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"A Rich Spot of Earth": Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Garden at Monticello
Were Thomas Jefferson to walk the grounds of Monticello today, he would no doubt feel fully at home in the 1,000-foot terraced vegetable garden where the very vegetables and herbs he favored are thriving. Extensively and painstakingly restored under Peter J. Hatch's brilliant direction, Jefferson's unique vegetable garden now boasts the same medley of plants he enthusiastically cultivated in the early nineteenth century. The garden is a living expression of Jefferson's genius and his distinctly American attitudes. Its impact on the culinary, garden, and landscape history of the United States continues to the present day.
Graced with nearly 200 full-color illustrations, "A Rich Spot of Earth" is the first book devoted to all aspects of the Monticello vegetable garden. Hatch guides us from the asparagus and artichokes first planted in 1770 through the horticultural experiments of Jefferson's retirement years (1809–1826). The author explores topics ranging from labor in the garden, garden pests of the time, and seed saving practices to contemporary African American gardens. He also discusses Jefferson's favorite vegetables and the hundreds of varieties he grew, the half-Virginian half-French cuisine he developed, and the gardening traditions he adapted from many other countries.
Graced with nearly 200 full-color illustrations, "A Rich Spot of Earth" is the first book devoted to all aspects of the Monticello vegetable garden. Hatch guides us from the asparagus and artichokes first planted in 1770 through the horticultural experiments of Jefferson's retirement years (1809–1826). The author explores topics ranging from labor in the garden, garden pests of the time, and seed saving practices to contemporary African American gardens. He also discusses Jefferson's favorite vegetables and the hundreds of varieties he grew, the half-Virginian half-French cuisine he developed, and the gardening traditions he adapted from many other countries.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 30, 2024
This is not a great book. It's rambling and unclear and honestly a lot of it just didn't need to be said. There's a lot fluff, both textual and visual, such as the multiple photographs of baskets of random vegetables, or the one of a watermelon with the caption "Watermelons invite mirthful companionship" (p. 55).
What did Hatch intend to accomplish? The first section covers the construction of the garden, but it didn't give me a great sense of Jefferson's passions in the garden or his evolving gardening philosophy. Basically, he was more open to laissez-faire gardening, with minimal watering and weeding, than his contempories like Washington, and he experimented with new and native varieties.
"Martha Jefferson Randolph's observation that 'at a distance it looks very green but it does not bear close examination the weeds having taken possession of much the greater part of it' captures the reality of the horticulture quality of Jefferson's garden, as maintenance at Monticello appears to have been sporadic and sometimes haphazard" (p. 56)
Hatch admires Jefferson's willingness to experiment, such as hilling his plants like Native Americans, which more traditional gardeners (like Washington) did not do (p. 83), but he mentions many of his failures, of which he says the biggest one was his failure to configure a watering system after building his garden on a hill. "Although the naturalist John Bartram dug canals through his orchards outside Philadelphia in the 1740s, channeling manure-laced spring water to specific trees, such an elaborate canal system was probably beyond the means, or imaginations, of most Virginia kitchen gardeners around 1800" (p. 90). He also is not impressed by his failure to practice crop rotation, though he does mention that Jefferson didn't like growing corn because it depleted his soils, so it's odd he didn't mix it up (p. 86).
Information about the garden itself is limited and scattered amongst the various factoids Hatch includes in his ramblings. A few interesting notes:
"Although impressively massive for today's visitors, the size of the garden--two acres of kitchen vegetables and another four or five of fruit--was typical for a Virginia plantation owner" (p. 47).
"McMahon testified to the problems of the heavy soil found at Monticello: 'A clayey, strong, stubborn soil, is the worst of all earths, and must be mended by sandy materials, ashes, and other loosening, light substances.'" (p. 81)
"[Philip] Miller [Gardener's Dictionary of 1768] wrote lengthy essays on dung and manure; he favored cow and hog dung for light souls and sheep, horse, and mule dung for heavy souls. Miller's manure of choice, however, was London Street and drain cleanings, especially for cold, heavy soils." (p. 82)
And then there are just odd, unexplained claims:
"Northern Plains Indian horticulture, based on the cultivation of bean, corn, and squash varieties that could thrive in the severe climate of what are now the Dakotas, was perhaps the most evolved of all North American Indian tribes" (p. 27).
I would love to know more about this. Why drop it in here if you're not going to explain!
"Jeremiah Simple's analogy: 'Thus it is that what we most despise here as more than useless, is cultivated with care in Europe, and our most noxious plants are returned to us as treasures, and perhaps too in a degenerated state. Something like some of our dashing young bucks who visit Europe to be refined, and return to us greater fools than they were before.'" (p. 94)
Other random notes:
"He wrote . . . from Paris: 'The only garden vegetable I find here better than ours, is the turnep'" (p. 20).
