(member Garden Seed Inventory of Seed Savers Exchange)

Danvers Half Long (developed in Massachusetts in 1870) FM

 

CAULIFLOWER (Brassica oleracea)

Purple Cape (introduced from South Africa in 1808)(Best planted in a coldframe and overwintered. 200 days from transplant!) SSE

 

CHIVES

 

CORN (MAIZE) (Zea mays)

Four varieties from the Iroquois Nations: Katie Wheeler Calico, Darwin John Calico, Gigi Hill, and Six Nations Blue Flint

All from Bryan Connolly (Mansfield Center, Connecticut)(member Garden Seed Inventory of Seed Savers Exchange)

[Bryan Connolly saved the Eastern Native Seed Conservancy (now defunct) supply of Darwin John from extinction. He planted the entire collection of degraded seed”eleven seeds proved viable, and from these he was able to reintroduced the species. The packet of Six Nations Blue Flint Corn is old seed from the Eastern Native Seed Conservancy”the seed is degraded.]

White Indian from Patrick MacGregor, Farmers Museum (Cooperstown, NY) (seed originally from Cornell Univeristy)

Seneca Red Stalker SSE

[Note: all corn freely cross-pollinates, so only one variety can be grown in the 1812 Garden in any given year., and it will need to be tented at pollination time.

 

CUCUMBER (heirloom cucumbers are scarce because so many were susceptible to disease)

Early Green Cluster (introduced in 1778) and Improved Long Green (introduced in 1842 from Foxfire Farm) From Sand Hill Preservation Center, Glenn and Linda Drowns (Calamus, Iowa)(member Garden Seed Inventory of Seed Savers Exchange)

EGGPLANT

White eggplant (Solanum melongena esculentum) Listed along with a purple variety in early seed catalogs by 1825. Jefferson was growing white and purple in 1812. Early catalogs recommended white for ornamental use. TJC

FENNEL

Florence fennel (Foeniculum vulgare azoricum) (cultivated in American gardens by 1800) From TJC and Sand Hill Preservation Center, Glenn and Linda Drowns (Calamus, Iowa)(member Garden Seed Inventory of Seed Savers Exchange)

 

GARLIC (need to identify appropriate variety for planting in the fall)

 

GRAPES

Catawba (Millers Nurseries, Canandaigua, NY)

 

HERBS

Basil (Ocimum basillicum) (common in America by late 1700s; Jefferson requested a supply from his neighbor George Divers in 1820) TJC

Comfrey FS (from Herkimer Home, Little Falls, NY)

Costmary (Tanacetum balsamita) FS

Goldenrod wild plants from the roadside

Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) (medicinal herb with a long history; 19th-c. households used it in teas to relieve cold symptoms, relieve asthma and lung complaints) OSV

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) (cultivated in Europe by 1551; Listed among Jeffersons garden herbs in 1794) TJC

Lovage (Levisticum officinale) FS (sow OSV seed in late summer)

Mint (Mentha spicata, Mentha x piperita)- peppermint, spearmint

Rue (Ruta graveolens) FS

Sage (Salvia officinalis)

Savory (Satureia hortensis) Summer and Winter

Southernwood

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

 

HOPS

Fuggle from Farmers Museum (Cooperstown, NY)

HORSERADISH FS (root from Constable Hall, Constableville, NY)

 

KALE

Early Curled Siberian (Brassica oleracea acephala cv.) TJC

 

LEEKS

Wild leeks from Gapp woods?

Giant Musselburgh (Allium cepa) (Scottish variety introduced on the early 1800s) SSE

 

LETTUCE (Lactuca sativa)

Paris (Parris) White Cos (first recorded by Jefferson in 1794) TJC

Spotted Aleppo (Speckled Trout) (an 18th-c. romaine lettuce; sold by Philadelphia seedsman, Bernard McMahon, in 1804) TJC

Brown Dutch (frequently mentioned in Jeffersons garden at Monticello between 1809 and 1824; mentioned s early as 1731 by British botanist Stephen Switzer) TJC

Tennis-ball (grown before 1830; a favorite of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello) OSV and TJC

 

MELON (heirloom melons are scarce because so many were susceptible to disease; melons were introduced to the New World by Columbus))

Anne Arundel Muskmelon (Grown in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, as early as 1731; appears in the paintings of the Peale family of Philadelphia in the 1800s) TJC

Jenny Lind (believed to have originated in Persia; this is a green-fleshed melon typical in the 19th c.) FM

 

MUSTARD

 

ONIONS (Allium cepa)

Red Wethersfield (variety bred in the Connecticut River Valley about 1800) TJC

White Portugal (also known as White Silverskin; old European variety grown in America before 1800) OSV

 

PARSNIPS (Pastinaca sativa)

Student (Appears in American seed catalogues by 1860; Fearing Burr cites its origin at the Royal Agricultural College in England.)

