Look for the small white outhouse under the big redwood tree across the paved path from the Cook’s house. Your next stop is behind the outhouse and around the tree. » Map
The Patterson’s original kitchen garden was probably about an acre in size – or just shy of a football field – and it supplied the family and resident farmhands with fresh food.
The plants here are the same varieties gardeners planted in the 19th century, and the delicious and diverse fruits and veggies they produce tell us about Victorian life. Sadly, many of the varieties popular in the 1890s have been lost, replaced by those that ship well and can withstand heavy rounds of pesticides and herbicides. Recently, however, heirloom vegetables are returning to home and community gardens, as the value of maintaining culturally diverse crops becomes more widely recognized.
Image of Available Vegetable Seeds from Glass’ Water Cleaned Seeds Grown on Lakeview Seed Farm, by Heman Glass, Published 1894. Courtesy of the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Library. More... blog.biodiversitylibrary.org
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