Lavished attention on perennials like artichokes (p. 125) and asparagus (p. 199) but not heavy feeders like corn and tobacco, but corn was a staple so he had to keep growing it. This was field corn, not sweet corn, which wasn't developed until 1850 (Stowell's Evergreen). (p. 131)
Eggplants were round and white, compared to soft crabs. (p. 136)
Huge amount of nasturtiums, made into capers (p. 142)
Tried to popularize sesame oil but had trouble with productivity and processing (p. 148-151)
Lots of beans, especially lima. Used caracalla bean vines on arbors. (p. 167) Sweet garden peas grew from field peas in 1500s. Also liked cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata), of which black-eyed peas are a subspecies. (p. 173)
Jefferson hoped that Irish potatoes might replace soil-depleting, heavy-feeding crops like corn . . . but he ultimately concluded in 1817 that Jerusalem artichokes served this role more effectively. (p. 182)
Egyptian walking onion was popular. (p. 185)
Of peanuts: "Of all the economic plants so zealously championed by Jefferson--sesame, upland rice, Gloucester hickory, 'sprout kale,' rutabaga, asparagus beans--it seems almost unlucky that he failed to promote the one useful plant that would become an essential American food." (p. 186)
Grew orange carrot (not European white or Afghan yellow and purple), but round red radish was uncommon. Enormous black-skinned radishes from Middle Ages were more common. (p. 191)
Small stalks of sprouting broccoli tied in bundles and boiled like asparagus (p. 201)
Mystery plant: sprout kale may have been broccoli rabe (p. 228)
What did Hatch intend to accomplish? The first section covers the construction of the garden, but it didn't give me a great sense of Jefferson's passions in the garden or his evolving gardening philosophy. Basically, he was more open to laissez-faire gardening, with minimal watering and weeding, than his contempories like Washington, and he experimented with new and native varieties.
"Martha Jefferson Randolph's observation that 'at a distance it looks very green but it does not bear close examination the weeds having taken possession of much the greater part of it' captures the reality of the horticulture quality of Jefferson's garden, as maintenance at Monticello appears to have been sporadic and sometimes haphazard" (p. 56)
Hatch admires Jefferson's willingness to experiment, such as hilling his plants like Native Americans, which more traditional gardeners (like Washington) did not do (p. 83), but he mentions many of his failures, of which he says the biggest one was his failure to configure a watering system after building his garden on a hill. "Although the naturalist John Bartram dug canals through his orchards outside Philadelphia in the 1740s, channeling manure-laced spring water to specific trees, such an elaborate canal system was probably beyond the means, or imaginations, of most Virginia kitchen gardeners around 1800" (p. 90). He also is not impressed by his failure to practice crop rotation, though he does mention that Jefferson didn't like growing corn because it depleted his soils, so it's odd he didn't mix it up (p. 86).
Information about the garden itself is limited and scattered amongst the various factoids Hatch includes in his ramblings. A few interesting notes:
"Although impressively massive for today's visitors, the size of the garden--two acres of kitchen vegetables and another four or five of fruit--was typical for a Virginia plantation owner" (p. 47).
"McMahon testified to the problems of the heavy soil found at Monticello: 'A clayey, strong, stubborn soil, is the worst of all earths, and must be mended by sandy materials, ashes, and other loosening, light substances.'" (p. 81)
"[Philip] Miller [Gardener's Dictionary of 1768] wrote lengthy essays on dung and manure; he favored cow and hog dung for light souls and sheep, horse, and mule dung for heavy souls. Miller's manure of choice, however, was London Street and drain cleanings, especially for cold, heavy soils." (p. 82)
And then there are just odd, unexplained claims:
"Northern Plains Indian horticulture, based on the cultivation of bean, corn, and squash varieties that could thrive in the severe climate of what are now the Dakotas, was perhaps the most evolved of all North American Indian tribes" (p. 27).
I would love to know more about this. Why drop it in here if you're not going to explain!
"Jeremiah Simple's analogy: 'Thus it is that what we most despise here as more than useless, is cultivated with care in Europe, and our most noxious plants are returned to us as treasures, and perhaps too in a degenerated state. Something like some of our dashing young bucks who visit Europe to be refined, and return to us greater fools than they were before.'" (p. 94)
Other random notes:
"He wrote . . . from Paris: 'The only garden vegetable I find here better than ours, is the turnep'" (p. 20).