Hollow Crown (variety grown before 1850) FM

 

PEAS (Pisum sativum)

Marrowfat (regularly planted by Jefferson at Monticello) TJC

Dwarf Gray Sugar (Offered in the New England Farmer Seed Stores 1836 catalogue) OSV

 

PEPPER (Capsicum annuum)

Long Red Cayenne (First grown by Jefferson in 1767) TJC

Bull Nose Large Bell (Grown at Monticello by Jefferson, listed by Fearing Bull in 1863) SSE

[Peppers will cross-pollinate]

 

POTATOES

Cups (pre-1770 variety; seed from William Woys Weaver, author of Heirloom Vegetable Gardening), who obtained it from the Beamish Museum in Durham,

England) From Donald Gilliland (Genesee, Pennsylvania) (member Garden Seed Inventory of Seed Savers Exchange)

Early Rose from Maine Potato Lady

Green Mountain from Fran Lallier (purchased from Agway, Clinton, NY) (1885)

 

PUMPKIN

Connecticut Field (Cucurbita pepo) (Pre-1700 cultivar of Native Americans origin. earliest settlers obtained this old variety from Native Americans; commonly raised in native custom”grown together with Indian Corn) OSV and TJC

Long Pie (Cucurbita pepo) (New England heirloom, originated in the Azores, came to Nantucket on a whaling ship in 1832) OSV

Long Island Cheese (Cucurbita moschata) (Fearing Burr attests the variety was extensively cultivated in the Middle States at the time of the Revolutionary War) OSV

 

RADISHES (Raphanus sativus)

China Rose Winter (a variety planted in mid-summer and harvested in late fall; introduced in the US about 1850) OSV and TJC

Round Black Spanish (probably brought to America by the early colonists) OSV

 

RHUBARB

Common rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum, introduced into Britain in 1573 from Asia) FS (from an old kitchen garden in Waterville, NY)

 

RUTABAGA

American Purple Top (Swedish Turnip) (Brassica napus) (introduced into US around 1800) ) OSV

SALSIFY (Vegetable Oyster Plant) (Tragopogon porrifolius) OSV

 

SORREL FS or Georges

 

SPINACH

New Zealand Spinach (Tetragonia expansa) (not a true spinach, but similar in flavor and use. Discovered in 1770 by Sir Joseph Banks in New Zealand) SSE

SQUASH (all three of these varieties are attested among the Iroquois)

Canada Crookneck (Cucurbita pepo) (a NYS Native seed) from Bryan Connolly (Mansfield Center, Connecticut)(member Garden Seed Inventory of Seed Savers Exchange)

Yellow Crookneck (Cucurbita pepo) (listed in the earliest seed catalogues) OSV

Boston Marrow (Cucurbita maxima) (originates from J. M. Ives of Salem, MA, who received seeds from a friend in 1831. Originally obtained from Native Americans in NYS) SSE

[Note: squash within the same species will cross-pollinate, so if one wants to seed-save, use only one variety of the C. pepo crooknecks]

 

TURNIPS (Brassica rapa)

Purple Top White Globe (developed before 1865) SSE

[Biennial. In order to save seed: Dig up plants before hard frost in fall, trim tops to 2? and store roots in sawdust or sand in a root cellar. S

WHEAT (all seed from Bountiful Gardens, Willits, California)

Black Emmer Wheat, Ancient Triticum dicoccom

Early Stone Age Wheat, Ancient T. monococcum (Originally a widely cultivated variety in Switzerland, Spain, and the eastern Caucasus. Reportedly cultivated 7,500 - 12,000 years ago.)

Emmer Wheat, Ancient (Triticum dicoccon)

Hard Red Spring Wheat, Modern (Triticum aestivum)

 

FLOWERS

Striped French Marigold (Tagetes patula) (early records record marigolds being planted in potato plots) OSV

Balsam (Ladys Slipper) (Impatiens balsmina) (cultivated in American gardens since the 18th c.) OSV

Calliopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria) (originally form œArkansaw Territory,? common in New England by the 1830s) OSV

Sunflower Mammoth (variety grown as early at 1800) FM

Broom Corn (Sorghum vulgare) (used to make brooms; a widespread cottage industry in early 19th c. New England) OSV