Lavished attention on perennials like artichokes (p. 125) and asparagus (p. 199) but not heavy feeders like corn and tobacco, but corn was a staple so he had to keep growing it. This was field corn, not sweet corn, which wasn't developed until 1850 (Stowell's Evergreen). (p. 131)
Eggplants were round and white, compared to soft crabs. (p. 136)
Huge amount of nasturtiums, made into capers (p. 142)
Tried to popularize sesame oil but had trouble with productivity and processing (p. 148-151)
Lots of beans, especially lima. Used caracalla bean vines on arbors. (p. 167) Sweet garden peas grew from field peas in 1500s. Also liked cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata), of which black-eyed peas are a subspecies. (p. 173)
Jefferson hoped that Irish potatoes might replace soil-depleting, heavy-feeding crops like corn . . . but he ultimately concluded in 1817 that Jerusalem artichokes served this role more effectively. (p. 182)
Egyptian walking onion was popular. (p. 185)
Of peanuts: "Of all the economic plants so zealously championed by Jefferson--sesame, upland rice, Gloucester hickory, 'sprout kale,' rutabaga, asparagus beans--it seems almost unlucky that he failed to promote the one useful plant that would become an essential American food." (p. 186)
Grew orange carrot (not European white or Afghan yellow and purple), but round red radish was uncommon. Enormous black-skinned radishes from Middle Ages were more common. (p. 191)
Small stalks of sprouting broccoli tied in bundles and boiled like asparagus (p. 201)
Mystery plant: sprout kale may have been broccoli rabe (p. 228)
December 12, 2012
I checked this out on NetGalley and found it pretty interesting, then ordered the book to give to my Dad for Christmas. I was really missing out just looking at it electronically. It is a gorgeous coffee table book full of really wonderful photos and illustrations. A must for historically-inclined gardeners and fans of the Sage of Monticello.
July 1, 2024
There’s so much history in the story of how one seed gets to a new place. I liked this look at Thomas Jefferson’s garden (and his garden notebooking!) and got a lot of interesting cultural notes on pre-revolutionary and early 19th-century growing, cooking, and entertaining.
Now I’m going to steal some of his lists and charts for my own nature notebook and/or garden journal.
Now I’m going to steal some of his lists and charts for my own nature notebook and/or garden journal.
October 10, 2012
Beautiful photos on every page! Pretty coffee table book. The author has been the gardener at Monticello for 30 years and you can tell that he loves his job and EVERY detail of horticulture. This book is for only a FEW people - and I'm not one of them. The author is very specific regarding weights, measures, pest control, seed packets, vegetable classifications, quantities, varieties - too much for me. I loved the few moments in the first half where the author would quote a letter from Jefferson to one of his daughters who worked the gardens while he was away from home. Otherwise it was just too tedious for me. Once again, though, another example of how multi-talented Jefferson was - my God!
November 6, 2012
I really enjoyed this coffee table style book. I'm not a gardener, but I wanted to read this book for it's historical tidbits. I learned that Jefferson really loved his veggies and introduced a lot of new legumes to the States. He was one of the first gentleman farmers to start growing vegetables based on the seasons and he americanized gardening, and got away from the english style of planting.
This book is truly a treasure and so is it's author Peter Hatch. Hatch has devoted many decades to researching and restoring Monticello's gardens to their colonial glory days and this book is a terrific record of this labor of love.
This book is truly a treasure and so is it's author Peter Hatch. Hatch has devoted many decades to researching and restoring Monticello's gardens to their colonial glory days and this book is a terrific record of this labor of love.
April 2, 2020
Thomas Jefferson LOVED vegetables. He had a particular passion for peas.
Peter Hatch's book on Jefferson's famous 1,000-foot-long garden at Monticello is a great one for people who have the same love of vegetable gardens that the great president did. Much is revealed through his meticulous drawings for his garden's design and copious notes about various varieties of everything from asparagus to turnips. My favorite chapter was on how the garden was renovated in the 1970s.
The photographs of the garden and of various vegetables growing in it are absolutely gorgeous!
Peter Hatch's book on Jefferson's famous 1,000-foot-long garden at Monticello is a great one for people who have the same love of vegetable gardens that the great president did. Much is revealed through his meticulous drawings for his garden's design and copious notes about various varieties of everything from asparagus to turnips. My favorite chapter was on how the garden was renovated in the 1970s.
The photographs of the garden and of various vegetables growing in it are absolutely gorgeous!
November 7, 2013
This is a lovely coffee table book. It’s split into two sections – one telling the history of the Monticello gardens, and the second featuring vegetables that are found in it. Being a gardener, I really enjoyed this glimpse into this marvelous garden of both past and present, and it inspired me to go pull the weeds in my own garden! The pictures in the book are breathtaking, and reminded me of the awe I had when I visited Monticello in person. 4 of 5 stars.
August 27, 2012
I was excited to finally get this from the library. For some reason, I find it difficult to read larger, almost coffee table-like books. Thomas Jefferson's garden was and is amazing. He was truly dedicated and interested in every aspect of gardening. After seeing the photos of Monticello's gardens, I would really like to visit there sometime.
April 9, 2022
Very interesting
Well thought out. Lovely photos . As a gardener who loves reading history of gardens, this book is a good combination. I have even ordered some seeds of vegetables mentioned.
Well thought out. Lovely photos . As a gardener who loves reading history of gardens, this book is a good combination. I have even ordered some seeds of vegetables mentioned.
August 4, 2013
Inspirational. Targets a very specific audience. the level of historical detail could be intense for someone with a casual interest in Jefferson's vegetable garden at Monticello.
September 2, 2013
incredible reconstruction of the original gardens gave me such an appreciation for the way foods worked their way from the old world to the new world, and from region to region. wonderful book.
August 30, 2016
Interesting information, well research and wonderful photos. But Peter Hatch is a gardener, not a writer, so the task of hoeing through his prose became a little tedious.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews